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145-736: Article One of the Constitution of the United States establishes the legislative branch of the federal government , the United States Congress . Under Article One, Congress is a bicameral legislature consisting of the House of Representatives and the Senate . Article One grants Congress various enumerated powers and the ability to pass laws " necessary and proper " to carry out those powers. Article One also establishes

290-626: A vote of no confidence . On the other hand, according to the separation of powers doctrine, the legislature in a presidential system is considered an independent and coequal branch of government along with both the judiciary and the executive. Nevertheless, many presidential systems provide for the impeachment of the executive for criminal or unconstitutional behaviour. Legislatures will sometimes delegate their legislative power to administrative or executive agencies . Legislatures are made up of individual members, known as legislators , who vote on proposed laws. A legislature usually contains

435-608: A 1779 bill of attainder to confiscate the property of British loyalists (called Tories) as both a penalty for their political sympathies and means of funding the rebellion. American dissatisfaction with British attainder laws resulted in their being prohibited in the U.S. Constitution ratified in 1787. The United States Constitution forbids legislative bills of attainder: in federal law under Article I, Section 9 , Clause 3 ("No Bill of Attainder or ex post facto Law shall be passed"), and in state law under Article I, Section 10 . The fact that they were banned even under state law reflects

580-401: A Chapter III court—that is, a body exercising power derived from Chapter III of the Constitution, the chapter providing for judicial power. One of the core aspects of judicial power is the ability to make binding and authoritative decisions on questions of law, that is, issues relating to life, liberty or property. The wielding of judicial power by the legislative or executive branch includes

725-650: A Parliamentary powers index in an attempt to quantify the different degrees of power among national legislatures. The German Bundestag , the Italian Parliament , and the Mongolian State Great Khural tied for most powerful, while Myanmar's House of Representatives and Somalia's Transitional Federal Assembly (since replaced by the Federal Parliament of Somalia ) tied for least powerful. Some political systems follows

870-797: A President pro tempore, in the Absence of the Vice President, or when he shall exercise the Office of the President of the United States. Legislative branch A legislature is a deliberative assembly with the legal authority to make laws for a political entity such as a country , nation or city on behalf of the people therein. They are often contrasted with the executive and judicial powers of government . Legislatures can exist at different levels of government–national, state/provincial/regional, local, even supranational (such as

1015-572: A bill and the president to sign into law an act to reapportion the House from since the ratification of the constitution up until 1941, which is when a self-executing statute was enacted, thus making reapportionment an automatic process. Although the first sentence in this clause originally concerned apportionment of both House seats and taxes among the several states, the Fourteenth Amendment sentence that replaced it in 1868 mentioned only

1160-582: A bill of attainder is necessarily a judicial matter. The last use of attainder was in 1798 against Lord Edward FitzGerald for leading the Irish Rebellion of 1798 . The House of Lords later passed the Pains and Penalties Bill 1820 , which attempted to attaint Queen Caroline , but it was not considered by the House of Commons . No bills of attainder have been passed since 1820 in the UK. Attainder remained

1305-534: A bill of attainder. Those on the list were to report to Dublin for sentencing. One man, Lord Mountjoy , was in the Bastille at the time and was told by the Irish Parliament that he must break out of his cell and make it back to Ireland for his punishment, or face the grisly process of being drawn and quartered . The parliament became known in the 1800s as the " Patriot Parliament ". Later defenders of

1450-422: A democracy, legislators are most commonly popularly elected , although indirect election and appointment by the executive are also used, particularly for bicameral legislatures featuring an upper house . The name used to refer to a legislative body varies by country. Common names include: By names: By languages: Though the specific roles for each legislature differ by location, they all aim to serve

1595-573: A federal law requiring attorneys practising in federal court to swear that they had not supported the rebellion. In Cummings v. Missouri , 71 U.S. 277 (1867), the Missouri Constitution required anyone seeking a professional's license from the state to swear they had not supported the rebellion. The Supreme Court overturned the law and the constitutional provision, arguing that the people already admitted to practice were subject to penalty without judicial trial. The lack of judicial trial

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1740-458: A few of the members of the chamber(s). The members of a legislature usually represent different political parties ; the members from each party generally meet as a caucus to organize their internal affairs. Legislatures vary widely in the amount of political power they wield, compared to other political players such as judiciaries , militaries , and executives . In 2009, political scientists M. Steven Fish and Matthew Kroenig constructed

1885-442: A fixed number of legislators; because legislatures usually meet in a specific room filled with seats for the legislators, this is often described as the number of "seats" it contains. For example, a legislature that has 100 "seats" has 100 members. By extension, an electoral district that elects a single legislator can also be described as a "seat", as, for example, in the phrases " safe seat " and " marginal seat ". After election,

2030-544: A house of Congress exercising its Section 5 authority to "judge...the...qualifications of its own members" or by a state in its exercise of its Section 4 authority to prescribe the "times, places and manner of holding elections for Senators and Representatives." The Supreme Court, as well as other federal courts , have repeatedly barred states from additional restrictions, such as imposing term limits on members of Congress, allowing members of Congress to be subject to recall elections , or requiring that Representatives live in

2175-635: A judicial penalty on a specific person, the speakers of the House and Senate , respectively, have ruled that Canadian parliamentary practice does not permit bills of attainder or bills of pains and penalties. The word " attainder " is part of English common law . Under English law, a criminal condemned for a serious crime, whether treason or felony (but not misdemeanour , which referred to less serious crimes), could be declared "attainted", meaning that his civil rights were nullified: he could no longer own property or pass property to his family by will or testament. His property could consequently revert to

2320-596: A law was a bill of attainder. In United States v. Brown , 381 U.S. 437 (1965), the Court invalidated the section of the statute that criminalized a former communist serving on a union's executive board. Clearly, the Act had focused on past behaviour and had specified a specific class of people to be punished. Many legal scholars assumed that the Brown case effectively, if not explicitly, overruled Douds . The Court did not apply

2465-646: A legal consequence of convictions in courts of law, but this ceased to be a part of punishment in 1870. American dissatisfaction with British attainder laws resulted in their being prohibited in the United States Constitution in 1789. Bills of attainder are forbidden to both the federal government and the states, reflecting the importance that the Framers attached to this issue. Every state constitution also expressly forbids bills of attainder. The U.S. Supreme Court has invalidated laws under

