Holder backs Obama’s statements, says Courts must presume federal laws’ constitutionality
When the 5th Circuit speaks, the Justice Department listens – and responds.
In a memorandum to a panel of federal judges hearing a challenge to the federal health care law, Attorney General Eric Holder backed comments made earlier in the week by President Barack Obama that courts ought to tread lightly when considering challenges to laws passed by Congress.
But Holder said the president’s comments in no way reflected a change in the Justice Department’s views on judicial authority, nor did they imply that courts do not have authority to consider constitutional challenges to federal laws.
Earlier this week, Obama suggested at a news conference that overturning the health care law would amount to “judicial activism.”
For more on Holder’s memo, see the full story on Lawyers USA online.
Meanwhile, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell has chimed in on the matter.
“The president crossed a dangerous line this week. And anyone who cares about liberty needs to call him out on it,” McConnell said during a speech on Thursday, according to CNN. “Respectfully, I would suggest the president back off.”
