Constitutional Law

Constitutional Law, system of fundamental principles on the organization of a country’s government and the limitations of its powers. In the United States, constitutional law refers to legal rights that are directly addressed in the Constitution of the United States.

For information on:

• constitutional law in the U.S., see United States (Government): Types of Law
• historical development and text of the United States Constitution, see Constitution of the United States
• judicial review and interpretation of the U.S. Constitution, see Judicial Review; Supreme Court of the United States: Introduction; United States (Government): Responsibilities of the Supreme Court
• right to fair and public trial before a competent tribunal, see Due Process of Law
• freedom of worship, see Freedom of Religion
• unrestricted oral and written expression, see Civil Rights and Civil Liberties: Freedom of Speech, Press, and Assembly; Freedom of Speech
• immunity of media from government control or censorship, see Freedom of the Press; Newspapers: Revolutionary Period
• protection against cruel and unusual punishment, see Capital Punishment: Capital Punishment and the Constitution; Prison: Legal Challenges to Overcrowding; Supreme Court of the United States: The Mixed Legacy of the 1970s and 1980s
• protection against double jeopardy, see Acquittal
• equal protection, see Civil Rights and Civil Liberties: Introduction; Civil Rights and Civil Liberties: Minority Rights; Supreme Court of the United States: From Reconstruction to the New Deal
• protection against unreasonable search and seizure, see Civil Rights and Civil Liberties: Civil Rights in the U.S.; Criminal Procedure
• just compensation for private property taken for public use, see Eminent Domain
• immunity from self-incrimination, see Evidence: Privileges
• segregation in the United States; see Plessy v. Ferguson; Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka
• interpreting the constitution, see Supreme Court of the United States: Introduction and following sections in that article; Slaughterhouse Cases; Chisholm Case; Dred Scott Case; Expatriation
• application of constitutional law, see Due Process of Law; Evidence: Law of Evidence in the U.S.; De Facto; Immunity (law)
• historic developments in constitutional law and interpretation, see Dartmouth College Case; Slaughterhouse Cases
• other constitutions, see Constitution of Canada; English Constitution
• constitutional law as part of legal education curriculum, see Legal Education: Instruction and Degrees