Powers Denied to the States

Clause 1. Treaties, Coining Money, Impairing Contracts, Etc

No State shall enter into any Treaty, Alliance, or Confederation; grant Letters of Marque and Reprisal; coin Money; emit Bills of Credit; make any Thing but gold and silver Coin a Tender in Payment of Debts; pass any Bill of Attainder, ex post facto Law, or Law impairing the Obligation of Contracts, or grant any Title of Nobility.

Ex Post Facto Laws: Denial of Future Privileges to Past Offenders

The right to practice a profession may be denied to one who was convicted of an offense before the statute was enacted if the offense reasonably may be regarded as a continuing disqualification for the profession. Without offending the Constitution, statutes barring a person from practicing medicine after conviction of a felony,1 or excluding convicted felons from waterfront union offices unless pardoned or in receipt of a parole board's good conduct certificate,2 may be enforced against a person convicted before the measures were passed. But the test oath prescribed after the Civil War, under which office holders, attorneys, teachers, clergymen, and others were required to swear that they had not participated in the rebellion or expressed sympathy for it, was held invalid on the ground that it had no reasonable relation to fitness to perform official or professional duties, but rather was a punishment for past offenses.3 A similar oath required of suitors in the courts also was held void.4

Resources

References

This text about Powers Denied to the States is based on “The Constitution of the United States of America: Analysis and Interpretation”, published by the U.S. Government Printing Office.

[Footnote 1] Hawker v. New York, 170 U.S. 189, 190 (1898). See also Reetz v. Michigan, 188 U.S. 505, 509 (1903); Lehmann v. State Board of Public Accountancy, 263 U.S. 394 (1923).

[Footnote 2] DeVeau v. Braisted, 363 U.S. 144, 160 (1960).

[Footnote 3] Cummings v. Missouri, 71 U.S. (4 Wall.) 277, 316 (1867).

[Footnote 4] Pierce v. Carskadon, 83 U.S. (16 Wall.) 234, 237-39 (1873).

Tables of Contents

• Powers Denied to the States and other Topics in the Contents – Article 1 of the U.S. Constitution
• U.S. Constitutional Law Category
• List of amendments to the U.S. Constitution
• Powers Denied to the States and other Topics in the Constitution Contents
• Interpretation of the U.S. Constitution (Table of Contents)
• Clauses of the Constitution (Table of Contents)