2610-470: A necessary sacrifice to that spirit of conciliation, which was indispensable to the union of states having a great diversity of interests, and physical condition, and political institutions". Section 2 of the Fourteenth Amendment (1868) later superseded Article 1, Section 2, Clause 3 and explicitly repealed the compromise. Following the completion of each census, Congress is empowered to use

2755-679: A policy of summary execution with the use of an act of attainder to circumvent legal obstacles. He was dissuaded by Richard Law , a junior minister at the Foreign Office, who pointed out that the United States and the Soviet Union still favoured trials. Bills of attainder were used throughout the 18th century in England, and were applied to British colonies as well. However, at least one American state, New York , used

2900-491: A proper purpose ("in aid of" its legislative powers) functions as a limit on Congress's ability to investigate the private affairs of individual citizens; matters that simply demand action by another branch of government, without implicating an issue of public policy necessitating legislation by Congress, must be left to those branches due to the doctrine of separation of powers. The courts are highly deferential to Congress's exercise of its investigation powers, however. Congress has

3045-471: A replacement to serve out the remainder of the senator's term. If the state legislature was not in session, its governor could appoint a temporary replacement to serve until the legislature could elect a permanent replacement. This was superseded by the Seventeenth Amendment , which provided for the popular election of senators, instead of their appointment by the state legislature. In a nod to

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3190-486: A result, including: three presidents ( Andrew Johnson , Bill Clinton , and Donald Trump , twice), two Cabinet secretaries ( William W. Belknap and Alejandro Mayorkas ), one senator ( William Blount ), one Supreme Court associate justice ( Samuel Chase ), and fourteen federal judges . Also, notably, impeachment proceedings compelled the resignation of President Richard Nixon . The Constitution does not specify how impeachment proceedings are to be initiated. Until

3335-526: A single unit is unicameral , one divided into two chambers is bicameral , and one divided into three chambers is tricameral . In bicameral legislatures, one chamber is usually considered the upper house , while the other is considered the lower house . The two types are not rigidly different, but members of upper houses tend to be indirectly elected or appointed rather than directly elected, tend to be allocated by administrative divisions rather than by population, and tend to have longer terms than members of

3480-663: A state court unable to function as a Chapter III court is unconstitutional. The states cannot structure their legal systems to prevent them from being subject to the Australian Constitution. An important distinction is that laws seeking to direct judicial power (e.g. must make orders) are unconstitutional, but laws that concern mandatory sentencing, rules of evidence, non-punitive imprisonment, or tests, are constitutional. State parliaments are, however, free to prohibit parole boards from granting parole to specific prisoners. For instance, sections 74AA and 74AB of

3625-435: Is indirectly elected within the context of a one-party state . Legislature size is a trade off between efficiency and representation; the smaller the legislature, the more efficiently it can operate, but the larger the legislature, the better it can represent the political diversity of its constituents. Comparative analysis of national legislatures has found that size of a country's lower house tends to be proportional to

3770-546: Is a vesting clause that bestows federal legislative power exclusively to Congress. Similar clauses are found in Article II , which confers executive power upon the president alone, and Article III , which grants judicial power solely to the federal judiciary. These three articles create a separation of powers among the three branches of the federal government . This separation of powers, by which each branch may exercise only its own constitutional powers and no others,

3915-676: Is a general term referring to a proposal for legislation applying to a specific person; it is only a bill of attainder if it punishes them; private bills have been used in some Commonwealth countries to effect divorce. Other traditional uses of private bills include chartering corporations , changing the charters of existing corporations, granting monopolies, approving of public infrastructure and seizure of property for those, as well as enclosure of commons and similar redistributions of property. Those types of private bills operate to take away private property and rights from certain individuals, but are usually not called "bill of pains and penalties". Unlike

4060-547: Is argument over whether the Palm Sunday Compromise in the Terri Schiavo case was a bill of attainder. Some analysts considered a proposed Congressional bill to confiscate 90 percent of the bonus money paid to executives at federally rescued investment bank American International Group a bill of attainder, although disagreement exists on the issue. The bill was not passed by Congress. In 2009,

4205-426: Is central to the theory. The nondelegation doctrine is primarily used as a way of interpreting a congressional delegation of authority narrowly, in that the courts presume Congress intended only to delegate that which it certainly could have, unless it clearly demonstrates it intended to "test the waters" of what the courts would allow it to do. Although not mentioned in the Constitution, Congress has also long asserted

4350-581: Is currently impossible, because while the size of the House of Representatives is fixed at 435, several states had less than 1/435 of the national population at the time of the last reapportionment in 2020. However, the Supreme Court has interpreted the provision of Clause One that Representatives shall be elected "by the People" to mean that, in those states with more than one member of the House of Representatives, each congressional election district within

4495-602: Is fundamental to the idea of a limited government accountable to the people. The separation of powers principle is particularly significant for Congress. The Constitution declares that the Congress may exercise only those legislative powers "herein granted" within Article I (as later limited by the Tenth Amendment ). It also, by implied extension, prohibits Congress from delegating its legislative authority to either of

Article One of the United States Constitution - Misplaced Pages Continue

4640-539: Is the Icelandic Althing , founded in 930 CE. Democratic legislatures have six major functions: representation, deliberation, legislation, authorizing expenditure, making governments, and oversight. There exist five ways that representation can be achieved in a legislature: One of the major functions of a legislature is to discuss and debate issues of major importance to society. This activity can take place in two forms. In debating legislatures, such as

4785-590: Is unclear whether a law that called for heirs to be deprived of their estate would be constitutional in Texas. The U.S. Supreme Court has invalidated laws under the Attainder Clause on five occasions. Two of the Supreme Court's first decisions on the meaning of the bill of attainder clause came after the American Civil War . In Ex parte Garland , 71 U.S. 333 (1866), the court struck down

4930-569: Is up for re-election every two years, but the entire body is never up for re-election in the same year (as contrasted with the House, where its entire membership is up for re-election every 2 years). As originally established, senators were elected by the Legislature of the State they represented in the Senate. If a senator died, resigned, or was expelled, the legislature of the state would appoint

