Brief History
The Constitution of the United States is the foundational document establishing the Federal System of the United States and defining the relationship between the States and the Federal Government. The original 13 states drafted and ratified the document, replacing the first constitution, the Articles of Confederation. The Constitution is a product of negotiations and compromises that were made during the Constitutional Convention by the delegates of the 13 states. In order to understand the Constitution, it is important to know that power in the Constitution and the Federal Government is vested in by the States, and they are the primary level of government that most people interact with. The Constitution balances a strong Federal Government with strong State Power, while protecting the rights of the people.
Congress
The Constitution Establishes three branches of Government: The Legislative Branch, the Executive Branch, and the Judicial Branch. The Legislative Branch was established by Article I of the Constitution. This established a Congress consisting of two houses, the House of Representatives and the Senate. This is a product of the Connecticut Compromise. During the Constitutional Convention, delegates of large states wanted representation based on population, while delegates of smaller states wanted equal representation of the states, irrespective of population size. The Connecticut Compromise addressed these concerns by implementing both plans into two chambers of congress.
The House of Representatives is the lower house and represents the citizens of each individual state. Each state receives a certain number of representatives based on their population. Apportionment of representatives is based on the US Census, which counts the population of the United States every 10 years. The House has the Power of Impeachment, but not the power to remove an official from office. Members of the House are elected every two years. Congressional districts are drawn by State Legislatures in accordance with State and Federal laws and are generally redrawn every 10 years based on new census data. Each district elects one representative and is roughly equal in population size. Each state is guaranteed at least one representative in Congress and the House of capped at 435 voting members. It is because of this that every 10 years, states may gain or lose their Congressional Seats based on population changes compared to other states. The House of Representatives also has several non-voting delegates from Washington D.C. as well as the US Territories or Puerto Rico, US Virgin Islands, Guam, Northern Mariana Islands, and American Samoa. Each territory and D.C. receives only one non-voting delegate, irrespective of population size, and are elected every two years, except for Puerto Rico, which elects their delegates every four years. These delegates do not vote on bills, but are able to introduce bills, participate in debates, and sit in Congressional Committees.
The Senate is the upper house and equally represents the individual states. Each state receives two senators, irrespective of their population size and Senators are elected every six years. As there are 50 States, there are 100 Senators. Originally, State Legislatures appointed their Senators, but this changed in 1913 with the ratification of the 17th Amendment. Following this amendment, the citizens of each individual state democratically elect their senators. The Senate has the sole power to vote on treaties, confirm presidential appointments to executive and judicial offices, and try impeachments. In the event that there is a 50-50 vote in the Senate, the Vice President of the United States, who is also the President of the Senate, casts the tie-breaking vote.
Only states can send their Representatives and Senators to Congress. Washington D.C. is not a state but is rather a Federal District. Its establishment was authorized by Article I Section 8 of the Constitution and formally established by the Residence Act of 1790. US Territories are not states either. It is because of this that neither Washington D.C. nor Territories have representation in Congress. These entities have zero representation in the Senate, and they each only have one non-voting delegate in the House of Representatives.
States can elect their Senators and Members of Congress in any manner they like, so long as it is democratic in nature and so long as their electoral system complies with the US Constitution and any applicable Federal laws. Most states utilize a first-past-the-post system, where the top vote-getter is elected, even if they only have a plurality of the vote. This is the case in New York State. Many Southern States, however, employ a runoff system. In these states, if a candidate does not obtain at least 50% + 1 of the votes, there is another runoff election between the top two candidates. Other states, such as Alaska and Maine, use a system called rank-choice-voting, which is an instant runoff system. In these states, citizens rank their candidates in order of preference. If their top preference is eliminated, their second-choice counts, then their third-choice, until either their choice is elected or their vote is exhausted.
