< Constitution of the United States | Art. I | Sec. 8(diff) ← Older revision | Latest revision (diff) | Newer revision → (diff)
Constitutional Law Treatise
Table of Contents
|
|
|
| Constitutional Law Outline
|
| Introduction
|
| The Preamble
|
| Article I Legislative Branch
|
| Art. I, Section 1 Legislative Vesting Clause
|
| Art. I, Section 2 House of Representatives
|
| Art. I, Section 3 Senate
|
| Art. I, Section 4 Congress
|
| Art. I, Section 5 Proceedings
|
| Art. I, Section 6 Rights and Disabilities
|
| Art. I, Section 7 Legislation
|
| Art. I, Section 8 Enumerated Powers
|
| Art. I, Section 9 Powers Denied Congress
|
| Art. I, Section 10 Powers Denied States
|
| Article II Executive Branch
|
| Art. II, Section 1 Function and Selection
|
| Art. II, Section 2 Powers
|
| Art. II, Section 3 Duties
|
| Art. II, Section 4 Impeachment
|
| Article III Judicial Branch
|
| Art. III, Section 1 Vesting Clause
|
| Art. III, Section 2 Justiciability
|
| Art. III, Section 3 Treason
|
| Article IV Relationships Between the States
|
| Art. IV, Section 1 Full Faith and Credit Clause
|
| Art. IV, Section 2 Interstate Comity
|
| Art. IV, Section 3 New States and Federal Property
|
| Art. IV, Section 4 Republican Form of Government
|
| Article V Amending the Constitution
|
| Article VI Supreme Law
|
| Article VII Ratification
|
| First Amendment: Fundamental Freedoms
|
| Religion
|
| Establishment Clause
|
| Free Exercise Clause
|
| Free Speech Clause
|
| Freedom of Association
|
| Second Amendment: Right to Bear Arms
|
| Third Amendment: Quartering Soldiers
|
| Fourth Amendment: Searches and Seizures
|
| Fifth Amendment: Rights of Persons
|
| Sixth Amendment: Rights in Criminal Prosecutions
|
| Seventh Amendment: Civil Trial Rights
|
| Eighth Amendment: Cruel and Unusual Punishment
|
| Ninth Amendment: Unenumerated Rights
|
| Tenth Amendment: Rights Reserved to the States and the People
|
| Eleventh Amendment: Suits Against States
|
| Twelfth Amendment: Election of President
|
| Thirteenth Amendment: Abolition of Slavery
|
| Thirteenth Amend., Section 1 Prohibition on Slavery and Involuntary Servitude
|
| Thirteenth Amend., Section 2 Enforcement
|
| Fourteenth Amendment: Equal Protection and Other Rights
|
| Fourteenth Amend., Section 1 Rights
|
| Fourteenth Amend., Section 2 Apportionment of Representation
|
| Fourteenth Amend., Section 3 Disqualification from Holding Office
|
| Fourteenth Amend., Section 4 Public Debt
|
| Fourteenth Amend., Section 5 Enforcement
|
| Fifteenth Amendment: Right of Citizens to Vote
|
| Fifteenth Amend., Section 1 Right to Vote
|
| Fifteenth Amend., Section 2 Enforcement
|
| Sixteenth Amendment: Income Tax
|
| Seventeenth Amendment: Popular Election of Senators
|
| Eighteenth Amendment: Prohibition of Liquor
|
| Eighteenth Amend., Section 1 Prohibition
|
| Eighteenth Amend., Section 2 Enforcement of Prohibition
|
| Eighteenth Amend., Section 3 Ratification Deadline
|
| Nineteenth Amendment: Women's Suffrage
|
| Twentieth Amendment: Presidential Term and Succession
|
| Twentieth Amend., Section 1 Terms
|
| Twentieth Amend., Section 2 Meetings of Congress
|
| Twentieth Amend., Section 3 Succession
|
| Twentieth Amend., Section 4 Congress and Presidential Succession
|
| Twentieth Amend., Section 5 Effective Date
|
| Twentieth Amend., Section 6 Ratification
|
| Twenty-First Amendment: Repeal of Prohibition
|
| Twenty-First Amend., Section 1 Repeal of Eighteenth Amendment
|
| Twenty-First Amend., Section 2 Importation, Transportation, and Sale of Liquor
|
| Twenty-First Amend., Section 3 Ratification Deadline
|
| Twenty-Second Amendment: Presidential Term Limits
|
| Twenty-Second Amend., Section 1 Limit
|
| Twenty-Second Amend., Section 2 Ratification Deadline
|
| Twenty-Third Amendment: District of Columbia Electors
|
| Twenty-Third Amend., Section 1 Electors
|
| Twenty-Third Amend., Section 2 Enforcement
|
| Twenty-Fourth Amendment: Abolition of Poll Tax
|
| Twenty-Fourth Amend., Section 1 Poll Tax
|
| Twenty-Fourth Amend., Section 2 Enforcement