5075-560: The 1920 census , Congress failed to apportion the House, with the House using the allocations of the Apportionment Act of 1911 until after the 1932 elections, which was the date determined by Congress after it passed and the president signed the Reapportionment Act of 1929 . This resulted in the representation within the House to remain frozen for twenty years. Reapportionment of the House required Congress to pass

5220-571: The District of Columbia full representation in the Congress without also granting it statehood. Their argument is that an amendment that would allow a non-state district to have two senators would deprive the states of their equal suffrage in the Senate and would therefore require unanimous ratification by all the states. Those in favor of the amendment have argued that the States are merely entitled to equal suffrage amongst one another, and that granting

5365-501: The European Parliament ). Countries differ as to what extent they grant deliberative assemblies at the subnational law-making power, as opposed to purely administrative responsibilities. Laws enacted by legislatures are usually known as primary legislation. In addition, legislatures may observe and steer governing actions, with authority to amend the budget involved. The members of a legislature are called legislators. In

5510-651: The European Union . The upper house may either contain the delegates of state governments – as in the European Union and in Germany and, before 1913, in the United States  – or be elected according to a formula that grants equal representation to states with smaller populations, as is the case in Australia and the United States since 1913. Tricameral legislatures are rare;

5655-551: The General Services Administration to confiscate former President Richard Nixon 's presidential papers to prevent their destruction, screen out those which contained national security and other issues which might prevent their publication, and release the remainder of the papers to the public as fast as possible. The Supreme Court upheld the law in Nixon , arguing that specificity alone did not invalidate

5800-673: The Massachusetts Governor's Council still exists, but the most recent national example existed in the waning years of White-minority rule in South Africa . Tetracameral legislatures no longer exist, but they were previously used in Scandinavia. The only legislature with a number of chambers bigger than four was the Federal Assembly of Yugoslavia ; initially established as a Pentacameral body in 1963, it

5945-534: The Parliament of the United Kingdom , the floor of the legislature frequently sees lively debate. In contrast, in committee-based legislatures like the United States Congress , deliberation takes place in closed committees. While legislatures have nominally the sole power to create laws, the substantive extent of this power depends on details of the political system. In Westminster-style legislatures

Article One of the United States Constitution - Misplaced Pages Continue

6090-631: The Princes in the Tower , although it does declare him guilty of "shedding of Infants blood". Although deceased by the time of the Restoration , the regicides John Bradshaw , Oliver Cromwell , Henry Ireton , and Thomas Pride were served with a bill of attainder on 15 May 1660 backdated to 1 January 1649 ( NS ). After the committee stages, the bill passed both the Houses of Lords and Commons and

6235-412: The Reapportionment Act of 1929 , a constant 435 House seats have been apportioned among the states according to each census, and determining the size of the House is not presently part of the apportionment process. With one exception, the apportionment of 1842, the House of Representatives had been enlarged by various degrees from sixty-five members in 1788 to 435 members by 1913. The determination of size

6380-524: The Supreme Court , the power to raise and support an army and a navy, the power to call forth the militia "to execute the laws of the Union, suppress insurrections, and repel invasions" and to provide for the militia's "organizing, arming, disciplining...and governing" and granting Congress the power to declare war . Section 8 also provides Congress the power to establish a federal district to serve as

6525-478: The cube root of its population ; that is, the size of the lower house tends to increase along with population, but much more slowly. Bills of attainder In the history of England , the word " attainder " refers to people who were declared "attainted", meaning that their civil rights were nullified: they could no longer own property or pass property to their family by will or testament. Attainted people would normally be punished by judicial execution , with

6670-457: The income tax to income derived from real estate and specifically income in the form of dividends from personal property ownership such as stock shares was found to be unconstitutional because it was not apportioned among the states; that is to say, there was no guarantee that a State with 10% of the country's population paid 10% of those income taxes collected, because Congress had not fixed an amount of money to be raised and apportioned it between

6815-439: The separation of powers among the three branches of the federal government. Section 2 of Article One addresses the House of Representatives, establishing that members of the House are elected every two years, with congressional seats apportioned to the states on the basis of population. Section 2 includes various rules for the House of Representatives, including a provision stating that individuals qualified to vote in elections for

6960-441: The three-fifths compromise , was a compromise between Southern and Northern states in which three-fifths of the population of slaves would be counted for enumeration purposes and for the apportionment of seats in the House of Representatives and of taxes among the states. It was, according to Supreme Court Justice Joseph Story (writing in 1833 ), a "matter of compromise and concession, confessedly unequal in its operation, but

7105-418: The veto power of the president of the United States . Under Section 7, the president can veto a bill, but Congress can override the president's veto with a two-thirds vote of both chambers. Section 8 lays out the powers of Congress. It includes several enumerated powers, including the power to lay and collect "taxes, duties, imposts, and excises" (provided duties, imposts, and excises are uniform throughout

7250-467: The 1541 case of Catherine Howard, King Henry VIII was the first monarch to delegate royal assent , to avoid having to assent personally to the execution of his wife. After defeating Richard III and replacing him on the throne of England following the Battle of Bosworth Field , Henry VII had Parliament pass a bill of attainder against his predecessor. It is noteworthy that this bill made no mention of

7395-544: The Attainder Clause on five occasions. Most common-law nations have prohibited bills of attainder, some expressly and some impliedly. The Constitution of Australia contains no specific provision permitting the Commonwealth Parliament to pass bills of attainder. The High Court of Australia has ruled that bills of attainder are unconstitutional, because it is a violation of the separation of powers doctrine for any body to wield judicial power other than

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7540-503: The Constitution. Every state constitution also expressly forbids bills of attainder. For example, Wisconsin's constitution Article I, Section 12 reads: No bill of attainder, ex post facto law , nor any law impairing the obligation of contracts, shall ever be passed, and no conviction shall work corruption of blood or forfeiture of estate. In contrast, the Texas Constitution omits the clause that applies to heirs. It

7685-649: The Corrections Act 1986 in Victoria significantly restrict the ability of the parole board to grant parole to Julian Knight or Craig Minogue . These have been upheld by the High Court of Australia and are distinguished from bills of attainder since the original sentence (life imprisonment) stands; the only change is the administration of parole. In two cases of attempts to pass bills (in 1984 for Clifford Olson and in 1995 for Karla Homolka ) to inflict

