Wednesday, November 19, 2014

Liberal Jonathan Turley Agrees To Serve as Lead Counsel for House of Representatives in Constitutional Challenge



This is a very interesting development.  Jonathan Turley is a leading liberal lawyer and a supporter of some form of national health care, but has also been a strong voice criticizing Obama’s unconstitutional usurpations.  I still think seeking judicial refereeing of a political fight between the other two branches is a weak move, but I’ll be nonetheless interested to hear his arguments.
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Originally posted on JONATHAN TURLEY

"As many on this blog are aware, I have previously testified, written, and litigated in opposition to the rise of executive power and the countervailing decline in congressional power in our tripartite system.  I have also spent years encouraging Congress, under both Democratic and Republican presidents, to more actively defend its authority, including seeking judicial review in separation of powers conflicts. For that reason, it may come as little surprise this morning that I have agreed to represent the United States House of Representatives in its challenge of unilateral, unconstitutional actions taken by the Obama Administration with respect to implementation of the Affordable Care Act (ACA)."  

"It is an honor to represent the institution in this historic lawsuit and to work with the talented staff of the House General Counsel’s Office.  As in the past, this posting is meant to be transparent about my representation as well as my need to be circumspect about my comments in the future on related stories."

"I have previously testified that I believe that judicial review is needed to rebalance the powers of the branches in our system after years of erosion of legislative authority.  Clearly, some take the view of a fait accompli in this fundamental change in our constitutional system.  This resignation over the dominance of the Executive Branch is the subject of much of my recent academic writings, including two forthcoming works.  For that reason, to quote the movie Jerry Maguire, the House “had me at hello” in seeking a ruling to reinforce the line of authority between the branches."

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