In order for legislation to become law, it must be voted on in both chambers of Congress and signed by the President. Generally, most legislation can originate in either chamber, with the exception of spending and taxation legislation. All legislation related to spending and taxation must originate in the House of Representatives. This is known as the Revenue Clause of the Constitution and it is a product of the Connecticut Compromise. Traditionally, bills are referred to their respective committees for consideration and amendment. If the committee votes to approve a bill, it is then voted on by all members of the respective chamber of Congress. Once a bill passes one chamber of Congress, it is then referred to the other chamber, and the bill once again must go through the same committee and amendment process. This process is repeated until both the House of Representatives and the Senate pass the same exact text of the bill. Once both chambers of Congress pass a bill, it is then sent to the President to be signed into law. If a bill is vetoed by the President, Congress can override that veto with a 2/3 vote in the House and the Senate.
In the House of Representatives, bills must pass with a simple majority vote. This is often not the case in the Senate though. The Senate has an internal rule that often requires 60 Senators, not 50, to vote on a bill in order for it to pass the Senate. This is known as the Filibuster. This rule requires some, but not all, legislation to have some consensus between the two parties.
The Constitution lays out two methods of Amending the Constitution. The first method, and the only method to have been used so far, is through Congress. In order for an amendment to be presented to the states for ratification, both chambers of Congress must pass an amendment with 2/3 majority in each chamber. After this, ¾ of all states must ratify the amendment in order for it to be added to the Constitution. Every single amendment to the Constitution was ratified this way. The second way of amending the Constitution is without the involvement of Congress. An amendment can be drafted and proposed by a constitutional convention called by 2/3 of all states, after which it must be ratified by ¾ of all states in order for it to be added to the Constitution. This method has never been used to amend the Constitution. These amendment processes make it incredibly difficult to amend the Constitution as it requires board consensus in Congress and among the states.
President
The Presidency of the United States was established by Article II of the Constitution. The President must born natural-born citizen and is elected every four years. According to the 22nd Amendment, a President can serve for a maximum of 2 terms, or 8 years. If the President succeeded a previous president prior to the end of their term, they could serve for a maximum of 10 years, or two and a half terms. Prior to the ratification of this amendment, the only president who served for more than two terms was Franklin Delano Roosevelt, who was elected to 4 terms and served for 12 years, dying during his fourth term. The President is not directly elected through a popular vote. Instead, the Constitution established the Electoral College where each individual state appoints electors to the Electoral College to elect the President and Vice President. The number of electors that each state receives is determined by the combined number of Representatives and Senators that each state has. Each state is guaranteed at least three electoral votes. Every presidential year, voters of each state vote to determine how their state’s electors vote in the Electoral college. For example, New York State has 28 electors. Since Kamala Harris won the State of New York in 2024, she received all 28 of New York’s electoral votes and Donald Trump received 0, despite the vote in New York being 56%-43%. It is because of this system that there have been several cases of a candidate winning the Presidency due to winning the Electoral College vote but losing the Popular Vote. The most recent case was in 2016.
Only US states and Washington D.C. participate in Presidential Elections. Even though Washington D.C. is not a state and even though it does not have representation in Congress, it does still cast three electoral votes in the Electoral College, as these electors were granted to D.C. by the 23rd Amendment. US Territories do not participate in Presidential Elections at all.
In order for a president to be elected, they must receive a majority of all appointed electors, which today is 270 electoral votes. In the event that neither candidate received a majority of the electoral vote, the 12th Amendment of the Constitution outlines the procedure of determining the winner of the Presidency. This process is known as a Contingent Election. In a Contingent Election, the President is elected by the House of Representatives, and the Vice President is elected by the Senate. To elect the President, each state receives only one vote, irrespective of the number of representatives each state has. For example, in order for New York to case its one vote, a majority of its 26 representatives must vote for a candidate. If there is no majority, New York would not be able to participate in that round of voting. A majority of the states must elect the President. If this majority is not reached, the House votes in another round. This process is repeated until a candidate receives a majority of the states’ votes. The last time there was a Contingent election was in 1825, following the 1824 Presidential election. In a contingent election of the Vice President, a simple majority in the Senate must vote for a candidate.