7830-556: The Crown or to the mesne lord . Any peerage titles would also revert to the Crown. The convicted person would normally be punished by judicial execution  – when a person committed a capital crime and was put to death for it, the property left behind escheated to the Crown or lord rather than being inherited by family. Attainder functioned more or less as the revocation of the feudal chain of privilege and all rights and properties thus granted. Due to mandatory sentencing ,

7975-525: The Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment , finding that, "construed in its historical context, the command of Art. I, § 2, that Representatives be chosen 'by the People of the several States' means that as nearly as is practicable one man's vote in a congressional election is to be worth as much as another's." Court involvement in this issue developed slowly from an initial practice of electing representatives at-large, until in

8120-505: The Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment. In a dissenting opinion of a 1964 Supreme Court case involving reapportionment in the Alabama state legislature, Associate Justice John Marshall Harlan II included Minor v. Happersett (an 1875 case which allowed states to deny women the right to vote) in a list of past decisions about voting and apportionment which were no longer being followed. In Oregon v. Mitchell (1970),

8265-592: The European assemblies of nobility which the monarchs would have to consult before raising taxes. For this power to be actually effective, the legislature should be able to amend the budget, have an effective committee system, enough time for consideration, as well as access to relevant background information. There are several ways in which the legislature can hold the executive branch (the administration or government) accountable. This can be done through hearings, questioning , interpellations , votes of confidence ,

8410-619: The Expiration of the second Year, of the second Class at the Expiration of the fourth Year, and of the third Class at the Expiration of the sixth Year, so that one third may be chosen every second Year; and if Vacancies happen by Resignation, or otherwise, during the Recess of the Legislature of any State, the Executive thereof may make temporary Appointments until the next Meeting of the Legislature, which shall then fill such Vacancies. After

8555-419: The House of Representatives shall choose its Speaker and its other officers. Though the Constitution does not mandate it, every Speaker has been a member of the House of Representatives. The Speaker rarely presides over routine House sessions, choosing instead to deputize a junior member to accomplish the task. Finally, Section Two grants to the House of Representatives the sole power of impeachment . Although

8700-417: The House of Representatives and the Senate the power to judge their own elections, determine the qualifications of their own members, and punish or expel their own members. Section 6 establishes the compensation, privileges, and restrictions of those holding congressional office. Section 7 lays out the procedures for passing a bill, requiring both houses of Congress to pass a bill for it to become law, subject to

8845-441: The House to serve as the prosecution team in the impeachment trial in the Senate (see Section 3, Clause 6 below). The Senate of the United States shall be composed of two Senators from each State, chosen by the Legislature thereof, for six Years; and each Senator shall have one Vote. The first Clause of Section Three provides that each state is entitled to have two senators, who would be elected by its state legislature (now by

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8990-448: The House. 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. A senator must be at least 30 years of age, must have been a citizen of the United States for at least nine years before being elected, and must reside in

9135-598: The Patriot Parliament pointed out that the ensuing " Williamite Settlement forfeitures " of the 1690s named an even larger number of Jacobite suspects, most of whom had been attainted by 1699. In the Westminster system (and especially in the United Kingdom), a similar concept is covered by the term "private bill" (a bill which upon passage becomes a private Act). Note however that "private bill"

9280-530: The Senate." Thus, no individual state may have its individual representation in the Senate adjusted without its consent. That is to say, an amendment that directly changed this clause to provide that all states would get only one senator (or three senators, or any other number) could become valid as part of the Constitution if ratified by three-fourths of the states; however, one that provided for some basis of representation other than strict numerical equality (for example, population, wealth, or land area), would require

9425-559: The State they will represent at the time of the election. The Supreme Court has interpreted the Qualifications Clause as an exclusive list of qualifications that cannot be supplemented by a House of Congress exercising its Section 5 authority to "Judge... the... Qualifications of its own Members," or by a state in its exercise of its Section 4 authority to prescribe the "Times, Places and Manner of holding Elections for Senators and Representatives,..." The Vice President of

9570-475: The States according to their respective shares of the national population. To permit the levying of such an income tax, Congress proposed and the states ratified the Sixteenth Amendment , which removed the restriction by specifically providing that Congress could levy a tax on income "from whatever source derived" without it being apportioned among the States or otherwise based on a State's share of

9715-576: The Supreme Court had said that the requirement for the oath was not a bill of attainder because: 1) anyone could avoid punishment by disavowing the Communist Party, and 2) it focused on a future act (overthrow of the government) and not a past one. Reflecting current fears, the Court commented in Douds on approving the specific focus on Communists by noting what a threat communism was. The Court had added an "escape clause" test to determining whether

9860-499: The Supreme Court has not had an occasion to interpret this specific provision, the Court has suggested that the grant to the House of the " sole " power of impeachment makes the House the exclusive interpreter of what constitutes an impeachable offense. This power, which is analogous to the bringing of criminal charges by a grand jury , has been used only rarely. The House has begun impeachment proceedings 62 times since 1789, and twenty-one federal officials have been formally impeached as

10005-478: The Supreme Court has recognized voting as a fundamental right, the Equal Protection Clause places very tight limitations (albeit with uncertain limits) on the states' ability to define voter qualifications; it is fair to say that qualifications beyond citizenship, residency, and age are usually questionable. In the 1960s, the Supreme Court started to view voting as a fundamental right covered by

10150-546: The Supreme Court held that the Qualifications clause did not prevent Congress from overriding state-imposed minimum age restrictions for voters in Congressional elections. Since clause 3 provides that Members of the House of Representatives are apportioned state-by-state and that each state is guaranteed at least one Representative, exact population equality between all districts is not guaranteed and, in fact,

10295-451: The U.S. Constitution places no restrictions on state or local office-holders simultaneously holding federal office , most state constitutions today effectively ban state and local office holders from also holding federal office at the same time by prohibiting federal office holders from also holding state and local office. Unlike other state-mandated restrictions, these sorts of prohibitions are constitutional as long they are enforced purely at

