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FAMU Hurt Constitutional Law II
Constitutional Law II | |
Taught by | Joseph Richard Hurt |
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School | Florida A&M University College of Law |
Semester(s) taught | Fall 2021 |
Required texts | |
Supplementary materials | |
Related course(s) |
State Action Doctrine
State Action Doctrine is the concept that the Constitution cannot regulate private activity, it can only regulate activities of the government (federal and states via 14th incorporation). US v. Stanley.
Exceptions: Instances Where the Government CAN Regulate Private Activity
Public Function
- A private entity must comply with the Constitution if it is performing a task that has been traditionally and exclusively done by the government. Marsh v. Alabama.
- There must be a sufficiently close nexus between the State and the challenged action of the regulated entity for the action of the regulated entity to be considered an act of the State. Jackson v. Metropolitan.
Examples
Terry v. Adams: A private political party that controls the outcome of elections is engaging in state action, thereby making it subject to the 15th Amendment of the Constitution (must allow citizens of all races to vote).
Evans v. Newton: Operating a park is a public function and therefore, the owner is subject to the Fourteenth Amendment of the Constitution.
Hudgens v. National Labor Relations Board: A private shopping mall is not the functional equivalent of a town and, therefore, not a state actor subject to the requirements of the First Amendment of the Constitution.
Manhattan Community Access Corporation v. Halleck: The Court ruled that under the state-action doctrine, the operation of public access television channels on a cable system was not a traditional, exclusive public function, and a private entity that opened its property for speech by others was not transformed by that fact alone into a state actor.