• MisterFrog@lemmy.world
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    2 months ago

    Regulations are “unconstitutional”? Hmmmmmmm 🤔 Is SCOTUS bound by anything? Seems like they can rule however they like.

    • Wilzax@lemmy.world
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      2 months ago

      SCOTUS is unchecked by the rest of the federal government. The only thing that would limit their power is a constitutional amendment, which requires 38 states to individually ratify it at the level of their state governments, not their federal congresspeople.

      There is literally no way for congress to affect the supreme court once it has 9 justices, or contradict its rulings on laws they call “unconstitutional”, short of impeaching supreme court justices or packing the court with more than 9 justices. Once enough of the court is full of fascists or enablers, it’s EXTREMELY hard to escape fascism without a constitutional convention.

      • Triasha@lemmy.world
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        2 months ago

        You could instruct the federal agencies to ignore court rulings, effectively undoing Marbury vrs Madison.

        That’s a constitutional crisis, but what is the court gonna do? Call the FBI? Send in the military?

        You can ask the Cherokee people what the court does with an uncooperative federal government, but you won’t find any in Georgia.

        Maybe that’s just fascism with our side in charge though.

        • Wilzax@lemmy.world
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          2 months ago

          Yeah unfortunately once fascism sets in there’s literally no way to get rid of it without using more fascism or violence. And considering that fascism necessarily requires the threat of violence, that previous statement can be simplified to “Fascism can only be defeated with violence”

    • TheHarpyEagle@lemmy.world
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      2 months ago

      In theory that was supposed to be the strength of SCOTUS, that being secure in their employment for life (or until retirement), they had no incentive to judge along party lines for fear of future prospects. However, we’ve seen that judges can still be both very partisan and entirely unqualified and we can now do nothing to remove them. Turns out bribery and threats still work on them

    • UnderpantsWeevil@lemmy.world
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      2 months ago

      Is SCOTUS bound by anything?

      flipping open my Lockean theory of self-governance

      Strictly speaking, the power of government is in its ability to achieve (relatively) peaceful compliance. The SCOTUS decision creates an opportunity for individuals to behave in defiance of the written law with a certain fearlessness. A President can go full Andrew Jackson and tell the judges to enforce that decision, but he’s still got to command a bureaucracy full of people who can be swayed in the other direction.

      What happens to a regulation that nobody is willing to enforce? What happens to a federal regulation that runs afoul of state law, in a district where municipal/state law enforcement will enthusiastically arrest and local DAs prosecute a federal agent?

      I would say that’s the real power of the SCOTUS. Opening the legal door for disobedience and negligence at the federal level, while state-level revolt occurs downstream.