Constitutional Uncertainties from Presidential Tax Return Release Laws

Total Page:16

File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb

Constitutional Uncertainties from Presidential Tax Return Release Laws Releasing the 1040, Not so EZ: Constitutional Uncertainties from Presidential Tax Return Release Laws# Matthew M. Ryan* Introduction ............................................................................................ 209 I. U.S. Term Limits, Inc. v. Thornton ..................................................... 211 II. What is a Qualification? ..................................................................... 212 A. Targeting a Class of Candidates .......................................... 212 B. Impermissibly Barring or Hindering Candidacy .................. 213 III. The Protection of Informational Privacy .......................................... 213 IV. Anti-Corruption Interest: Emoluments Clauses ................................ 216 V. State Power in Presidential Elections ................................................. 217 VI. Slippery Slope .................................................................................. 220 INTRODUCTION On multiple fronts, Americans are pursuing President Trump’s tax returns: a senator through legislation, a district attorney and congressional committees through investigation, and voters through protest and persuasion.1 None have succeeded. DOI: https://doi.org/10.15779/Z38KK94C89. Copyright © 2020 Matthew M. Ryan. # An extended version of this Article can be found in the Hastings Constitutional Law Quarterly. See Matthew M. Ryan, Releasing the 1040, Not so EZ: Constitutional Ambiguities Raised by State Laws Mandating Tax Return Release for Presidential Candidates, 47 HASTINGS CONST. L.Q. 19 (2019). My many thanks to the editors of the California Law Review for publishing a condensed version. * Law clerk in the United States Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit; J.D. 2017, Harvard Law School. All ideas, opinions, and mistakes are solely my own. I owe much gratitude to Professor Laurence Tribe, Max Schulman, and Kripa Sreepada for their invaluable guidance. 1. An Antidote to Donald Trump’s Secrecy on Taxes, N.Y. TIMES (Dec. 12, 2016), https://www.nytimes.com/2016/12/12/opinion/an-antidote-to-donald-trumps-secrecy-on-taxes.html [https://perma.cc/3A5L-463M] (Senator Ron Wyden proposed legislation to require major-party presidential candidates to disclose up to three years of tax returns); Williams K. Rashbaum & Benjamin Weiser, Trump Taxes: President Ordered to Turn Over Returns to Manhattan D.A., N.Y. TIMES (Oct. 7, 2019), https://www.nytimes.com/2019/10/07/nyregion/trump-taxes-lawsuit-vance.html [https://perma.cc/RT5T-RHEJ]; Lauren Fox, Key House Democrat Issues Subpoenas for Trump’s Tax 209 210 CALIFORNIA LAW REVIEW [Vol. 11:209 Last year, California jumped into the fray. It conditioned a candidate’s placement on its presidential primary ballot on the release of their tax returns. Passage of the law finalized what many states—at least twenty-five thus far2— have considered. Yet, California’s aspirations died quickly. After a federal district court wounded the law with an injunction,3 the California Supreme Court dealt a fatal blow, ruling that California’s release law violated the state constitutional provision requiring an open presidential primary.4 The law’s death leaves important questions for another day. Release laws implicate hefty, unsettled constitutional doctrines, including a candidate’s access to the ballot, the right of informational privacy, the Emoluments Clauses, and state power in electing the president.5 Returns, CNN (May 10, 2019), https://www.cnn.com/2019/05/10/politics/democrats-subpoena-trump- tax-returns/index.html [https://perma.cc/C48W-GA5K]; Greg Allen, Protesters Use April 15 to Demand Trump’s Tax Returns, NPR (Apr. 15, 2017), https://www.npr.org/2017/04/15/524122918/protesters-use-april-15-to-demand-trumps-tax-returns [https://perma.cc/8CZU-P9J3]. 2. Kira Lerner, More Than Half of States are Trying to Force Trump to Release His Tax Returns, THINKPROGRESS (Apr. 6, 2017, 8:39 PM), https://archive.thinkprogress.org/state-legislation- trump-taxes-bd00db338546 [https://perma.cc/GG5S-PELC]; see also Alexi McCammond, The Big Picture: The State Efforts to Keep Trump off the 2020 Ballot, AXIOS (June 24, 2018), https://www.axios.com/states-tax-return-laws-presidential-2020-trump-88e84cce-7214-409d-b4c7- a24aad919bdb.html [https://perma.cc/7X2A-VACZ]. 3. See Griffin v. Padilla, 408 F. Supp. 3d 1169 (E.D. Cal. 2019). 