Constitutional Law bar exam questions & notes.

The state’s Accurate Reports Act requires consumer-reporting agencies to place a specific formatting header on every credit file and lets 'any consumer whose file omits the header' recover $600. Nadia obtains her file from Meridian Reporting and finds the header missing. The error is purely internal: Meridian never transmitted Nadia's file to anyone, no lender or landlord ever saw it, and Nadia suffered no financial loss, denial, or distress. She sues Meridian in federal court for the $600 statutory award, pointing to the plain text of the Act as her entitlement to sue.

Does Nadia have Article III standing to pursue her claim?

1. No, because a statutory violation without concrete harm is not an injury in fact. Correct
2. No, because Congress may not create legally protected interests by statute.
3. Yes, because the Act expressly grants any affected consumer a right to sue for damages.
4. Yes, because a violation of a statutory right is itself a concrete and particularized injury.

Harlan, a resident, reads that a sitting U.S. Senator has quietly accepted a paid position with a federal agency. Believing this violates a clause of the Constitution that bars members of Congress from holding certain federal offices, Harlan sues the Senator in federal court. He alleges no personal injury beyond his interest, shared with every other citizen, in having public officials obey the Constitution. He asks the court to declare the arrangement unlawful and order the Senator to resign the agency post. The Senator moves to dismiss, contending Harlan is not a proper plaintiff to raise the claim.

Why does Harlan lack standing?

1. He asserts only a generalized grievance shared by all citizens, not a particularized injury. Correct
2. The dispute is a political question committed to the Senate alone to resolve.
3. His claim is unripe because the Senator has not yet acted in the agency post.
4. The claim is moot because the Senator could resign the position at any time.

A company and Cascade Warehousing genuinely disagree about whether a long-term storage contract obligates the company to pay a disputed $80,000 surcharge. Neither has yet refused to perform, but both want the question resolved before the company either pays or withholds and triggers a costly default. The company files a declaratory-judgment action in federal court seeking a binding ruling on the parties’ rights under the contract. Cascade moves to dismiss, arguing that because no one has breached and no damages have accrued, the court would only be issuing a forbidden advisory opinion on a hypothetical dispute.

Is the declaratory-judgment action justiciable?

1. Yes, because a real dispute between adverse parties makes a declaratory judgment non-advisory. Correct
2. No, because a court may not rule before one party has actually breached the contract.
3. No, because declaratory relief is by its nature a prohibited advisory opinion.
4. Yes, because federal courts may resolve any significant legal question the parties present.

Elena sued a state college in federal court for an injunction ordering her admission after the college denied her application under an allegedly unlawful policy. While her appeal was pending, the college voluntarily admitted her; she enrolled, completed three years, and is now weeks from graduating on schedule. Elena sought no damages — only the order compelling her admission — and she does not claim she will reapply to any program governed by the challenged policy. The college asks the appellate court to dismiss, arguing there is no longer any live dispute for the court to decide.

What is the most likely disposition of Elena's appeal?

1. Decide the merits, because the challenged admissions policy still affects future applicants.
2. Dismiss as moot, because Elena obtained the relief she sought and no exception applies. Correct
3. Decide the merits under the capable-of-repetition, yet-evading-review mootness exception.
4. Dismiss for lack of standing, because Elena never suffered any injury in fact.