Article II, Section 3 of the Constitution authorizes the creation of the President’s Cabinet. The Cabinet is appointed by the President and confirmed by the Senate. Each cabinet member leads their respective departments. When Congress is not session, the Constitution allows the President to appoint person to a vacant Cabinet position. Their term expires at the end of the next Congressional Session unless they are confirmed by the Senate. There are 15 cabinet positions and 7 cabinet-level positions. All of these positions require a confirmation vote by the Senate, except for the President’s Chief of Staff, who is directly appointed by the President. US Cabinet officials are in the line of succession to the presidency. According to the 25th Amendment, if the presidency is vacant, the Vice President becomes the President, followed by the Speaker of the House, the President pro-tempore of the Senate, and the 15 cabinet officials, in the order of their department’s establishment. Additionally, in the event that the president is incapacitated or is unable to perform his duties, the Vice President becomes the Acting President. If the Vice President and a majority of the Cabinet determine that the President is unable to discharge his duties, the Vice President becomes the Acting President and Congress must approve of this action within 21 days.
Judicial System
Article III of the Constitution established the Supreme Court of the United States and authorized Congress to establish any necessary subordinate courts. The Constitution does not define the number of justices that are on the Supreme Court. The number of justices is determined by Congress and since the passage of the Judiciary Act of 1869, the Supreme Court has had nine justices. The Judiciary Act of 1789 established the first lower federal courts, creating three levels to the judiciary branch. The first level is District Courts. These are trial courts where cases are heard and tried by a jury. Today there are 98 district courts. Every state is divided into one or more Federl judicial districts, with New York being divided into four districts. The second level is Circuit Courts. These are appellate courts that heard appeals from District Courts. The country is divided between 12 geographic Circuit Courts which hear cases from their subordinate District Courts. There is also a Federal Circuit Court which has nationwide jurisdiction but only has jurisdiction over specialized cases. The final level is the Supreme Court. The Supreme Court hears appeals from Circuit Courts. In addition to this, it also hears appeals from State Supreme Courts on cases that pertain to Federal or Constitutional issues. The Judiciary Act of 1789 also established the position of US Attorney for each Federal Judicial District, who are the chief prosecutors in Federal courts. As the country changed and expanded, subsequent Judicial Acts amended and expanded this system as well, but the structure has remained the same. Every Federal Judge and US Attorney is appointed by the President and confirmed by the Senate.
Every state has a similar state-level judicial system. Every state has lower-level trial courts, middle-level appellate courts, and a supreme court. New York State has this system as well but has different names for each level of the judiciary. In New York, lower-level trial courts are called County Supreme Courts. On the same level, there are also several specialized courts as well, such as Family Courts. Middle-level courts are called Appellate Courts, and the Upper-level court is called the Court of Appeals. As previously mentioned, the US Supreme Court can hear cases from the New York Court of Appeals, but only cases that have federal or constitutional questions.
Originally, the US Supreme Court was considered to be a weak branch of government, as it did not have the power to overturn law. This changed however in 1803, with the Supreme Court Case of Marbury v. Madison. In the opinion of this case, the Supreme Court’s interpretation of the US Constitution gave the Supreme Court the power of Judicial Review. This gave the Supreme Court the ability to overturn federal, and later state laws, that it finds unconstitutional. Judicial Review is what gives the Supreme Court a lot of power as it can change law, even longstanding laws.
Rights
When analyzing rights that are protected in the United States, it is important to understand the philosophical approach that the Founding Fathers took when drafting the Constitution: people are already born with rights as only God can give rights, not the government. The government cannot grant rights as they already exist, but it can and must protect them. This idea is laid out in the Declaration of Independence with the phrase: “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.-That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed.”
