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Old January 15, 2013, 03:01 PM   #81
Frank Ettin
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Join Date: November 23, 2005
Location: California - San Francisco
Posts: 9,471
Quote:
Originally Posted by Alabama Shooter
When you get "bad" decisions the legal recourse is Article 5.
Of course one question will always be whether it was a bad decision insofar as it really didn't comport with the law and precedent or a bad decision insofar as that law as thus properly applied did not achieve a satisfactory result.

In any case, amendment of the Constitution is not the only recourse. Sometimes when the law as applied by a court doesn't achieve a satisfactory result, a legislature can change the law -- checks and balances at work.

One fairly recent example that comes immediately to mind involves 18 USC 922(q), the federal Gun Free School Zone Act. The U. S. Supreme Court ruled that the law as originally enacted was unconstitutional (United States v. Alfonso Lopez, Jr., 514 U.S. 549 (1995)). Thereafter, Congress reenacted the law revised in a manner intended to overcome the objections of the Supreme Court.

More recently there was the case of Kelo v. City of New London, 545 U.S. 469 (2005). It was a ruling on a matter of eminent domain law (specifically involving the "takings" clause of the Fifth Amendment applied to the States through the 14th Amendment). The result was found to be unsatisfactory by many. As a consequence, the legislatures of 42 States revised those States' eminent domain laws to avoid a Kelo result.
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Last edited by Frank Ettin; January 15, 2013 at 03:48 PM. Reason: correct typo
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