Help me figure that out please!!! American history stuff?

Question

A law is found unconstitutional. The senate refuses to accept the decision. Can the president do something to enforce the law??? If he can, what is it?

Answer 1

The Congress does not have the power to ignore a Supreme Court decision on the constitutionality of a law. Neither does the President. The law simply would not be enforced.

At that point, it would be up to the Congress to either re-write the law, so that it meets constitutional requirements, or to try amending the constitution so that it no longer conflicts with the law.

Answer 2

The U.S. constitution spells out the duties of each of the three branches of our government. The Legislative branch makes the law. The Executive branch executes the law. The Judicial branch interprets the law. They do not over rule each other. If the law is determined to be unconstitutional then it will not be enforced and must be amended or rewritten.

So to answer the question as it is posed: The Senate cannot refuse to accept the decision and the President cannot enforce the law. It all goes back to Congress to amend, rewrite, or repeal.

Answer 3

The Supreme Court of the United States is the highest law in the land. If the SC of US deems a law unconstitutional then any invokation of the law against a person will give rise to civil litigation. The president would need to have the Senate amend the constitution of the US.

Answer 4

~The constitution itself grants no branch of government the final say over the interpretation of the constitution. John Marshall usurped that authority for the Supreme Court in Marbury v Madison. The other branches chose to allow the Court the final say, given the constitutional crisis that would follow if the legislative and executive branches decided they had the authority to overrule the court. Not to worry. It is seldom that the court resorts to findings of unconstitutionality.. The court that did it the most was the Rehnquist Court. The last president to almost put the Court to the test was Richard Nixon, but he turned over the tapes then resigned in disgrace to avoid impeachment and conviction. If Congress wanted to pull in the reins on the Court, it could do so very easily. Read Article III. The constitutional power of the court is really quite limited and the bulk of the Court's power comes by grant from Congress.

More state laws have been ruled unconstitutional than federal ones. All that a legislature need do in the face of a ruling of unconstitutionality is to rewrite the law by modifying or excising the constitutionally offensive part. Texas and Florida are once again happily killing convicts, having gotten over the hurdle of Furman v Georgia.

Congress, of course, has no authority to amend the constitution, and neither does any single state. Thus, when the Dred Scott case confirmed the constitutionality of slavery (and of Article I section 2 and Article 4 section 2 of the constitution itself) any thought of abolition at the federal level died. On the other hand, the Court can overrule itself. Brown v Board expressly admits and corrects the error of Plessy v Ferguson.

Answer 5

He can attempt to enforce it in a manner consistent with the court ruling. Typically that is not done by the President but by the agency charged with enforcing that law.

Answer 6

if a law if found unconstituational, that means it's already a law. the senate can do something if they don't want something to become a law, like fillibustering. thats when they get up at the podium for their time to speak, and they speak for as long as they want so that the vote for passing the law is delayed until the next session.

they used to do this for days. i remember hearing about a guy back in the day used to read names and phone numbers from the phone book to fill up the time...

get on your netflix account and rent the movie "Mr. Smith Goes to Washington"

great jimmy stewart movie, and it teaches you a lot about the inner workings of washington, in terms of the three branches and the checks and balances they have on each other. it's a great movie, you won't regret watching it

Answer 7

no if a law is stricken by the supreme court it can only become enforceable by amending the constitution to remove the objection.