Eleanor Finch
The United States Constitution is a federal constitution that was influenced by the study of the Magna Carta and other ancient and extant federations. The Constitution was drafted by delegates from the states at a convention in Philadelphia in 1787. The United States Code (U.S.C.), on the other hand, is a codification of the general and permanent laws of the United States. It was approved by Congress in 1926 and is routinely cited by the Supreme Court and other federal courts. While the U.S.C. is related to the Constitution, it is not a part of it. This paragraph will explore the relationship between the two and clarify their distinct roles in the US legal system.
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What You'll Learn
- The United States Constitution was influenced by the Magna Carta and other federations
- The US Constitution was ratified in 1787, following a convention of state delegates in Philadelphia
- The US Code is a codification of US legislation, approved by Congress in 1926
- The US Constitution's Due Process Clause was influenced by the Magna Carta and common law
- The Necessary and Proper Clause allows the federal government to act in the people's best interests
The United States Constitution was influenced by the Magna Carta and other federations
The influence of the Magna Carta was evident at the Philadelphia Constitutional Convention in 1787, where the principles of due process and individual liberty were enshrined into law. The Due Process Clause of the Constitution was partly based on common law and on the Magna Carta, which had become a foundation of English liberty against arbitrary power. The Bill of Rights, the first 10 amendments to the Constitution, also reflects the legacy of the Magna Carta. For instance, Article III, Section 2 guarantees a jury trial in all criminal trials, and Article 1, Section 9 forbids the suspension of habeas corpus, ensuring that no one can be imprisoned without legal cause.
The state declarations of rights and the United States Bill of Rights incorporated several guarantees that were understood to descend from rights protected by the Magna Carta. These include freedom from unlawful searches and seizures, the right to a speedy trial, the right to a jury trial in both criminal and civil cases, and protection from loss of life, liberty, or property without due process of law. The theory of representative government, the idea of a supreme law, and judicial review are also rooted in an eighteenth-century understanding of the Magna Carta.
The United States Constitution was also influenced by other federations, both ancient and extant. The idea of the separation of powers inherent in the Constitution was largely inspired by eighteenth-century Enlightenment philosophers such as Montesquieu and John Locke. The influence of these philosophers, along with Edward Coke and William Blackstone, was evident at the Constitutional Convention.
The process of drafting and adopting the United States Constitution was a lengthy and complex one. The Continental Congress, which declared independence for the American colonies, appointed committees to determine the form of the confederation. The Articles of Confederation, adopted in 1777, served as the United States' first constitution and established a weak central government. However, issues such as the inability to prevent states from conducting their own foreign diplomacy and the ineffective response to rebellions led to the realisation that a more powerful central government was needed. In 1787, a convention of state delegates was called to propose revisions to the Articles, with the aim of rendering the federal constitution adequate to the exigencies of government and the preservation of the Union. The final document, signed in 1787, was a series of compromises that disappointed some delegates. The present-day Constitution went into effect in 1789, replacing the Articles of Confederation.
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The US Constitution was ratified in 1787, following a convention of state delegates in Philadelphia
The convention, which met between May and September 1787, resulted in the creation of a new form of government, establishing a federal government with more specific powers, including those related to foreign relations. The proposed Constitution introduced a system of checks and balances, dividing federal authority between the legislative, judicial, and executive branches.
The final document was signed on September 17, 1787, by 39 delegates, and within three days, it was submitted to the Congress of the Confederation. Despite some delegates expressing disappointment with the compromises made, the convention unanimously voted to forward the proposal to the thirteen states for their ratification. The Constitution would come into effect once ratified by nine of the thirteen states, and this process was outlined in Article VII of the proposed Constitution.
The US Constitution was heavily influenced by the Magna Carta and other ancient and extant federations. It embodied the doctrine of the separation of powers, with the federal government divided into the legislative, executive, and judicial branches. The Constitution also outlined the rights and responsibilities of state governments and their relationship to the federal government. The ratification process for the US Constitution took place between 1787 and 1789, and it has served as the basis of the US Government ever since.
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The US Code is a codification of US legislation, approved by Congress in 1926
The process of codifying US legislation began in 1897 with a commission tasked with the job. However, this effort was never completed, and only the Criminal Code of 1909 and the Judicial Code of 1911 were enacted. In the absence of an official code, private publishers collected statutes into unofficial codes. During the 1920s, some members of Congress revived the codification project, resulting in the approval of the United States Code by Congress in 1926.
The US Code is published by West (part of Thomson Reuters) and LexisNexis (part of Reed Elsevier). These publishers release annotated versions that contain notes summarising court decisions, law articles, and other authorities that pertain to each section of the law. They also frequently issue supplements that contain newly enacted laws, as well as updated secondary materials such as new court decisions.
