The Supreme Court unanimously struck down the "recess appointments" that president Obama made to the National Labor Relations Board at a time when the Senate was not in recess. The Senate was holding pro forma sessions every three days at the time of the appointments. Obama announced that he had determined that this was actually a recess since no meaningful business was being conducted, and he attempted to use the presidential power to make appointments without the required approval by the Senate, the so called recess appointments. Never before had any president attempted to decide himself that the Senate was in recess when the Senate said that it was not.
In today's ruling, the Court came to the not-surprising conclusion that the Senate gets to decide for itself whether or not it is in recess. Obama acted completely beyond his power as president in making the appointments to the NLRB. Accordingly, all of those appointments were invalid and that means that everything that the NLRB did while those commissioners with recess appointments were in office are similarly invalid.
Once again, Obama tried to ignore the Constitution. This time at least, the Supreme Court stopped him.
A second case from the Court also upheld the Constitution. This time it was the right of free speech that the Court protected. The Court struck down a Massachusetts law that set a "protest free" zone around the entrance to abortion clinics in the state. The Court said that the effect of the zone was to eliminate the chance for protest at most abortion clinics. Such a total ban violated the First Amendment right to free speech since there were clearly less restrictive alternatives that the state could have followed if the goal was only to protect the safety of those entering the clinics.
Without a doubt, this decision is correct. It does not matter whether the protests were regarding abortion or if they were anti-war demonstrations at army recruiting stations. The content of the protests is irrelevant. The Constitution guarantees people the right to express their opinions freely, and that right can be limited in the least amount possible to protect other interests. Some years back, the Court upheld a state rule that kept protesters at abortion clinics five feet from those women who were entering the facility. The protesters could get close enough to the women to state their positions while the women were kept safe. But safety concerns do not allow the government to shut down the people's rights to free speech.
In today's ruling, the Court came to the not-surprising conclusion that the Senate gets to decide for itself whether or not it is in recess. Obama acted completely beyond his power as president in making the appointments to the NLRB. Accordingly, all of those appointments were invalid and that means that everything that the NLRB did while those commissioners with recess appointments were in office are similarly invalid.
Once again, Obama tried to ignore the Constitution. This time at least, the Supreme Court stopped him.
A second case from the Court also upheld the Constitution. This time it was the right of free speech that the Court protected. The Court struck down a Massachusetts law that set a "protest free" zone around the entrance to abortion clinics in the state. The Court said that the effect of the zone was to eliminate the chance for protest at most abortion clinics. Such a total ban violated the First Amendment right to free speech since there were clearly less restrictive alternatives that the state could have followed if the goal was only to protect the safety of those entering the clinics.
Without a doubt, this decision is correct. It does not matter whether the protests were regarding abortion or if they were anti-war demonstrations at army recruiting stations. The content of the protests is irrelevant. The Constitution guarantees people the right to express their opinions freely, and that right can be limited in the least amount possible to protect other interests. Some years back, the Court upheld a state rule that kept protesters at abortion clinics five feet from those women who were entering the facility. The protesters could get close enough to the women to state their positions while the women were kept safe. But safety concerns do not allow the government to shut down the people's rights to free speech.
No comments:
Post a Comment