10440-492: The UK. Attainder as such remained a legal consequence of convictions in courts of law, but this ceased to be a part of punishment in 1870. Previously secret British War Cabinet papers released on 1 January 2006 have shown that, as early as December 1942, the War Cabinet had discussed their policy for the punishment of the leading Axis officials if captured. British Prime Minister Winston Churchill had then advocated

10585-402: The United States shall be President of the Senate, but shall have no Vote, unless they be equally divided. Section Three provides that the vice president is the president of the Senate . Excepting the duty to receive the tally of electoral votes for president, this is the only regular responsibility assigned to the office of the vice president by the Constitution. When serving in this capacity,

10730-467: The United States), "to provide for the common defense and general welfare of the United States", the power to regulate interstate and international commerce , the power to set naturalization laws , the power to coin and regulate money, the power to borrow money on the credit of the United States, the power to establish post offices and post roads, the power to establish federal courts inferior to

10875-569: The Younger, Earl of Gloucester . They were both attainted for supporting King Edward II during his struggle with the queen and barons . In England, those executed subject to attainders include George Plantagenet, Duke of Clarence (1478); Thomas Cromwell (1540); Margaret Pole, Countess of Salisbury (1540); Catherine Howard (1542); Thomas, Lord Seymour (1549); Thomas Wentworth, Earl of Strafford (1641); Archbishop William Laud of Canterbury (1645); and James Scott, Duke of Monmouth . In

11020-404: The act because the President constituted a "class of one". Thus, specificity was constitutional if it was rationally related to the class identified. The Court modified its punishment test, concluding that only those laws which historically offended the bill of attainder clause were invalid. The Court also found it significant that Nixon was compensated for the loss of his papers, which alleviated

11165-422: The aggregate population in all the states (according to the prevailing Constitutional rule for determining population) to determine the relative population of each state to the population of the whole, and, based on its calculations, to establish the appropriate size of the House and to allocate a particular number of representatives to each state according to its share of the national population. Since enactment of

11310-401: The apportionment of House seats. Even so, the constraint placed upon Congress's taxation power remained, as the restriction was reiterated in Article 1 Section 9 Clause 4. The amount of direct taxes that could be collected by the federal government from the people in any State would still be tied directly to that state's share of the national population. Due to this restriction, application of

11455-602: The bill of attainder clause. The Taft–Hartley Act (enacted in 1947) sought to ban political strikes by Communist -dominated labour unions by requiring all elected labour leaders to take an oath that they were not and had never been members of the Communist Party USA , and that they did not advocate violent overthrow of the U.S. government. It also made it a crime for members of the Communist Party to serve on executive boards of labour unions. In American Communications Association v. Douds , 339 U.S. 382 (1950),

11600-548: The bill of attainder issue did not reach or have not reached the Supreme Court, but were considered by lower courts. In 1990, in the wake of the Exxon Valdez oil spill , Congress enacted the Oil Pollution Act to consolidate various oil spill and oil pollution statutes into a single unified law, and to provide for a statutory regime for handling oil spill cleanup. This law was challenged as a bill of attainder by

11745-653: The captured Monmouth put summarily to death. Though legal, this was regarded by many as an arbitrary and ruthless act. In 1753, the Jacobite leader Archibald Cameron of Lochiel was summarily put to death on the basis of a seven-year-old bill of attainder, rather than being put on trial for his recent subversive activities in Scotland. This aroused some protests in British public opinion at the time, including from people with no Jacobite sympathies. The last use of attainder

11890-400: The city of Portland, Oregon 's attempt to prosecute more severely those on a "secret list" of 350 individuals deemed by police to have committed "liveability crimes" in certain neighbourhoods was challenged as an unconstitutional bill of attainder. In 2011, the House voted to defund Planned Parenthood . Democratic Representative Jerry Nadler called that vote a bill of attainder, saying it

12035-416: The commission of crimes (who fell foul of the law relating to felo de se ), could not be forfeited, nor could the property of offenders who refused to plead and who were tortured to death through peine forte et dure . On the other hand, when a legal conviction did take place, confiscation and "corruption of blood" sometimes appeared unduly harsh for the surviving family. In some cases (at least regarding

12180-631: The congressional district in which they represent. A 2002 Congressional Research Service report also found that no state could implement a qualification that a Representative not be a convicted felon or incarcerated. However, the United States Supreme Court has ruled that certain ballot access requirements, such as filing fees and submitting a certain number of valid petition signatures do not constitute additional qualifications and thus few Constitutional restrictions exist as to how harsh ballot access laws can be. Finally, although

12325-443: The denial of the right to vote based on race, color, or previous condition of servitude. The Nineteenth Amendment prohibits the denial of the right to vote based on sex. The Twenty-fourth Amendment prohibits the revocation of voting rights due to the non-payment of a poll tax . The Twenty-sixth Amendment prohibits the denial of the right of US citizens, eighteen years of age or older, to vote on account of age. Moreover, since

12470-530: The direct election of senators. Section 3 lays out various other rules for the Senate, including a provision that establishes the vice president of the United States as the president of the Senate. Section 4 of Article One grants the states the power to regulate the congressional election process but establishes that Congress can alter those regulations or make its own regulations. Section 4 also requires Congress to assemble at least once per year. Section 5 lays out various rules for both houses of Congress and grants

12615-434: The direct wielding of power and the indirect wielding of judicial power. The state constitutions in Australia contain few limitations on government power. Bills of attainder are considered permissible because there is no entrenched separation of powers at the state level. However, section 77 of the Constitution of Australia permits state courts to be invested with Commonwealth jurisdiction, and any state law that renders

12760-402: The due process of the courts provided limited flexibility to deal with the various circumstances of offenders. The property of criminals caught alive and put to death because of a guilty plea or jury conviction on a not guilty plea could be forfeited, as could the property of those who escaped justice and were outlawed; but the property of offenders who died before trial, except those killed during

12905-544: The early 20th century, a House member could rise and propose an impeachment, which would then be assigned to a committee for investigation upon a formal resolution vote of the judicial committee. Presently, it is the House Judiciary Committee that initiates the process and then, after investigating the allegations, prepares recommendations for the whole House's consideration. If the House votes to adopt an impeachment resolution, " managers " are appointed by