The US Code is organised into titles, which are further divided into chapters and sections. To cite a particular section of the US Code, one needs to know its title and section numbers. For example, the Privacy Act of 1974 is cited as "5 U.S.C. § 552a (2006)", which is read aloud as "Title five, United States Code, section five fifty-two A" or simply "five USC five fifty-two A".
The US Code is routinely cited by the Supreme Court and other federal courts. It is an important resource for lawyers, scholars, and anyone seeking to understand the laws of the United States.
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The US Constitution's Due Process Clause was influenced by the Magna Carta and common law
The US Constitution was influenced by the study of the Magna Carta and other federations, both ancient and modern. The Due Process Clause of the US Constitution was influenced by the Magna Carta and common law.
The Due Process Clause, which is contained in the Fifth Amendment to the Constitution as part of the Bill of Rights, states that:
> No person shall... be deprived of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law.
This clause was influenced by the Magna Carta's Clause 39, which provides that no freeman will be seized, dispossessed of his property, or harmed except "by the law of the land". The phrase "by the law of the land" set the standard for what is now known as due process of law. The phrase "due process of law" first appeared as a substitute for "the law of the land" in a 1354 statute of King Edward III that restated the Magna Carta's guarantee of the liberty of the subject. The Fifth and Fourteenth Amendments to the Constitution, which guarantee that no person shall "be deprived of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law", incorporated the model of the rule of law that English and American lawyers associated most closely with the Magna Carta for centuries.
The Founding Fathers took great inspiration from the Magna Carta as they forged the nation's founding documents, including the Declaration of Independence, the Constitution, and the Bill of Rights. The influence of the Magna Carta was felt at the Philadelphia Constitutional Convention in 1787, when the principles of due process and individual liberty fought for in the Revolutionary War were enshrined into law. The Founding Fathers' reverence for the Magna Carta was based on its symbolism of liberty and the natural rights of man against an oppressive or unjust government.
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The Necessary and Proper Clause allows the federal government to act in the people's best interests
The United States Constitution is a federal constitution that was influenced by the study of the Magna Carta and other ancient and extant federations. The Due Process Clause of the Constitution was based on common law and the Magna Carta, which became the foundation of English liberty against arbitrary power. The idea of the Separation of Powers in the Constitution was inspired by 18th-century Enlightenment philosophers such as Montesquieu and John Locke.
The Necessary and Proper Clause, also known as Article I, Section 8, is interpreted as an extension of the powers vested in the Federal Government, specifically Congress's enumerated Article I powers. The Supreme Court has invoked the Necessary and Proper Clause when addressing the outer limits of Congress's enumerated powers. This clause was included in the Constitution to address the shortcomings of the Articles of Confederation, which had limited federal power to only those powers expressly delegated to the United States.
The Necessary and Proper Clause allows Congress to employ any means that are appropriate and adapted to a permitted end, as long as the end is within the scope of federal power under the Constitution. In McCulloch v. Maryland (1819), the Supreme Court ruled that the Necessary and Proper Clause permits the federal government to take action that will "enable [it] to perform the high duties assigned to it [by the Constitution] in the manner most beneficial to the people," even if the action is not within the enumerated powers. Chief Justice Marshall clarified that the means employed must be "appropriate," "plainly adapted to that end," "not prohibited," and consistent with the "letter and spirit of the Constitution."
The Necessary and Proper Clause has been invoked in several cases to justify various actions by the federal government. For example, in United States v. Comstock (2010), the Court held that the Necessary and Proper Clause authorized Congress to civilly commit mentally ill, sexually dangerous federal prisoners after their sentences if no state would accept custody. The Court recognized the "NIMBY" ("not in my backyard") problem, where the federal government might release a prisoner for civil commitment in several possible states. In another case, the Court considered whether Congress's powers to lay and collect taxes, borrow money, coin money, regulate commerce, declare and conduct war, and raise and support armies implied the power to make paper notes legal tender under the Necessary and Proper Clause.
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Frequently asked questions
The United States Code is a compilation of laws passed by the US Congress. It is routinely cited by the Supreme Court and other federal courts.
The Constitution of the United States is the federal constitution of the United States of America. It was first drafted in 1787 in Philadelphia and was influenced by the study of the Magna Carta and other federations.
No, the USC is not part of the Constitution. The USC is a separate document that compiles laws passed by Congress.
No, the USC cannot be amended like the Constitution. The USC is a compilation of laws, while the Constitution is the foundational document of the US government and can be amended through a formal process.
