Constitutional Law - Section 2
Final Examination
Professor Harpaz
May 1, 2003
Question I
(Suggested time: 60 minutes) (50 out of 150 total exam points)
In the wake of a series of fires deliberately set at abortion clinics, Congress passed a statute called the Punishment of Arson at Clinics Act (PACA). Under the statute, it is a federal crime to intentionally damage or destroy a reproductive health clinic by setting fire to the clinic. Before enacting the statute, Congress held hearings in which it heard testimony that reproductive health clinics engage in interstate commerce because they purchase medicine, medical supplies, surgical instruments and other necessary medical products, often from other states. In addition, owing to a national shortage in the availability of abortion providers, patients must often travel interstate to obtain reproductive health services. For example, the House of Representatives found that 44% of patients treated at a Wichita, Kansas clinic were from out of state. In addition, physicians must often engage in interstate commerce because some physicians perform abortions in more than one state. The Senate noted, for example, that one physician from Minnesota provided abortion services in Minnesota, Montana and North Dakota.
In addition to the testimony it heard about the interstate aspects of reproductive health services, Congress also heard testimony that fires at abortion clinics forced clinics to close and caused harmful delays in the provision of medical services, increased health risks to patients and caused millions of dollars of damage to reproductive health facilities. The fires and the threat of fires, moreover, decreased physicians’ willingness to perform abortions. For example, at least 3 physicians in Dallas, Texas stopped performing abortions as a result of a clinic fire. Such intimidation has contributed to an already acute shortage of qualified abortion providers. Congress also found that clinic arson frequently was instigated by a nationally coordinated anti-abortion movement that often planned and directed its activities across state lines.
Several months after the enactment of PACA, a fire damaged a reproductive health clinic in Indiana. The fire was found to have been deliberately set and federal authorities arrested Gavin Granger and charged him with violating PACA. While Mr. Granger pled guilty to the charge of clinic arson, his plea was conditioned on a judicial determination of the constitutionality of PACA.
Mr. Granger has now presented his argument that PACA violates the constitution to a federal court. He argues that PACA is unconstitutional because its enactment exceeded Congress’ authority under the Commerce Clause. He further argues that even if PACA might be constitutional as applied to some fires at reproductive health clinics, his activities are unrelated to interstate commerce. The Indiana clinic where he set a fire had no patients or doctors from outside the state, was only slightly damaged by the fire and only closed for a few hours due to the fire. In addition, Mr. Granger argues that he is not a member of any nationwide anti-abortion organization and that he acted alone and solely within Indiana in planning and executing the fire.
You are a law clerk to the federal district court judge assigned to consider Mr. Granger’s constitutional challenge to PACA. The judge asks you to write a memorandum of law detailing the constitutional arguments available to Mr. Granger in arguing both that PACA exceeded Congress’ authority under the Commerce Clause and that, even if the statute can constitutionally apply to some clinic fires, it would violate the Commerce Clause to apply PACA to Mr. Granger’s actions in setting fire to the Indiana abortion clinic. The judge also asks you to detail the constitutional arguments available to the federal government in defending against the arguments raised by Mr. Granger.
Question II
(Suggested time: 60 minutes) (50 out of 150 total exam points)
The City of Springdale is located in the southwest corner of the State of Midwest. It is 25 miles north of the bordering State of Midsouth. For many years, the City of Springdale had serious traffic congestion during the morning and evening rush hours. One of the contributors to the traffic problem was the fact that the major north/south road entering the city was a two-lane road with frequent stop lights and a maximum speed limit of 45 m.p.h. To remedy the traffic problem, the City created the Springdale Speedway Authority (SSA), a government entity formed to build and maintain a new high speed toll road to reduce congestion on the north/south axis into the city. To build the new road, the SSA issued and sold bonds to raise money to pay for 75% of the cost of the new road. The bonds were to be repaid from toll revenues generated by the new road. The remaining 25% of the money needed to pay for the road came from the State.
The new road, the Springdale Speedway, was completed last year. It extends from 20 miles north of the city to 20 miles south. Its southern end is 5 miles north of the Midsouth border. The new toll road is a four-lane limited access road with a maximum speed limit of 65 m.p.h. The new road supplements, but did not replace the existing two-lane north/south road which still carries traffic in and out of the city. The Speedway toll is based on the distance traveled on the road. If a driver starts at either end of the road and drives 20 miles into the city, the fee is $5. This is higher than the fee charged by other toll roads within the state. The money raised by Speedway tolls is used to repay bondholders, maintain the Speedway, and contribute excess revenues to the State Highway Fund to pay for other road projects within the state.
To avoid delays at the Speedway tollbooths, the SSA instituted the Speedway Pass, an electronic toll collection system that enables subscribing drivers to pass through tollbooths without stopping to pay tolls in cash. The Speedway Pass is exclusively used to electronically collect tolls on the Speedway. Other toll roads within Midwest are part of the Fast Pass system, another system used to electronically collect tolls. Fast Pass is used in both Midwest and Midsouth as well as 10 other states in the region. The Springfield Speedway does not recognize Fast Pass or any other electronic toll collection system other than the Speedway Pass. All drivers without a Speedway Pass must pay their tolls in cash by stopping at a toll collection booth.
