Answer to Question #288380 in Political Science for Chatha

Question

Describe a concrete circumstance where the legislative branch could behave in an unconstitutional fashion (be specific). What specific remedy does the Constitution provide to deal with such a Congress? What would be the source of that remedy, in the Constitution?

Answer 1

The legislative branch creates legislation, but the executive branch's President can veto them with a Presidential Veto. Although the legislative branch creates laws, the judiciary branch has the authority to deem those laws invalid. The executive branch is responsible for the day-to-day enforcement and implementation of Federal legislation through Federal agencies. These Federal ministries and agencies have a wide range of missions and responsibilities, ranging from environmental protection to border security. A law can be vetoed by the President in the executive branch, but it can be overridden by the legislative branch with enough votes. Defenses to criminal prosecutions, postconviction habeas corpus actions, civil damages lawsuits, and declaratory and injunctive relief are all examples of constitutional remedies. After the Civil War, constitutional rights remedies, which were initially indistinguishable from more general legal remedies, became a subject of specific congressional concern and are today a highly developed set of current norms created by both Congress and the Supreme Court. Misconduct by state or federal officials was more likely to be considered as tortious or otherwise merely unlawful than unconstitutional until well into the twentieth century.

Our entire system of constitutional democracy is based in large part on the dictate of judicial review, i.e., the power of the judiciary to exercise the final say on the meaning of the counter majoritarian Constitution's provisions, as virtually all constitutional scholars agree and the Supreme Court has consistently held. Without judicial review, the fundamental checks on tyranny that the Framers so painstakingly put into our political framework would be rendered nearly ineffective at best, and a blatant deception on the public at worst. Surprisingly, the majority of the same experts and judges believe that the exact political branches that the Constitution is intended to constrain will have complete influence over the remedies that will be granted.