Constitutional and Administrative Law

An administrative law judge is an official who presides over hearings in many agency disputes.

Learn what arbitrary and capricious review means when courts evaluate agency action in administrative law.

Terms covering constitutional rights, government structure, agency power, and judicial limits in U.S. public law.

Due process is the constitutional principle that government must follow fair procedures and, in some contexts, respect certain fundamental liberties.

Equal protection is the constitutional principle that government generally must not treat similarly situated people differently without sufficient legal justification.

Understand exhaustion of administrative remedies and why courts often require parties to finish agency processes first.

The First Amendment protects speech, religion, press, assembly, and petition rights against improper government interference.

The Fourth Amendment protects against unreasonable searches and seizures by government.

Learn what intermediate scrutiny means and how it differs from strict scrutiny and rational basis review.

Judicial review is the power of courts to evaluate whether laws or government actions are valid under higher legal authority.

Learn how notice and comment rulemaking works and why public participation matters in administrative law.

Understand overbreadth and why a law can be challenged for sweeping in too much protected speech.

Learn what prior restraint means and why courts usually treat advance limits on speech with strong suspicion.

See how rational basis review works and why it is the most deferential standard of constitutional review.

Rulemaking is the process by which an administrative agency creates, amends, or repeals regulations.

Separation of powers is the constitutional principle that divides government authority among branches to prevent concentration of power.

Understand strict scrutiny, when courts apply it, and why it is the toughest standard of constitutional review.

Learn what substantive due process means, why it matters, and how it differs from procedural due process in U.S. constitutional law.

See what vagueness means in constitutional law and why unclear statutes can violate due process.