|
| Twenty-Fifth Amendment: Presidential Vacancy
|
| Twenty-Fifth Amend., Section 1 Presidential Vacancy
|
| Twenty-Fifth Amend., Section 2 Vice President Vacancy
|
| Twenty-Fifth Amend., Section 3 Declaration by President
|
| Twenty-Fifth Amend., Section 4 Declaration by Vice President and Others
|
| Twenty-Sixth Amendment: Reduction of Voting Age
|
| Twenty-Sixth Amend., Section 1 Eighteen Years of Age
|
| Twenty-Sixth Amend., Section 2 Enforcement
|
| Twenty-Seventh Amendment: Congressional Compensation
|
Article I Legislative Branch
Section 8 Enumerated Powers
Clause 5 Standards
| Clause Text
|
| To coin Money, regulate the Value thereof, and of foreign Coin, and fix the Standard of Weights and Measures;
|
Because Article I, Section 10, Clause 1 of the Constitution prohibits the states from coining money,[1] the Supreme Court has recognized Congress's coinage power to be exclusive.[2] The Supreme Court has also construed Congress's power "to coin money" and "regulate the value thereof" to authorize Congress to regulate every phase of currency. Congress may charter banks and endow them with the right to issue circulating notes,[3] and it may restrain the circulation of notes not issued under its own authority.[4] To this end, it may impose a prohibitive tax upon the circulation of notes of state banks[5] or municipal corporations.[6]
Inasmuch as "every contract for the payment of money, simply, is necessarily subject to the constitutional power of the government over the currency, whatever that power may be, and the obligation of the parties is, therefore, assumed with reference to that power,"[7] the Supreme Court sustained the power of Congress to make Treasury notes legal tender in satisfaction of antecedent debts.[8]
The Supreme Court has also held that the power to coin money imports authority to maintain such coinage as a medium of exchange at home, and to forbid its diversion to other uses by defacement, melting, or exportation.[9] Consistent with this power, Congress may require holders of gold coin or gold certificates to surrender them in exchange for other currency not redeemable in gold. The Supreme Court denied recovery to a plaintiff who sought payment for gold coin and certificates thus surrendered in an amount measured by the higher market value of gold on the ground that the plaintiff had not proved that he would suffer any actual loss by being compelled to accept an equivalent amount of other currency.[10]
The Supreme Court also upheld Congress's authority to abrogate clauses in pre-existing private contracts calling for payment in gold coin.[11] However, as to obligations of the United States (as opposed to those of private parties), the Supreme Court has held that such an abrogation was an unconstitutional use of the coinage power. The Court reasoned that such abrogation would render obligations of the United States, entered into by earlier Congresses pursuant to their authority to borrow money on the credit of the United States, mere illusory pledges.[12]
- ↑ Art. I, Sec. 10, Clause 1 Proscribed Powers.
- ↑ Houston v. Moore, 18 U.S. 1, 49 (1820); Sturges v. Crowninshield, 17 U.S. 122, 125 (1819).
- ↑ McCulloch v. Maryland, 17 U.S. (4 Wheat.) 316 (1819).
- ↑ Veazie Bank v. Fenno, 75 U.S. (8 Wall.) 533 (1869).
- ↑ Id. at 548.
- ↑ National Bank v. United States, 101 U.S. 1 (1880).
- ↑ Legal Tender Cases (Knox v. Lee), 79 U.S. (12 Wall.) 457, 549 (1871); Juilliard v. Greenman, 110 U.S. 421, 449 (1884).
- ↑ Legal Tender Cases (Knox v. Lee), 79 U.S. (12 Wall.) 457 (1871).
- ↑ Ling Su Fan v. United States, 218 U.S. 302 (1910).
- ↑ Nortz v. United States, 249 U.S. 317 (1935).
- ↑ Norman v. Baltimore & Ohio R.R., 294 U.S. 240 (1935). Similarly, the Supreme Court also upheld Congress's abrogation of clauses in pre-existing private contracts allowing bondholders to elect to be paid in foreign currencies. Guaranty Trust Co. of N.Y. v. Henwood, 307 U.S. 247 (1939).
- ↑ Perry v. United States, 294 U.S. 330 (1935).