Originally, the Constitution did not explicitly protect rights of individuals as it was a document that simply described the functions of the new Federal Government. Many believed it was unnecessary to protect rights in the US Constitution because states’ constitution protected people’s rights. The Bill of Rights, or the first 10 Amendments to the Constitution were a product of the Constitutional Convention. Many people feared a strong central national government but were convinced to approve of the new constitution if a Bill of Rights was ratified immediately after.
The First Amendment protects the right to free speech, press, assembly, and religion as well as protects the right to petition the government to address grievances and wrongdoings without fear of retribution. The Second Amendment protects the right to keep and bear arms. This is necessary to protect a free country and its people from a potentially tyrannical government. The Third Amendment ensures that the Federal government cannot force citizens to house soldiers in their homes. This Amendment was written as a result of British actions prior to independence as the British forced American civilians to house and feed their soldiers. The Fourth Amendment protects people and their property from unreasonable searches and seizures by the government as well as requires law enforcement to obtain warrants signed by judges in order for people to be arrested or for property to be searched or seized. The Fifth Amendment ensures that people who are criminally charged are indicted by a Grand Jury. It additionally protects a person’s right to remain silent and not incriminate themselves. Additionally, this amendment ensures that personal property cannot be seized by the government for public use unless the owner receives just compensation. This is known as eminent domain. The interpretation of this was controversially expanded in the Supreme Court case Kelo v. City of New London to include the government seizing private property for use by private entities if it benefits the public as a whole. The Sixth Amendment guarantees the right to a speedy trial, guarantees the right to legal representation in criminal cases, and guarantees the right to an impartial jury of the defendant’s peers from the State or District that the alleged crime took place. This amendment also requires defendants to be informed of the crime that they are being accused of and protects the right of the accused to present witnesses in their favor. This also protects individuals from being prosecuted more than once for the same alleged crime. The Seventh Amendment ensures a jury trial in Federal Civil cases. The Eighth Amendment protects people against cruel or unusual punishments, ensuring fair treatment under the law as well as protects people from excessive bail or fines. The Ninth Amendment states that although certain rights were explicitly protected under the Constitution, that does not mean that other rights do not exist, and therefore, these other unenumerated rights may not be denied either. Finally, Article I, Section 9 of the Constitution protects the Writ of Habeas Corpus. The Writ of Habeas Corpus gives people the ability to challenge their imprisonment before a Federal Judge. Importantly, this is not a right but is rather a privilege that cannot be suspended under normal circumstances. The Constitution gives Congress the ability to suspend the Writ of Habeas Corpus only in the cases of rebellion or invasion. The 10th Amendment is the cornerstone of State power. This amendment states that any power that was not delegated to the Federal Government and any power that was not explicitly prohibited to the States was therefore reserved for the States. This amendment is what gives individual States a high degree of power in the United States.
Outside of the Bill of Rights, there are other Amendments in the Constitution that protect people’s rights. The 13th Amendment prohibits slavery and involuntary servitude. This amendment was ratified after the American Civil War and is the first amendment to directly impose restrictions on State governments. There is, however, an exception in the 13th Amendment. Although slavery and involuntary servitude is banned in the United States, it is permitted as a form of punishment for a crime. It is because of this that forced prison labor, for little or no pay, is legal and regularly practiced in many states.
The 14th Amendment guarantees all people equal protection under the law. This means that no matter what a person is or who they are, they will be treated equally. Additionally, this amendment prohibits the Federal Government and State Governments from depriving “life, liberty, or property, without due process of law.” This section of this Amendment is very important due to how it was interpreted by the Supreme Court. Originally, when rights were explicitly protected by the Constitution, they only protected people from the Federal Government, and they did not apply to State governments. In the years following the ratification of the 14th Amendment, the Supreme Court felt it necessary to make the Bill of Rights and other rights under the constitution be protected from State governments as well. The Supreme Court used this section of the 14th Amendment to make most rights under the Constitution apply to the States in addition to the Federal Government. This process is known as incorporation. Not all Amendments or sections of Amendments are incorporated, but most are. The 14th Amendment also guarantees citizenship to all people born or lawfully naturalized in the United States, provided that they fall under the jurisdiction of the United States. Today this means that all people born in the US are citizens, with the exception of children of foreign diplomats. In the past, this meant that independent Native American Tribes that lived on land claimed by the US but were not living under the laws of the US, did not receive citizenship, but today, all Natives fall under Federal jurisdiction are therefore citizens by birth.