4. See Patterson v. Padilla, 451 P.3d 1171, 1189 (Cal. 2019); see also CAL. CONST. art. 2, § 5(c) (“The Legislature shall provide for partisan elections for presidential candidates, and political party and party central committees, including an open presidential primary whereby the candidates on the ballot are those found by the Secretary of State to be recognized candidates throughout the nation or throughout California for the office of President of the United States, and those whose names are placed on the ballot by petition, but excluding any candidate who has withdrawn by filing an affidavit of noncandidacy.”) (emphasis added). 5. Many have commented on release laws’ constitutionality, but no article has considered how such laws serve as a vehicle to examine unresolved and significant constitutional issues. See, e.g., Vikram D. Amar, Can and Should States Mandate Tax Return Disclosure as a Condition for Presidential Candidates to Appear on the Ballot, JUSTIA: VERDICT (Dec. 30, 2016), https://verdict.justia.com/2016/12/30/can-states-mandate-tax-return-disclosure-condition-presidential- candidates-appear-ballot [https://perma.cc/SF2H-TZ7B]; Laurence H. Tribe, et al., Candidates Who Won’t Disclose Taxes Shouldn’t Be On The Ballot, CNN (Apr. 14, 2017, 5:21 PM), http://www.cnn.com/2017/04/14/opinions/state-laws-requiring-tax-return-disclosure-legal-tribe- painter-eisen/index.html [https://perma.cc/28B6-CBJ2]; see also Eric T. Tollar, Playing the Trump Card: The Perils of Encroachment Resulting from Ballot Restrictions, 51 SUFFOLK. U. L. REV. 695 (2018); see also Danielle Lang, Candidate Disclosure and Ballot Access Bills: Novel Questions on Voting and Disclosure, 65 UCLA L. REV. DISC. 46 (2017); cf. Daniel J. Hemel, Can New York Publish President Trump’s State Tax Returns?, 127 YALE L. J. 62 (2017). As of September 9, 2019, Derek T. Muller appears to have a forthcoming article arguing that the release laws are unconstitutional titled “Weaponizing the Ballot.” See Derek T. Muller, Weaponizing the Ballot (Abstract), SSRN (Sept. 9, 2019), https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=3450649 [https://perma.cc/RL8X-3FY2]. 2020] RELEASING THE 1040, NOT SO EZ 211 I. U.S. TERM LIMITS, INC. V. THORNTON Beginning with precedent, U.S. Term Limits, Inc. v. Thornton is the marquee case for analyzing the legality of release laws.6 In 1992, Arkansas amended its constitution to prohibit from its ballot House of Representatives members who had served three terms and Senators who had served two terms.7 The Supreme Court, in a 5-4 split, found the law unconstitutional.8 Term Limits settled two significant disputes: (1) whether states have the reserved power to add qualifications to congressional office and, if they do not, (2) whether term limits constitute an impermissible qualification. For the question of reserved state power, both sides—Justice Stevens’s majority ruling no reserved power and Justice Thomas’s dissent arguing for a reserved power—bolstered their claims with historical analysis. The majority put forth Federalist Papers quotes.9 The dissent countered with post-ratification state laws.10 The justices also disagreed over the Constitution’s text. The majority read the Constitution’s enumeration of three qualifications to sit in Congress—age, years of citizenship, and residency11—as an exhaustive list.12 The dissent read that same list as a baseline from which states could expand.13 Because originalist and textualist principles provided no clear answer, the majority bolstered its position with two structural considerations. First, the Court looked to the fact that the people elect their congressperson—“a fundamental principle of our representative democracy” that states could not obstruct.14 Second, the Court cautioned that state-mandated qualifications would lead to a “patchwork of state qualifications,” and undermine Congress’s representation of all people.15 After determining that states do not have the reserved power to set qualifications for congressional office, the Term Limits Court attempted to comprehensively define qualification. Doing so proves no easy task. 6. U.S. Term Limits, Inc. v. Thornton, 514 U.S. 779 (1995). 7. Id. at 784. 8. Id. at 838. 9. Id. at 806–08 (quoting THE FEDERALIST NOS. 52, 57). 10. Id. at 905–10 (citing Virginia’s property qualification, and durational residency requirements in Georgia, North Carolina, and Virginia). 11. U.S. CONST. art. I, § 2, cl. 2 (“No Person shall be a Representative who shall not have attained to the Age of Twenty-five Years, and been seven Years a Citizen of the United States, and who shall not, when elected, be an Inhabitant of that State in which he shall be chosen.”); U.S. CONST. art. I, § 3, cl. 3 (“No Person shall be a Senator who shall not have attained to the Age of thirty Years, and been nine Years a Citizen of the United States, and who shall not, when elected, be an Inhabitant of that State for which he shall be chosen.”). 12. Term Limits, 514 U.S. at 805. 13. Id. at 867 (“[T]hese different formulations—whether negative or affirmative—merely establish minimum qualifications.”) (emphasis in original). 14. Id. at 819–22. 15. Id. at 822. 212 CALIFORNIA LAW REVIEW [Vol.
