Can You Even Imagine a Ruling Like This Now? - Granite Grok

Can You Even Imagine a Ruling Like This Now?

For the longest time, there seemed to be consensus in Hollywood that if some object conveyed too much power on its bearer, the only acceptable solution was to destroy it.  So Harry Potter had to destroy the Sorcerer’s Stone.  Lara Croft had to destroy the Triangle of Light.  Frodo had to destroy the One Ring.  And so on.

But in 2014, we witnessed a sea change in this doctrine, with the release of Guardians of the Galaxy.  In that movie, the object in question — the Power Stone — was, at the end of the film, turned over to the government for safekeeping.

I didn’t see that coming.

I was reminded of this change recently while reading an article about FDR’s attempt to pack the federal judiciary.  The article mentioned a seminal case, Schechter v. United States, in which the issues to be decided were whether the existence of an emergency justified (1) the delegation of legislative power, by the legislature, to the executive branch; and (2) the micro-management of the entire economy by the executive branch (rationalized by the implicit claim that ‘interstate commerce trumps everything’), especially where that violated the rights (including the right to due process) guaranteed by the 14th Amendment.

Boy, that sounds awfully familiar, doesn’t it?  Change ‘interstate commerce’ to ‘public health’, and it’s like we’ve entered a time warp.

But this was the central holding of the Supreme Court opinion in the case:

Extraordinary conditions do not create or enlarge constitutional power.

Which should be obvious, since it merely affirms the purpose of having a constitution in the first place.

But can you even imagine a ruling like that now?

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