It was bound to happen...

[Professor S]

Originally Posted by Bond

Woah, when did everyone become constitutional law scholars?

My comments were based on the fact that it's very difficult for anyone to say: "Hey, he broke the constitution! Arrest him!" Thats not how it works. The Constitution was based on natural law, not human law. It is a list of what the government MAY do, not what it may not do, and it's terribly vague and short.

The Bill of Rights lists what the government MAY NOT do, and it is also terribly vague.

So when it happens that government institutions do things that may be against the Constitution, you can't arrest anyone or make 100% positive statements, but a case must be made are argued in front of the judicial branch. It's the checks and balances that keep any one branch from overpowering the others.

It's also why I think it remains probably the finest governmental document ever created, because it continues to be under interpretation and can grow and reform itself as society does. But there are thresholds that must be met for the document to change. The document's PERFECTION is that it can be changed by the will of the people, but cannot be changed because any one small group DICTATES it. This is why changes must voted on by 2/3's of both houses, a constitutional convention or by 3/4's of the states legislatures. This maintains that it is a will of the people, not a party, that rules our nation.

Not some arbitrary dictate from the executive branch. But once again, we don't know whether these actions are or are not truly constitutional. A case will have to be made and argued for that to happen.


Game, you cite the NY case, but read the last sentence:

"The larger entity may then assume some agreed-upon oversight in order to prevent recurrence of the problem"

I don't believe this was agreed upon, I believe the state was sold a false bill of goods and then essentially was threatened with sanctions when the new terms of how their state was to be run were thrust upon them. There was NOTHING I can see in the stimulus plan that the executive branch would be able to dictate budgetary decisions of states who accept the money.

I think the rest of our discussion can rest as it stands.