Recommended publications
  • Congressional Retraction of Federal Court Jurisdiction to Protect the Reserved Powers of the States: the Helms Prayer Bill and a Return to First Principles
    View metadata, citation and similar papers at core.ac.uk brought to you by CORE provided by Villanova University School of Law: Digital Repository Volume 27 Issue 5 Article 7 1982 Congressional Retraction of Federal Court Jurisdiction to Protect the Reserved Powers of the States: The Helms Prayer Bill and a Return to First Principles James McClellan Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalcommons.law.villanova.edu/vlr Part of the Constitutional Law Commons, and the Courts Commons Recommended Citation James McClellan, Congressional Retraction of Federal Court Jurisdiction to Protect the Reserved Powers of the States: The Helms Prayer Bill and a Return to First Principles, 27 Vill. L. Rev. 1019 (1982). Available at: https://digitalcommons.law.villanova.edu/vlr/vol27/iss5/7 This Symposia is brought to you for free and open access by Villanova University Charles Widger School of Law Digital Repository. It has been accepted for inclusion in Villanova Law Review by an authorized editor of Villanova University Charles Widger School of Law Digital Repository. McClellan: Congressional Retraction of Federal Court Jurisdiction to Protect 1981-82] CONGRESSIONAL RETRACTION OF FEDERAL COURT JURISDICTION TO PROTECT THE RESERVED POWERS OF THE STATES: THE HELMS PRAYER BILL AND A RETURN TO FIRST PRINCIPLES JAMES MCCLELLAN t S INCE THE EARLIEST DAYS OF THE WARREN COURT, countless bills have been introduced in Congress which would deny the federal courts jurisdiction over a great variety of subjects ranging from busing to abortion.' The exceptions clause of article III of the Constitution provides Congress with the authority to enact such bills. 2 While none of these proposed bills has been enacted into law, it is noteworthy that two have passed at least one house of Congress, and that both of these have sought to deny all federal courts, including the Supreme Court, jurisdiction over certain cases arising under the fourteenth amendment.
    [Show full text]
  • Three Federalisms Randy E
    Georgetown University Law Center Scholarship @ GEORGETOWN LAW 2007 Three Federalisms Randy E. Barnett Georgetown University Law Center, [email protected] This paper can be downloaded free of charge from: http://scholarship.law.georgetown.edu/fwps_papers/23 This open-access article is brought to you by the Georgetown Law Library. Posted with permission of the author. Follow this and additional works at: http://scholarship.law.georgetown.edu/fwps_papers THREE FEDERALISMS RANDY E. BARNETT* ABSTRACT: Debates over the importance of “federalism” are often obscured by the fact that there are not one, but three distinct versions of constitutional federalism that have arisen since the Founding: Enumerated Powers Federalism in the Founding era, Fundamental Rights Federalism in the Reconstruction era, and Affirmative State Sovereignty Federalism in the post-New Deal era. In this very short essay, my objective is to reduce confusion about federalism by defining and identifying the origin of each of these different conceptions of federalism. I also suggest that, while Fundamental Rights Federalism significantly qualified Enumerated Powers Federalism, it was not until the New Deal’s expansion of federal power that Enumerated Powers Federalism was eviscerated altogether. To preserve some semblance of state discretionary power in the post-New Deal era, the Rehnquist Court developed an ahistorical Affirmative State Sovereignty Federalism that was both under- and over-inclusive of the role of federalism that is warranted by the original meaning of the Constitution as amended. In my remarks this morning, I want to explain how there are, not one, but three distinct versions of federalism that have developed since the Founding.