The 15th Amendment guarantees the right to vote for all men, regardless of race. The Civil Rights Acts further reinforced this Amendment, ensuring that all men, and later women, had the equal right and access to vote. The 19th Amendment guaranteed women the right to vote. The 24th Amendment guaranteed citizens access to voting by eliminating poll taxes. Poll taxes were used by southern states to prevent African-Americans from voting. This the 24th Amendment rectified this issue.
Even though there are a number of enumerated rights in the Constitution, there are also many unenumerated rights that the Supreme Court found the Constitution protects. Some of these rights include, but are not limited to the right to privacy, the right to travel, etc. A famous example of the debate of what is and isn’t guaranteed by the Constitution is the question of the legality of abortion. In 1973, the Supreme Court ruled in Roe v. Wade that the right to an abortion was guaranteed by the Constitution, even though it was not directly mentioned in the Constitution. In 2022, the Supreme Court ruled in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization that the 1973 decision was incorrect and that the right to an abortion was not guaranteed by the Constitution. This meant that individual states could decide the legality of abortion within their borders. Many states have since explicitly guaranteed the right to abortion within their state constitution, including New York State. Many states also imposed constitutional bans on abortion.
States and State Autonomy
The 10th Amendment serves as the cornerstone of state power in the United States. This amendment grants all powers to the states that were not granted to Congress and that were not explicitly denied from the states. These powers that were granted to states are known as “police powers.” It is because of these police powers that states hold a lot of power within the United States and why most ordinary citizens primarily interact with state laws and authority, rather than federal laws and authority.
Once a state is admitted into the Union, the Federal Government is unable to abolish a state, and the borders of a state may not be changed without the consent of the state itself and of Congress. In addition to this, all states are in perpetual union and therefore, secession is illegal. After the Civil War, the Supreme Court in Texas v. White, ruled that the secession of Texas and other southern states prior to the Civil War was unconstitutional as the Constitution places states into perpetual union with the United States and that this union is indissoluble.
Every state has its own state constitution and laws can be very different from state to state. State can generally pass any law that they wish provided that it complies with the Federal Constitution and Federal Laws. In event of conflict between State and Federal law, the Supremacy Clause of the Constitution ensures that Federal law overrides state law. As previously mentioned, a great variation in state law can be found in the legality of abortion. Another example of variation in laws from state to state is the legality of gun ownership. Although the Second Amendment protects the right to keep and bear arms, states still have the ability to regulate local gun laws, so long that these laws comply with the Second Amendment and Federal Law. For example, in New York State, there are many restrictions as to who can own a gun and where a person can go with a gun. New York used to have even stricter laws pertaining to the concealed carry of guns in public spaces, but the US Supreme Court found that law unconstitutional. In other states, such as Texas or Vermont, their state laws do not require any permits to conceal carry a gun in public spaces. Many states also permit the open carry of handguns and long guns, something that is illegal in New York State.
Law enforcement is primarily administered by the states and local governments. It is because of this that there are about 18,000 different law enforcement agencies in the United States and why there is no single federal law enforcement agency, but rather multiple specialized Law Enforcement Agencies. The oldest Federal law enforcement agency is the US Marshal Service. Other Federal Law Enforcement agencies include the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), the Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA), the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF), US Park Police, Postal Police (United States Postal Inspection Service USPIS), US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), and many other agencies. Each federal law enforcement agency has its own specialized area over which they have jurisdiction over.
