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1、U.S.ConstitutionItisimpossibletounderstandthelegalsystemoftheU.S.withoutunderstandingitsstructureofgovernment.ThegovernmentalstructurewasestablishedbytheConstitutionof1789.Thetwocharacteristicsofthatstructurethatmostdirectlyaffectthelegalsystemare“separationofpowers”and“fe
2、deralism”.Separationofpowersprincipleassuresthatnoneofthethreebranchesoffederalgovernment—legislative,executiveorjudicial—overstepstheboundsofitsproperconstitutionalroleandusurpspowerbelongingtotheothers.Federalismmeansthattherearetwolevelsofgovernmentinthecountry,federala
3、ndstate.IntheversionoffederalismfoundintheU.S.,the50statesoftheU.S.haveagreatdealofindependenceandpower.Inarealsense,theU.S.isacountryof51differentgovernments—50statesandthefederalgovernment.Eachofthesegovernmentshasitsownlegalsystem.Indeed,itwouldbemoreaccuratetocall“thel
4、egalsystemsoftheU.S.”insteadof“thelegalsystemoftheU.S.”.TheGovernmentalStructureProvidedforinthe1789ConstitutionTheConstitutionhassixsubstantivearticles.ThemostimportantintermsofgovernmentalstructureareArticleI,IIandIII,whichconstitutethelegislative,executiveandjudicialbra
5、nchesofgovernment.ArticleIVcontainsmiscellaneousprovisionsthatrelatemainlytothestatesandtheirrelationshiptoeachother.ArticleVsetsoutthecomplicatedanddifficultprocessneededtoamendtheConstitution.ArticleVIsetsoutmiscellaneousprovisions,themostimportantofwhichdeclaresthesupre
6、macyoffederaloverstatelaw.1.Legislativepower“Enumerated”powersofCongressArticleIvests“alllegislativePowersherein”intheCongressandlater(in§8)liststhosepowers.Becausethepowersaresetoutindividuallyinalist,theyareoftenreferredtoasCongress’s“enumeratedpowers”.Themajorpowerslist
7、edin§8arethoseonewouldexpectanationalgovernmenttohave:thepowertoissuemoney,toestablishapostalsystem,tocreatefederalcourts,toraiseanarmyandnavy,todeclarewar,tocollecttaxesandspendmoneyforthegeneralwelfare,andthelike.Asithasdeveloped,themostimportantofthepowersgrantedistheon
8、eempoweringCongresstoregulateinterstatecommerce.AssuringtheSupremacyofFederalLawOneareaof
