Constitutional Law
Constitutional Law tests federal judicial review, federalism, due process, equal protection, and First Amendment doctrine, plus distinctive features of the Kentucky Constitution. Kentucky's Bill of Rights, Sections 1 through 26, can provide greater protection than the federal Constitution, and Kentucky courts sometimes decide cases on independent state grounds.
Judicial review and federalism
Marbury establishes judicial review of legislative acts. Congress may regulate interstate commerce, but the Tenth Amendment reserves police power to the states. Kentucky exercises general police power; the federal government has only enumerated powers.
Due process and equal protection
Procedural due process requires notice and a meaningful hearing before deprivation of life, liberty, or property. Substantive due process protects fundamental rights; equal protection scrutinizes classifications by race, gender, or other criteria. Kentucky's equal protection guarantees appear in Sections 1, 2, and 3 of its Constitution.
Kentucky's jural rights doctrine
Kentucky Constitution Sections 14 (open courts) and 54 limit the General Assembly's power to abolish common-law remedies. This jural rights doctrine has been invoked to invalidate statutes that eliminate established tort remedies without an adequate substitute.
First Amendment
Speech and press are protected; content-based restrictions draw strict scrutiny, while time, place, and manner rules must be content-neutral and narrowly tailored. Kentucky's Constitution Section 8 protects speech, press, and assembly and may be construed independently.
Worked example
A Kentucky statute abolishes all negligence claims against a class of defendants. A plaintiff challenges it under Section 14. Because the statute removes a common-law remedy without a substitute, the jural rights doctrine likely makes it invalid, even if federal due process would permit the change.
Traps
Assuming federal and Kentucky constitutional protections are identical; missing state action; applying strict scrutiny to all speech regulations; forgetting that Sections 59 and 60 bar special and local legislation.