Every state is free to organize their law enforcement in any way they wish. Most people interact with municipal police, which are funded and operated by individual cities and municipalities in the state. The most famous of these agencies is the New York City Police Department (NYPD). Every single county in New York State has a sheriff. Counties are a form of local government that are established by the New York Constitution, which operate alongside municipal governments that are within their borders. In general, sheriffs are the primary law enforcement agency if there is no municipal government. If all of a county’s land is covered by municipal police departments, such as the case in New York City, then the role of sheriffs is significantly diminished. In these cases, sheriffs only execute civil court orders such as evictions and transport prisoners, among other minor things, leaving primary law enforcement duties to municipal law enforcement. New York State also has a state-wide police force, known as the New York State Police. State Police generally patrol state owned and operated roads and highways but do also support municipal law enforcement when needed. In major criminal cases that involve state and federal law, municipal, state, and respective federal agencies work on investigations together.
Each state and territory operates their own National Guard. Each state’s National Guard is a reserve element of the US Army and is under the command of that state’s governor. They are separate from the Federal Army and have different authority. Under the Posse Comitatus Act of 1878, the Federal Army cannot enforce domestic civilian law, but this restriction can be suspended if the Insurrection Act is invoked by the President in times of crisis or war. The National Guard does not have these restrictions however due to them being under state control. When the National Guard is under the control of a state’s governor, they operate under Title 32 of the US Code. In this case, the National Guard not only has the duty to protect their state from invasion, but it also has complete police authority and therefore can enforce civilian law and act as law enforcement. During riots and other emergencies, such as natural disasters, governors can and do mobilize their National Guard units. In New York State, the governor regularly stations National Guard Military Police at major transport hubs as part of counter-terrorism efforts. When there was a crime spike on the New York City Subways, the Governor or New York deployed the National Guard to patrol some subway stations. Under Title 10 of the US Code, the President can federalize any state’s National Guard for use alongside the Federal Army. When this occurs, the National Guard has the same restrictions as the Federal Military, meaning that they cannot enforce domestic civilian law. If a Federal Army unit or a Federalize National Guard unit are deployed domestically, they can only be used for support roles and cannot be armed.
Washington D.C. also has its own National Guard unit, but the Mayor of D.C. has no control over them. The Washington D.C. National Guard unique in that it is under the direct control of the President and the Secretary of Defense, but they still operate under Title 32, meaning that they have full police powers to enforce domestic civilian law if the need arises. These powers have recently been utilized with President Trump’s deployment of the National Guard in D.C. in order to fight crime.
Native Reservations
The United States has a unique relationship with Native Americans. Most Native American live on Indian Reservations, most of which are in the western United States. For most of American history, Native Americans were not under the jurisdiction of Federal law and lived largely independent from the United States. It is because of this that they were not citizens for many years, but this changed. As the country expanded west and as Americans settled land, Indian reservations were established, and Natives were forced to move to them. Gradually, all Native Americans came under Federal jurisdiction, making them subject to Federal law and authority, but also granting them citizenship by birth as well.
Today, under Federal Law, Indian reservations are considered to be domestic dependent nations, meaning that they enjoy a large degree of autonomy and have similar powers to the states themselves. These reservations operate their own local government, law enforcement, court systems, and other government functions largely independently from the state that they may be located in. Native Americans who are located on a reservation are not under the jurisdiction of the state that they are located, meaning that generally, state law does not apply to them, and state and municipal police may not arrest these people, but they are still subject to Federal law and Federal law enforcement still has jurisdiction over these people. A good example of how this works can be seen with casinos. Many Indian tribes own and operate casinos on their reservations that are located in states where gambling is illegal. They are able to do this because even though the state that they are located in has a ban on gambling, this activity is legal on their reservation as state law does not apply to these areas. Jurisdictional questions arise when reservations and municipalities with large non-native population are located in one area. This is a major issue in Oklahoma, especially in the city of Tulsa. Tulsa, Oklahoma is split between several reservations, meaning that non-natives in this city are subject to city and state laws, while natives are only subject to the laws of their reservations, creating a dual legal system within one area. The Supreme Court case McGirt v. Oklahoma reaffirmed that the State of Oklahoma could not prosecute Native Americans for alleged crimes committed by Native Americans on reservations within the state as Oklahoma does not have jurisdiction over them. Agreements between tribes and the local police department have alleviated many issues, but there are still many jurisdictional questions that arise, which often require Federal courts to step in.