    [Show full text]
  • History SS Federalism Today Complex Project
    Item Name: Federalism Today Item Type: Complex Project Subject and/or U.S. Government/Civics, Grade 11-12 Course: CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RH.11-12.1 Cite specific textual evidence to support analysis of primary and secondary sources… CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RH.11-12.9 Compare and contrast treatments of the same topic in several primary and secondary sources… Common Core CCSS.ELA-Literacy.WHST.11-12.1 Write arguments focused on discipline-specific content…. Standards: CCSS.ELA-Literacy.WHST.11-12.7 Conduct short as well as more sustained research projects to answer a question… CCSS.ELA-Literacy.WHST.11-12.8 Gather relevant information from multiple authoritative print and digital sources… Published by Summit Public Schools (some modifications Developer/Source: made.) Administration: Curriculum-embedded Length of time for response: Multiple weeks Item Features: Method of scoring: Analytic Rubric Opportunity for student collaboration: Once a week Opportunity for teacher feedback and revision: Daily Collection of performance assessment items compiled by Overview This learning module will prepare you to write an argument over which level of government, federal or state, should have the authority and power when making and executing laws on controversial issues. You will research an issue of your choice, write an argument in support of your position, and then present it to a panel of judges. Standards AP Standards: APS.SOC.9-12.I Constitutional Underpinnings of United States Government APS.SOC.9-12.I.D - Federalism Objective: Understand the implication(s)
    [Show full text]
  • Federalism in the Constitution
    Federalism in the Constitution As you read each paragraph, answer the questions in the margin. The United States is one country—but it’s also a bunch of states. You When creating the Constitution, what could almost say it’s a group of states that are, well, united. When we things did we need our central created the Articles of Confederation, each state already had its own government to be able to do? government and court system, so the new Americans weren’t exactly running amok. But if the new United States was going to be able to deal with other nations, it needed one government that would speak for the entire country. It also needed one central government to do things like declare war on other countries, keep a military, and negotiate treaties with other countries. There also needed to be federal courts where citizens from different states could resolve their disputes. So, the Founders created the Constitution to do those things. Define federalism. The United States Constitution created a central government known as the federal government. The federal government deals with issues that affect the entire country. Each state also has its own state government that only handles the affairs of that state. This division of power between a central government and state governments is called federalism. The federal government gets all of its power from the Create a Venn Diagram, with labels, that shows Constitution. These federal powers are listed in the the relationship between the federal powers, Constitution. In order to keep the federal government from reserve powers, and concurrent powers.
    [Show full text]
  • Factors Determining the Success of Congressional Efforts to Reverse Supreme Court Interpretations of the Constitution
    William & Mary Law Review Volume 33 (1991-1992) Issue 2 Article 6 February 1992 Looking Down From the Hill: Factors Determining the Success of Congressional Efforts to Reverse Supreme Court Interpretations of the Constitution Mark E. Herrmann Follow this and additional works at: https://scholarship.law.wm.edu/wmlr Part of the Constitutional Law Commons, and the Juvenile Law Commons Repository Citation Mark E. Herrmann, Looking Down From the Hill: Factors Determining the Success of Congressional Efforts to Reverse Supreme Court Interpretations of the Constitution, 33 Wm. & Mary L. Rev. 543 (1992), https://scholarship.law.wm.edu/wmlr/vol33/iss2/6 Copyright c 1992 by the authors. This article is brought to you by the William & Mary Law School Scholarship Repository. https://scholarship.law.wm.edu/wmlr LOOKING DOWN FROM THE HILL: FACTORS DETERMINING THE SUCCESS OF CONGRESSIONAL EFFORTS TO REVERSE SUPREME COURT INTERPRETATIONS OF THE CONSTITUTION That there ought to be one court of supreme and final juris- diction, is a proposition which is not likely to be contested.... A legislature, without exceeding its province, cannot reverse a determination once made in a particular case; though it may prescribe a new rule for future cases.' Throughout the 200-year history of the United States Consti- tution, frequent debate has arisen over the proper roles of the three branches of the federal government in interpreting the Constitution. The Supreme Court has, in recent years, expressed the view that the federal judiciary is supreme in the exposition of the law under the Constitution. 2 Under this view, once the Supreme Court has spoken regarding a constitutional issue, only the Court itself can alter that interpretation of the Constitution.
