U.S. Term Limits, Inc. v. Thornton
E439603
U.S. Term Limits, Inc. v. Thornton is a 1995 U.S. Supreme Court case that held states cannot impose term limits on members of Congress beyond those specified in the U.S. Constitution.
Statements (47)
| Predicate | Object |
|---|---|
| instanceOf |
United States Supreme Court case
ⓘ
constitutional law case ⓘ elections law case ⓘ |
| areaOfLaw |
federalism
ⓘ
separation of powers ⓘ |
| arguedDate | 1994-11-29 ⓘ |
| citation |
115 S. Ct. 1842
ⓘ
131 L. Ed. 2d 881 ⓘ 514 U.S. 779 ⓘ |
| constitutionalProvisionInterpreted |
Article I, Section 2 of the United States Constitution
NERFINISHED
ⓘ
Article I, Section 3 of the United States Constitution NERFINISHED ⓘ Tenth Amendment to the United States Constitution NERFINISHED ⓘ |
| country |
United States of America
ⓘ
surface form:
United States
|
| court | Supreme Court of the United States ⓘ |
| decisionDate | 1995-05-22 ⓘ |
| defendant | Ray Thornton NERFINISHED ⓘ |
| dissentingOpinionBy |
Anthony M. Kennedy
NERFINISHED
ⓘ
Antonin Scalia NERFINISHED ⓘ Clarence Thomas NERFINISHED ⓘ William H. Rehnquist NERFINISHED ⓘ |
| docketNumber | 93-1456 ⓘ |
| effect |
Invalidated state constitutional provisions imposing term limits on members of Congress
ⓘ
Limited states’ ability to regulate ballot access for federal legislative candidates ⓘ |
| holding |
States cannot impose term limits on members of Congress beyond those in the U.S. Constitution
ⓘ
States may not impose qualifications for prospective members of Congress stricter than those specified in the U.S. Constitution ⓘ |
| issue |
Validity of state-imposed term limits for federal legislators
ⓘ
Whether a state can add qualifications for members of the U.S. House of Representatives and Senate ⓘ |
| joinedByInMajority |
David H. Souter
NERFINISHED
ⓘ
Harry Blackmun NERFINISHED ⓘ Sandra Day O’Connor NERFINISHED ⓘ Thurgood Marshall NERFINISHED ⓘ William J. Brennan Jr. NERFINISHED ⓘ |
| languageOfDecision | English ⓘ |
| legalPrinciple |
Qualifications for members of Congress are fixed in the U.S. Constitution and may not be supplemented by the states
ⓘ
The Tenth Amendment does not reserve to the states a power to add qualifications for federal office that the Constitution does not delegate NERFINISHED ⓘ |
| majorityOpinionBy | John Paul Stevens NERFINISHED ⓘ |
| originatingCourt | Arkansas Supreme Court NERFINISHED ⓘ |
| originatingState | Arkansas NERFINISHED ⓘ |
| plaintiff | U.S. Term Limits, Inc. NERFINISHED ⓘ |
| precedentFor | later cases addressing state regulation of federal elections ⓘ |
| relatedConcept |
ballot access restrictions
ⓘ
congressional term limits ⓘ state powers under the Tenth Amendment ⓘ |
| relatedMeasure | Arkansas Term Limitation Amendment (Amendment 73) NERFINISHED ⓘ |
| result | Arkansas Amendment 73’s congressional term limits provisions were held unconstitutional ⓘ |
| vote | 5-4 ⓘ |
| yearDecided | 1995 ⓘ |
Referenced by (1)
Full triples — surface form annotated when it differs from this entity's canonical label.
Article I, Section 4 of the United States Constitution
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citedInCase
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U.S. Term Limits, Inc. v. Thornton
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