13050-401: The executions of a number of notable historical figures. The use of these bills by Parliament eventually fell into disfavour due to the potential for abuse and the violation of several legal principles, most importantly the right to due process , the precept that a law should address a particular form of behaviour rather than a specific individual or group, and the separation of powers , since

13195-521: The executive (composed of the cabinet) can essentially pass any laws it wants, as it usually has a majority of legislators behind it, kept in check by the party whip, while committee-based legislatures in continental Europe and those in presidential systems of the Americas have more independence in drafting and amending bills. The origins of the power of the purse which legislatures typically have in passing or denying government budgets goes back to

13340-456: The executive authority of all states with vacancies to hold a special election within 49 days of the announcement. This election is initiated via a writ of election from the Governor ( 2 U.S.C.   § 8(b) ). The House of Representatives shall chuse [ sic ] their Speaker and other Officers; and shall have the sole Power of Impeachment. Section Two further provides that

13485-544: The federal district Senate representation does not violate that right. Whether unanimous consent of the 50 states would be required for such an amendment to become operative remains an unanswered political question. Immediately after they shall be assembled in Consequence of the first Election, they shall be divided as equally as may be into three Classes. The Seats of the Senators of the first Class shall be vacated at

13630-662: The first Meeting of the Congress of the United States, and within every subsequent Term of ten Years, in such Manner as they shall by Law direct. The number of Representatives shall not exceed one for every thirty Thousand, but each State shall have at Least one Representative; and until such enumeration shall be made, the State of New Hampshire shall be entitled to chuse [ sic ] three, Massachusetts eight, Rhode-Island and Providence Plantations one, Connecticut five, New-York six, New Jersey four, Pennsylvania eight, Delaware one, Maryland six, Virginia ten, North Carolina five, South Carolina five, and Georgia three. After much debate,

13775-534: The first group of senators was elected to the First Congress (1789–1791), the senators were divided into three "classes" as nearly equal in size as possible, as required by this section. This was done in May 1789 by lot . It was also decided that each state's senators would be assigned to two different classes. Those senators grouped in the first class had their term expire after only two years; those senators in

13920-472: The formation of committees. Parliaments are usually ensured with upholding the rule of law, verifying that public funds are used accountably and efficiently as well as make government processes transparent and actions so that they can be debated by the public and its representatives. Agora notes that parliamentary systems or political parties in which political leaders can influence or decide which members receive top jobs can lead to passivity amongst members of

14065-408: The framers of the Constitution decided to make population the basis of apportioning the seats in the House of Representatives and the tax liability among the states. To facilitate this, the Constitution mandates that a census be conducted every ten years to determine the population of each state and of the nation as a whole and establishes a rule for who shall be counted or excluded from the count. As

14210-480: The governors of the states were expressly allowed by the Constitution to make temporary appointments. The current system, under the Seventeenth Amendment, allows governors to appoint a replacement only if their state legislature has previously decided to allow the governor to do so; otherwise, the seat must remain vacant until the special election is held to fill the seat, as in the case of a vacancy in

14355-650: The group sued the U.S. government. Another, broader bill, the Defund ACORN Act, was enacted by Congress later that year. In March 2010, a federal district court declared the funding ban an unconstitutional bill of attainder. On 13 August 2010, the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit reversed and remanded on the grounds that only 10 percent of ACORN's funding was federal and that did not constitute "punishment". There

14500-475: The importance that the Framers attached to this issue. Within the U.S. Constitution, the clauses forbidding attainder laws serve two purposes. First, they reinforce the separation of powers by forbidding the legislature to perform judicial or executive functions, as a bill of attainder necessarily does. Second, they embody the concept of due process , which is reinforced by the Fifth Amendment to

14645-419: The largest chamber of their state's legislature have the right to vote in elections for the House of Representatives. Section 3 addresses the Senate, establishing that the Senate consists of two senators from each state, with each senator serving a six-year term. Section 3 originally required that the state legislatures elect the members of the Senate, but the Seventeenth Amendment , ratified in 1913, provides for

14790-529: The late 1940s and the early 1950s the Court used the " political question " doctrine in Baker v. Carr to decline to adjudicate districting and apportionment suits. The Supreme Court has held in Rucho v. Common Cause that there was no "constitutional directive" nor any "legal standards to guide" the Court in claims of unconstitutional partisan gerrymandering , and such claims today are considered nonjusticiable. At

14935-594: The latter, Acts appropriating property with compensation are constitutionally uncontroversial as a form of compulsory purchase . The last United Kingdom bill called a "Pains and Penalties Bill" was the Pains and Penalties Bill 1820 and was passed by the House of Lords in 1820, but not considered by the House of Commons; it sought to divorce Queen Caroline from King George IV and adjust her titles and property accordingly, on grounds of her alleged adultery, as did many private bills dealing with divorces of private persons. No bills of attainder have been passed since 1820 in

15080-489: The laws were narrowly tailored to focus on an individual's qualifications to practice medicine. That was not true in Garland or Cummings . The Court changed its "bill of attainder test" in 1946. In United States v. Lovett , 328 U.S. 303 (1946), the Court confronted a federal law that named three people as subversive and excluded them from federal employment. Previously, the Court had held that lack of judicial trial and

15225-435: The legislature consists of a number of legislators who use some form of parliamentary procedure to debate political issues and vote on proposed legislation. There must be a certain number of legislators present to carry out these activities; this is called a quorum . Some of the responsibilities of a legislature, such as giving first consideration to newly proposed legislation, are usually delegated to committees made up of

15370-464: The less populist nature of the Senate, the amendment tracks the vacancy procedures for the House of Representatives in requiring that the governor call a special election to fill the vacancy, but (unlike in the House) it vests in the state legislature the authority to allow the governor to appoint a temporary replacement until the special election is held. Note, however, that under the original Constitution,

15515-406: The lower house. In some systems, particularly parliamentary systems , the upper house has less power and tends to have a more advisory role, but in others, particularly federal presidential systems , the upper house has equal or even greater power. In federations , the upper house typically represents the federation's component states. This is also the case with the supranational legislature of

15660-414: The male inhabitants of such State, being twenty-one years of age, and citizens of the United States, or in any way abridged, except for participation in rebellion, or other crime, the basis of representation therein shall be reduced in the proportion which the number of such male citizens shall bear to the whole number of male citizens twenty-one years of age in such State." The Fifteenth Amendment prohibits

