Democracy is always under siege by democracy. In the latest threats to democracy, the Supreme Court made several rulings that laws should be made by elected officials, not by judges or bureaucrats.
According to Blake Emerson at Slate, this is a “major blow to democratic constitutionalism”. Particularly West Virginia v. EPA in which the conservative majority noted that.. the EPA was building a vast regulatory regime that Congress had not only not authorized, but specifically declined to authorize.
The opinion undermines the federal regulatory state that Congress has established—with the court’s blessing—over the past 200 years.
Congress can pass laws. If Congress wants the EPA to have these powers, it can do that. Much as it can write Roe v. Wade into law (even if it’s ultimately as unconstitutional as regulations involving slavery).
Together with the court’s elimination of the constitutional right to abortion, restriction of gun regulations, and expansion of religious authority, a clear picture is emerging: The people have less power now to create a safe and healthy society.
The people have more power than ever. They can elect state representatives who will advance their opinions on abortion. They can control schools through school boards. And they can create a “safe and healthy society” barring violations of the Constitution.
This is democratic. Lefties want to take away that power from the people and give it to the courts.
“The court has consolidated power in its own hands to the benefit of factional economic and cultural interests.”
If SCOTUS had wanted to consolidate power, it would have upheld the administrative state instead of trying to tear it down. It could have retained Roe v. Wade if it wanted to retain power.
Instead, it gave up power.
Lefties consider the transfer of power from unelected officials to elected ones to be an attack on democracy. That tells you how they define democracy.
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