    [Show full text]
  • Teacher's Guide
    Teacher’s Guide On the Level Time Needed: Learning Objectives One Class Period Through this lesson students will be able to: Materials Needed: Compare duties of, functions of, and relationships between Student Readings & Worksheets members of legislative, executive, and judicial branches of Copy Instructions: local, state, and national government. Reading: class set, double-sided Explain how and why powers are distributed between local, Graphic organizer/Venn diagram: class state, and national governments. set, double-sided Illustrate the law making process at each level, as well as Venn diagram: transparency obligations and services of each level Powers cards: one set, single sided, Evaluate the major changes/events that have affected the cut into half sheets roles of local, state, and national government Review: class set, double-sided STEP BY STEP 1) DISTRIBUTE the reading to the class and the graphic organizer (OPTIONAL— graphic organizer can also be distributed after the reading has been completed). 2) READ through the reading pages together as a class. 3) CHECK for understanding before using the active participation activity (see teacher activity guide for instructions). 4) ASSIGN students to complete the graphic organizer individually, in pairs, or as a whole class activity. 5) REVIEW the graphic organizer together as a class. Optionally, create a transparency of the graphic organizer and allow students to approach the projector/board to fill in the graphic organizer one blank at a time. 6) PROJECT the Venn diagram and distribute “powers” cards to each student. 7) INSTRUCT students to approach the board one at a time and place the power where they think it should go.
    [Show full text]
  • Legislative Department
    ARTICLE I LEGISLATIVE DEPARTMENT CONTENTS Page Section 1. Legislative Powers ................................................................................................... 63 Separation of Powers and Checks and Balances ............................................................. 63 The Theory Elaborated and Implemented ................................................................ 63 Judicial Enforcement .................................................................................................. 65 Bicameralism ...................................................................................................................... 70 Enumerated, Implied, Resulting, and Inherent Powers .................................................. 71 Delegation of Legislative Power ........................................................................................ 73 Origin of the Doctrine of Nondelegability ................................................................. 73 Delegation Which Is Permissible ............................................................................... 75 Filling Up the Details .......................................................................................... 76 Contingent Legislation ........................................................................................ 76 The Effective Demise of the Nondelegation Doctrine ............................................... 78 The Regulatory State ........................................................................................... 78
    [Show full text]
  • 10Th Amendment
    TENTH AMENDMENT RESERVED POWERS CONTENTS Page Reserved Powers ........................................................................................................................ 1509 Scope and Purpose .............................................................................................................. 1509 Effect of Provision on Federal Powers .............................................................................. 1510 Federal Taxing Powers ............................................................................................... 1510 Federal Police Power ................................................................................................... 1511 Federal Regulations Affecting State Activities and Instrumentalities ................... 1514 1507 RESERVED POWERS TENTH AMENDMENT The powers not delegated to the United States by the Con- stitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people. RESERVED POWERS Scope and Purpose ``The Tenth Amendment was intended to confirm the under- standing of the people at the time the Constitution was adopted, that powers not granted to the United States were reserved to the States or to the people. It added nothing to the instrument as origi- nally ratified.'' 1 ``The amendment states but a truism that all is re- tained which has not been surrendered. There is nothing in the his- tory of its adoption to suggest that it was more than declaratory of the relationship between the national and state governments as it had been
    [Show full text]
  • 14Th Amendment US Constitution
    FOURTEENTH AMENDMENT RIGHTS GUARANTEED PRIVILEGES AND IMMUNITIES OF CITIZENSHIP, DUE PROCESS AND EQUAL PROTECTION CONTENTS Page Section 1. Rights Guaranteed ................................................................................................... 1565 Citizens of the United States ............................................................................................ 1565 Privileges and Immunities ................................................................................................. 1568 Due Process of Law ............................................................................................................ 1572 The Development of Substantive Due Process .......................................................... 1572 ``Persons'' Defined ................................................................................................. 1578 Police Power Defined and Limited ...................................................................... 1579 ``Liberty'' ................................................................................................................ 1581 Liberty of Contract ...................................................................................................... 1581 Regulatory Labor Laws Generally ...................................................................... 1581 Laws Regulating Hours of Labor ........................................................................ 1586 Laws Regulating Labor in Mines .......................................................................