15805-513: The members may be protected by parliamentary immunity or parliamentary privilege , either for all actions the duration of their entire term, or for just those related to their legislative duties. A legislature may debate and vote upon bills as a single unit, or it may be composed of multiple separate assemblies , called by various names including legislative chambers , debate chambers , and houses , which debate and vote separately and have distinct powers. A legislature which operates as

15950-612: The narrow way in which the law rationally achieved its goals were the only tests of a bill of attainder. But the Lovett Court said that a bill of attainder 1) specifically identified the people to be punished; 2) imposed punishment; and 3) did so without benefit of judicial trial. As all three prongs of the bill of attainder test were met in Lovett , the court held that a Congressional statute that bars particular individuals from government employment qualifies as punishment prohibited by

16095-402: The national capital and gives Congress the exclusive power to administer that district. In addition to various enumerated powers, Section 8 grants Congress the power to make laws necessary and proper to carry out its enumerated powers and other powers vested in it. Section 9 places various limits on the power of Congress, banning bills of attainder and other practices. Section 10 places limits on

16240-636: The national population. When vacancies happen in the Representation from any State, the Executive Authority thereof shall issue Writs of Election to fill such Vacancies. Generally states and territories fill vacancies within the House of Representatives according to their own laws, however when vacancies within the House exceed 100 members, the Speaker of the House will announce "extraordinary circumstances" have occurred, which obligates

16385-444: The new form of government would become operational prior to the completion of a national census, the Constitution also provides for a temporary apportionment of seats. Originally, the population of each state and of the nation as a whole was ascertained by adding to the whole number of free Persons, three-fifths the number of all other Persons (i.e. slaves ), but excluding non-taxed Native Americans . This Constitutional rule, known as

16530-401: The offender's family. Parliament could also impose non-capital punishments without involving courts; such bills are called bills of pains and penalties . Bills of attainder were sometimes criticised as a convenient way for the king to convict subjects of crimes and confiscate their property without the bother of a trial – and without the need for a conviction or indeed any evidence at all. It

16675-442: The other branches of government, a rule known as the nondelegation doctrine . However, the Supreme Court has ruled that Congress does have the latitude to delegate regulatory powers to executive agencies as long as it provides an "intelligible principle" which governs the agency's exercise of the delegated regulatory authority. That the power assigned to each branch must remain with that branch, and may be expressed only by that branch,

16820-407: The party and less challenging of leadership. Agora notes that this phenomenon is acute if the election of a member is dependant on the support of political leadership. In contrast to democratic systems, legislatures under authoritarianism are used to ensure the stability of the power structure by co-opting potential competing interests within the elites, which they achieve by: Each chamber of

16965-417: The peerage) the Crown would eventually re-grant the convicted peer's lands and titles to his heir. It was also possible, as political fortunes turned, for a bill of attainder to be reversed. This sometimes occurred long after the convicted person was executed. Unlike the mandatory sentences of the courts, acts of Parliament provided considerable latitude in suiting the punishment to the particular conditions of

17110-582: The people of each state), serve for staggered six-year terms, and have one vote each. Through these provisions, adopted following the Connecticut Compromise , the Framers sought to protect the sovereignty and interests of states. This clause has been superseded by the Seventeenth Amendment , ratified in 1913, which, in part, provides as amended , that The Senate of the United States shall be composed of two Senators from each State, elected by

17255-544: The people thereof, for six years; and each Senator shall have one vote. Article Five specifies the means by which the Constitution of the United States can be amended. It ends by shielding three Article I clauses from being amended. The clause guaranteeing equal representation is among them. (The others are first and fourth clauses in Section 9, which were amendable after 1808.) Article Five provides that "no State, without its Consent, shall be deprived of its equal Suffrage in

17400-426: The power to investigate and the power to compel cooperation with an investigation. The Supreme Court has affirmed these powers as an implication of Congress's power to legislate. Since the power to investigate is an aspect of Congress's power to legislate, it is as broad as Congress's powers to legislate. However, it is also limited to inquiries that are "in aid of the legislative function"; Congress may not "expose for

17545-796: The power to investigate that which it could regulate, and the courts have interpreted Congress's regulatory powers broadly since the Great Depression . The House of Representatives shall be composed of Members chosen every second Year by the People of the several States, and the Electors in each State shall have the Qualifications requisite for Electors of the most numerous Branch of the State Legislature. Election districts in each state have recently been required to be structured so that each elected representative represents substantially equal populations, based on court interpretations of

17690-409: The principle of legislative supremacy , which holds that the legislature is the supreme branch of government and cannot be bound by other institutions, such as the judicial branch or a written constitution . Such a system renders the legislature more powerful. In parliamentary and semi-presidential systems of government , the executive is responsible to the legislature, which may remove it with

17835-482: The procedures for passing a bill and places various limits on the powers of Congress and the states from abusing their powers. Article One's Vesting Clause grants all federal legislative power to Congress and establishes that Congress consists of the House of Representatives and the Senate. In combination with the vesting clauses of Article Two and Article Three, the Vesting Clause of Article One establishes

17980-462: The property left behind escheated to the Crown or lord rather than being inherited by family. The first use of a bill of attainder was in 1321 against Hugh le Despenser, 1st Earl of Winchester and his son Hugh Despenser the Younger, Earl of Gloucester , who were both attainted for supporting King Edward II . Bills of attainder passed in Parliament by Henry VIII on 29 January 1542 resulted in

18125-596: The punishment prong of the Douds test, leaving legal scholars confused as to whether the Court still intended it to apply. The Supreme Court emphasized the narrowness and rationality of bills of attainder in Nixon v. Administrator of General Services , 433 U.S. 425 (1977). During the Watergate scandal , in 1974 Congress passed the Presidential Recordings and Materials Preservation Act , which required

18270-431: The punishment. The Court modified the punishment prong by holding that punishment could survive scrutiny if it was rationally related to other, nonpunitive goals. Finally, the Court concluded that the legislation must not be intended to punish; legislation enacted for otherwise legitimate purposes could be saved so long as punishment was a side-effect rather than the main purpose of the law. A number of cases which raised

