Science & Government Funding
The judiciary exists to ensure that legislation is in accordance with higher standards of law and the Constitution. However, as noted in a study recently and highlighted on Reason.com, even though legislation has become a business of wholesale, “pass the bill so you can see what’s in it” overreaching, the courts are an all-around failure to strike down reasonable proportions of enacted law:
- Congress passed 16,015 laws from 1954 to 2003. The Supreme Court struck down 104—or just two-thirds of one percent.
- State legislatures passed 1,029,075 laws over the same period. The Court struck down 455—or less than one twentieth of one percent.
- The federal government adopted 21,462 regulations from 1986 to 2006. The Court struck down 121–or about a half of a percent.
- In any given year, the Court strikes down just three out of every 5,000 laws passed by Congress and state legislatures.
- The Supreme Court overturned earlier precedents in just two percent of the cases it considered from 1954 to 2010.
What exactly does the SCOTUS exist to do, justify things for the opposing branches?
The entire study is only 20 pages. Don’t have an angry stroke reading it.