Native American reservations function similarly to states. This means that most have their own tribal court system, independent from the state’s court system. Most reservations are also considered to federal land, whose operations are entrusted to sovereign native tribes. This means that both tribal police and the Federal Bureau of Indian Affairs Police patrol these lands and have jurisdiction over crimes committed in these lands. Additionally, Federal Courts, alongside tribal courts have direct jurisdiction to prosecute crimes committed on these lands, especially on reservations that lack their own independent police force or tribal court system.
Conclusion
The constitutional system of the United States is very unique due to its structure and the high degree of autonomy and authority that states and other entities enjoy. The United States was built upon protecting the rights of people, the rights that the government did not grant them, but rather the rights that people are born with. American Democracy is not built upon the direct representation of people in the Federal Government but is rather built upon representing the States in the Federal government, meaning that citizens are indirectly represented through their States. This system, although imperfect, has survived for over 200 years and there is little sign that it will change. The Constitution successfully balances Federal and State power, ensuring that the Federal Government is strong enough to execute its duties and keeping the country together, while preserving the power, authority, and autonomy of the states.
Literature
Alaska Rank-Choice Voting https://www.elections.alaska.gov/petitions/19AKBE/19AKBE_Ballot_Summary_FINAL.pdf
Amendments 1-10 (U.S Bill of Rights) https://www.archives.gov/founding-docs/bill-of-rights-transcript
Amendments 11-27 https://www.archives.gov/founding-docs/amendments-11-27
Constitutional Convention https://constitutioncenter.org/the-constitution/white-papers/the-constitutional-convention-of-1787-a-revolution-in-government\
Declaration of Independence https://www.archives.gov/founding-docs/declaration-transcript
Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization https://supreme.justia.com/cases/federal/us/597/19-1392/
General Principles of Federal Indian Law https://www.uaf.edu/tribal/academics/112/unit-4/generalprinciplesoffederalindianlaw.php
Georgia Runoff Law https://codes.findlaw.com/ga/title-21-elections/ga-code-sect-21-2-501/
Judiciary Act of 1789 https://avalon.law.yale.edu/18th_century/judiciary_act.asp
Judiciary Act of 1869 https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/STATUTE-16/pdf/STATUTE-16-Pg44-4.pdf
Kelo v. City of New London https://supreme.justia.com/cases/federal/us/545/469/
Marbury v. Madison https://supreme.justia.com/cases/federal/us/5/137/
McGirt v. Oklahoma https://supreme.justia.com/cases/federal/us/591/18-9526/
New York State Constitutional Protection of Abortion https://www.ny.gov/programs/abortion-new-york-state-know-your-rights
NY National Guard at Major Transport Hubs https://www.dvidshub.net/news/209162/empire-shield-soldiers-guarding-nyc-transit-hubs-since-9-11
NY National Guard in Subways https://www.nytimes.com/2025/08/11/us/politics/hochul-national-guard-nyc-subway.html
Posse Comitatus Act of 1878 https://policy.defense.gov/portals/11/Documents/hdasa/references/6_USC_466.pdf
Residence Act of 1790 https://www.mountvernon.org/education/primary-source-collections/primary-source-collections/article/residence-act-of-1790
Roe v. Wade https://supreme.justia.com/cases/federal/us/410/113/
Texas v. White https://supreme.justia.com/cases/federal/us/74/700/
Title 10 of the US Code https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/10
Title 32 of the US Code https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/32
Tribal Law Enforcement https://bjs.ojp.gov/topics/tribal-crime-and-justice/tribal-law-enforcement#0-0
U.S. Constitution https://www.archives.gov/founding-docs/constitution-transcript