18415-559: The said Gallows: And that James Norfolke Esquire, Serjeant at Arms attending the House of Commons, do take care that this Order be put in effectual Execution. In 1685, when the Duke of Monmouth landed in West England and started a rebellion in an effort to overthrow his uncle, the recently enthroned James II , Parliament passed a bill of attainder against him. After the Battle of Sedgemoor , this made it possible for King James to have

18560-448: The sake of exposure". It is uncontroversial that a proper subject of Congress's investigation power is the operations of the federal government, but Congress's ability to compel the submission of documents or testimony from the president or his subordinates is often-discussed and sometimes controversial (see executive privilege ), although not often litigated. As a practical matter, the limitation of Congress's ability to investigate only for

18705-610: The same purpose of appointing officials to represent their citizens to determine appropriate legislation for the country. Among the earliest recognised formal legislatures was the Athenian Ecclesia . In the Middle Ages , European monarchs would host assemblies of the nobility, which would later develop into predecessors of modern legislatures. These were often named the Estates . The oldest surviving legislature

18850-402: The second class had their term expire after only four years, instead of six. After this, all senators from those states have been elected to six-year terms, and as new states have joined the Union, their Senate seats have been assigned to two of the three classes, maintaining each grouping as nearly equal in size as possible. In this way, election is staggered; approximately one-third of the Senate

18995-607: The shipping division of ExxonMobil . In 2003, the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit struck down the Elizabeth Morgan Act as a bill of attainder. After the United States House of Representatives passed a resolution in late 2009 barring the community organising group Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now (ACORN) from receiving federal funding,

19140-434: The state in which he or she is elected, and must have been a citizen of the United States for the previous seven years. There is no requirement that a Representative reside within the district in which he or she represents; although this is usually the case, there have been occasional exceptions. The Supreme Court has interpreted the Qualifications Clause as an exclusive list of qualifications that cannot be supplemented by

19285-534: The state level (i.e. against active federal office holders seeking to obtain or hold a state or local office). Representatives and direct Taxes shall be apportioned among the several States which may be included within this Union, according to their respective Numbers, which shall be determined by adding to the whole Number of free Persons, including those bound to Service for a Term of Years, and excluding Indians not taxed, three fifths of all other Persons. The actual Enumeration shall be made within three Years after

19430-434: The state must have nearly identical populations. 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. The Constitution provides three requirements for Representatives: A Representative must be at least 25 years old, must be an inhabitant of

19575-401: The states' broad powers to set voter qualification standards. Though never enforced, clause 2 of the Fourteenth Amendment provides that "when the right to vote at any election for the choice of electors for president and vice president of the United States, Representatives in Congress, the Executive and Judicial officers of a State, or the members of the Legislature thereof, is denied to any of

19720-412: The states, prohibiting them from entering into alliances with foreign powers, impairing contracts , taxing imports or exports above the minimum level necessary for inspection, keeping armies, or engaging in war without the consent of Congress. All legislative Powers herein granted shall be vested in a Congress of the United States, which shall consist of a Senate and House of Representatives. Section 1

19865-522: The time of its creation, the Constitution did not explicitly give citizens an inherent right to vote. However, by stipulating that those qualified to vote in elections for the largest chamber of a state's legislature could vote in Congressional (House of Representatives) elections the Framers expressed a rather explicit intent that the House was to be directly elected. Since the Civil War , several constitutional amendments have been enacted that have curbed

20010-454: The unanimous consent of all the states. Denying the states their intended role as joint partners in the federal government by abolishing their equality in the Senate would, according to Chief Justice Salmon P. Chase (in Texas v. White ), destroy the grounding of the Union. This Article V provision has been employed by those opposed to contemplated constitutional amendments that would grant

20155-440: The vice president may cast tie-breaking votes . Early in the nation's history, vice presidents frequently presided over the Senate. In modern times, the vice president usually does so only during ceremonial occasions or when a tie in the voting is anticipated. As of August 7, 2022, there have been 294 tie-breaking votes cast by vice presidents. The Senate shall chuse [ sic ] their other Officers, and also

20300-526: Was engrossed on 4 December 1660. This was followed with a resolution that passed both Houses on the same day: That the Carcases of Oliver Cromwell, Henry Ireton, John Bradshaw, and Thomas Pride, whether buried in Westminster Abbey, or elsewhere, be, with all Expedition, taken up, and drawn upon a Hurdle to Tiburne, and there hanged up in their Coffins for some time; and after that buried under

20445-470: Was however relevant to the custom of the Middle Ages, where all lands and titles were granted by a king in his role as the " fount of honour ". Anything granted by the king's wish could be taken away by him. This weakened over time as personal rights became legally established. The first use of a bill of attainder was in 1321 against Hugh le Despenser, 1st Earl of Winchester and his son Hugh Despenser

20590-548: Was in 1798 against Lord Edward FitzGerald for leading the Irish Rebellion of 1798 . In 1688, King James II of England (VII of Scotland), driven off by the ascent of William III and Mary II in the Glorious Revolution , came to Ireland with the sole purpose of reclaiming his throne. After his arrival, the Parliament of Ireland assembled a list of names in 1689 of those reported to have been disloyal to him, eventually tallying between two and three thousand, in

20735-410: Was made based on the aggregate national population, so long as the size of the House did not exceed 1 member for every 30,000 of the country's total population nor the size of any state's delegation exceed 1 for every 30,000 of that state's population. With the size of the House still fixed at 435, the current ratio, as of the 2020 Census , is around 1 Representative per 760,000 Persons. However, after

20880-515: Was the critical affront to the Constitution, the Court said. Two decades later, however, the Court upheld similar laws. In Hawker v. New York , 170 U.S. 189 (1898), a state law barred convicted felons from practising medicine. In Dent v. West Virginia , 129 U.S. 114 (1889), a West Virginia state law imposed a new requirement that practising physicians had to have graduated from a licensed medical school or they would be forced to surrender their license. The Court upheld both laws because, it said,

21025-519: Was turned into a hexacameral body in 1967. Legislatures vary widely in their size. Among national legislatures , China's National People's Congress is the largest with 2,980 members, while Vatican City 's Pontifical Commission is the smallest with 7. Neither legislature is democratically elected: The Pontifical Commission members are appointed by the Pope and the National People's Congress

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