Constitutional Law: Judicial Review, Due Process, and Speech
What the exam tests
Constitutional Law on the Minnesota bar focuses on justiciability, federalism, due process, equal protection, First Amendment speech and religion, and state action. Questions often ask whether a government rule survives the correct tier of scrutiny.
Core rules
- Standing: injury in fact, causation, redressability. Taxpayer standing is narrow; third-party standing requires a close relationship and hindrance.
- Ripeness and mootness: a live controversy must exist; exceptions include capable of repetition yet evading review and voluntary cessation.
- Procedural due process: Mathews balancing of private interest, risk of error, and government burden. Substantive due process: strict scrutiny for fundamental rights; rational basis for economic regulation.
- Equal protection: strict scrutiny for suspect classifications and fundamental rights; intermediate scrutiny for sex; rational basis for age, wealth, and most economic distinctions.
- First Amendment: content-based speech restrictions get strict scrutiny; content-neutral time, place, and manner rules must be narrowly tailored and leave open alternatives. Public forums, designated forums, and nonpublic forums differ.
- Establishment Clause: coercion and neutrality matter; recent decisions emphasize historical practices, but bar questions still test endorsement and coercion.
- State action: private conduct is not constitutional unless significantly entangled with government.
Worked example
A city ordinance bans all residential lawn signs except For Sale signs. The exception is content-based because enforcement requires reading the sign and distinguishing its message. Strict scrutiny applies. The city may have an interest in aesthetics and traffic safety, but allowing only for-sale signs is not narrowly tailored and is underinclusive. The ordinance likely fails.
Traps
Do not apply strict scrutiny to every speech regulation; commercial speech uses Central Hudson. Government speech is not a public forum. Standing is not the same as merits.