A Speedway Pass is available from the SSA at a cost of $20 for the transponder device that signals the tollbooth that a particular Speedway Pass subscriber has passed through the toll gate. Speedway Pass holders may charge Speedway tolls to a credit card or a bank account at Midland Bank, a large bank with branches throughout Midwest and Midsouth. As the result of public outcry about the excessive tolls charged to drive the Speedway, the SSA instituted a discount program for state residents who are subscribers to the Speedway Pass. Residents of the State of Midwest are eligible for a Frequent Driver Discount. Drivers who drive on the Speedway at least 10 times per month receive a discount of 25% for all subsequent uses of the Speedway for the remainder of the month once the 10-time discount trigger has been reached.
Margaret Morris resides in Midsouth and operates a catering business specializing in catering corporate events. Her business is headquartered in Midsouth near the Midwest border and she uses a van to deliver prepared food and other supplies necessary for catering meals. Many of her corporate customers are located in the City of Springdale so she frequently drives her van between Midsouth and Springdale. Her van has been equipped with a Fast Pass transponder since such passes became available.
After the Speedway was completed, Ms. Morris began using it to drive to Springdale. While it saved her time, she was annoyed at the delay she encountered at the Speedway tollbooth. Therefore, she contacted the SSA about obtaining a Speedway Pass for her van. She was informed that the pass would cost her $20 and that she would not be eligible for a Frequent Driver Discount because she resided in Midsouth.
Margaret Morris has filed suit against the Springdale Speedway Authority challenging both its refusal to recognize Fast Pass transponders which are recognized by all other toll roads in the region and its refusal to grant her a Frequent Driver Discount. You are a law clerk for the judge assigned to the case. The judge asks you to write a memorandum of law detailing the constitutional arguments available to Ms. Morris in challenging the SSA’s refusal to recognize Fast Pass transponders and its refusal to grant Frequent Driver Discounts to nonresidents of Midwest as well as the constitutional arguments available to the SSA in its defense.
Question III
(Suggested time: 60 minutes) (50 out of 150 total exam points)
The Bloomfield School District operates 10 public schools including 6 elementary schools, 3 middle schools and 1 high school. The school district recently became concerned that its students were coming to believe that marriage could be lightly entered into and easily ended. The attitude of the students was based on the high rate of divorce among Bloomfield residents, the publicity given to a number of celebrity marriages that ended quickly and the fact that marriage can now be earned as a prize for being selected by a prospective bride or groom on a reality television show. To counteract these cultural influences, the school district decided to add promoting long term marriage and discouraging divorce to the values it taught in its curriculum.
In addition to adding to its curriculum, the school district decided to promote its pro-marriage/anti-divorce policy in its hiring decisions. To implement this aspect of its policy, it adopted a rule that it would no longer hire employees who had been divorced or were in the process of getting divorced. Current employees, including those hired by the district prior to February 1, 2003, the date the policy became effective, were not affected by the policy and could marry and divorce without fear of losing their jobs. In addition, employees hired while they were single or married would not lose their jobs if they obtained a divorce at some future time. The school district, on advice of its lawyer, did not believe it could discharge employees for divorcing without violating the job security rules in the district’s contract with the teacher’s union.
The school district was concerned that its new policy did not eliminate divorced employees from its workforce, but only prevented the hiring of already divorced new employees. In order to encourage its current and future employees to remain married after they were hired, it instituted a “long-term marriage bonus” as part of its pay scale. Employees who were married for at least 5 years received $100 in additional pay for every year they had been married. In addition, at five year intervals, to mark major wedding anniversaries, employees received a one-time bonus of $2500 at their 10 year anniversary, $5000 at 15 years, $7,500 at 20 years, and so on. The school district hoped that these financial incentives would reduce the rate of divorce among its employees and provide an occasion to celebrate long-term marriage when it awarded the 5 year bonuses at an annual celebration.
Amanda Armstrong recently applied for a job as a high school teacher in the Bloomfield School District. Ms. Armstrong was briefly married at the age of 18, but the marriage lasted only 6 months. She married again at the age of 22 and has remained happily married for the past 10 years. While otherwise qualified for a teaching position, the Bloomfield School District refused to hire her solely because she had been divorced.
Ms. Armstrong has filed suit against the Bloomfield School District arguing that the school district’s anti-divorce hiring policy violates her rights under the Due Process and Equal Protection Clauses of the Fourteenth Amendment. You are a law clerk for the judge assigned to the case. The judge asks you to write a memorandum of law detailing the Due Process and Equal Protection arguments that can be made by Amanda Armstrong in challenge the anti-divorce hiring policy as well as the Due Process and Equal Protection arguments that can be made by the Bloomfield School District in defense of the policy.
END OF EXAMINATION