• Belgdore@lemm.ee
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    2 years ago

    With Marbury v Madison, the court gave itself the authority to interpret the constitution and the laws that congress enacts and the president enforces. These are statutory laws.

    The other kind of law is court precedent. It is the law that the court creates based in the cases that come before it. It is inextricably linked to statutory law. Of course the highest court can overturn the law of lower courts or its own decisions.

    Yes, the court can strike down laws.

    The only way to get around the court is to amend the constitution itself. When amending, the language should be plain and clear so that SCOTUS cannot misinterpret it. Though there are several amendments that have been interpreted various ways over time.

    Amending the constitution is a difficult process because it requires a lot of agreement between the members of congress/ senators and the states. See article V of the constitution.

    • Maggoty@lemmy.world
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      2 years ago

      There’s another built in way for Congress and the President to get around SCOTUS. Just ignore the ruling. The most permanent way is an amendment but ignoring it and enforcing the law anyways does work. For example Banks will freeze accounts if the regulator tells them they have to. They aren’t going to make a principled stand for you.

      • Belgdore@lemm.ee
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        2 years ago

        If a regulator enforces a law against you that the court has deemed unconstitutional, you can sue the regulator for damages with the expectation that the court will be on your side.

        The more obvious “built in” option is for the president to pack the court.

        • Maggoty@lemmy.world
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          2 years ago

          The US Marshals enforce court orders. The judges are powerless on their own and that’s by design.

          • Belgdore@lemm.ee
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            2 years ago

            If a portion of the government wholly stops listening to a part of the government that has authority over it, they call it a coup.

            • Maggoty@lemmy.world
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              2 years ago

              Nah it’s just a Constitutional Crisis. But we’ve been through this drill before. As long as you only ignore one or two key rulings it’s pretty mild.

              Our branches of government are supposed to keep each other from going too far. It’s literally in the system design documents.