    [Show full text]
  • Border Protection Clause in Constitution
    Border Protection Clause In Constitution Tryptic and automatic Hiro budging while unlamented Davin dissatisfy her surmounters emotionally and recommend half-and-half. George remains seeing after Raynard nett clinically or augur any strop. Foodless Jedediah still get-togethers: flighty and liberatory Red quantify quite this but splotch her destroyers disquietingly. The legislature shall walk by law, in what manner, and substance what courts, suits may be doing against free state. The border in protecting your travel purposes with freedom of judge stewart dissenting opinion of border checkpoint freely accessible recreational development of representatives ﬕnd necessary for preventing illegal. A nice over immigration is the Migration and Importation Clause. COVID-19 Control and Prevention Border Protection and. United states constitution? The clam to Travel US Constitution Annotated US Law LII. As in border exception or compelling government clause. To border in protected by constitution? The Praetorians An Analysis of US Border Patrol Checkpoints. That brass is accessible to axe who accesses the device. Tax in constitutional protections at stake once again. Amendment or impairing or altering any covenants or agreements of affect State which made hereunder, or thick the effect of withdrawing the proceeds of bill Gross Receipts Taxes from the operation of this Amendment. Operation Gatekeeper resulted in significant increases in the manpower and other resources deployed to San Diego sector. For defeat, the Fourth Amendment allows law enforcement officials to search people or keep property by those people voluntarily consent bond the search. The missing is your rights aren't particularly well defined. THE TRUMP MEMOS American Civil Liberties Union.
    [Show full text]
  • Globalization and Structure Julian G
    Maurice A. Deane School of Law at Hofstra University Scholarly Commons at Hofstra Law Hofstra Law Faculty Scholarship 2011 Globalization and Structure Julian G. Ku Maurice A. Deane School of Law at Hofstra University John Yoo Follow this and additional works at: https://scholarlycommons.law.hofstra.edu/faculty_scholarship Recommended Citation Julian G. Ku and John Yoo, Globalization and Structure, 53 Wm. & Mary L. Rev. 431 (2011) Available at: https://scholarlycommons.law.hofstra.edu/faculty_scholarship/578 This Article is brought to you for free and open access by Scholarly Commons at Hofstra Law. It has been accepted for inclusion in Hofstra Law Faculty Scholarship by an authorized administrator of Scholarly Commons at Hofstra Law. For more information, please contact [email protected]. GLOBALIZATION AND STRUCTURE JULIAN Ku* & JOHN YOO** TABLE OF CONTENTS INTRODUCTION .. ..................................... 432 I. THE STRUCTURAL CONSTITUTION ...................... 436 A. Federalismand the Separation of Powers ............ 436 B. Nationalization,Globalization, and the Constitution . ................................. 447 II. REGULATION AND GLOBALIZATION ..................... 455 III. GLOBALIZATION AND CONSTITUTIONAL ACCOMMODATION .................................. 464 CONCLUSION ........................................ 477 * Professor of Law, Maurice A. Deane School of Law at Hofstra University. ** Professor of Law, Berkeley Law School, University of California at Berkeley, and Visiting Scholar, American Enterprise Institute. We thank
    [Show full text]
  • Heinonline (PDF)
    +(,121/,1( Citation: 86 Notre Dame L. Rev. 1241 2011 Content downloaded/printed from HeinOnline (http://heinonline.org) Mon Sep 10 10:59:05 2012 -- Your use of this HeinOnline PDF indicates your acceptance of HeinOnline's Terms and Conditions of the license agreement available at http://heinonline.org/HOL/License -- The search text of this PDF is generated from uncorrected OCR text. -- To obtain permission to use this article beyond the scope of your HeinOnline license, please use: https://www.copyright.com/ccc/basicSearch.do? &operation=go&searchType=0 &lastSearch=simple&all=on&titleOrStdNo=0745-3515 ARTICLE POWERS, RIGHTS, AND SECTION 25 Ann Woolhandler* The 1789 Judiciary Act's Section 251 has proved an embarrass- ment for those claiming that all federal question jurisdiction must 2 vest, either originally or by appellate review, in the federal courts. © 2011 Ann Woolhandler. Individuals and nonprofit institutions may reproduce and distribute copies of this Article in any format, at or below cost, for educational purposes, so long as each copy identifies the authors, provides a citation to the Notre Dame Law Review, and includes this provision and copyright notice. * William Minor Lile Professor of Law and Joseph C. Carter, Jr., Research Professor, University of Virginia. My thanks to Michael Collins, Barry Cushman, George Rutherglen, John Harrison, Caleb Nelson, and Steve Walt for comments. I Judiciary Act of 1789, ch. 20, § 25, 1 Stat. 83, 85-87. 2 See Akhil Reed Amar, A Neo-Federalist View of Article III: Separatingthe Two Tiers of FederalJurisdiction, 65 B.U. L. REv. 205, 263 (1985) [hereinafter Amar, Neo-Federalist] (arguing that all federal question jurisdiction had to vest either originally or by appel- late review in the federal courts); Akhil Reed Amar, The Two-Tiered Structure of the Judiciary Act of 1789, 138 U.
    [Show full text]