Boehner's Lawsuit Against Obama is a Loser

[Oscar Wao]

Eric Posner, son of legendary jurist Richard Posner, weighs in on Speaker Boehner's planned lawsuit against President Obama. He discusses how it would fall flat on its face due to the Constitutional setup of the Executive Branch:

Courts have repeatedly held, in the Supreme Court’s words, that “the Executive Branch has exclusive authority and absolute discretion to decide whether to prosecute a case.” To understand this principle, one must first recognize that technical violations of the law vastly outstrip the resources of the executive to go after them. People speed on the highways, smoke dope, and cheat on their taxes in vast numbers. Corporations pollute, defraud investors, and evade taxes. More than 10 million people illegally reside in the country, most of them illegally employed by individuals and businesses. The executive branch lacks the resources to investigate, catch, and prosecute all these people. It simply can’t.

So the government must make choices. Many of those choices—like spending more resources on investigating murders than on burglaries—are uncontroversial. But others quickly take on politically charged overtones. What if the government says that it will investigate cocaine dealers but not marijuana sellers, because marijuana possession is not as serious? Or that it will use most immigration resources to deport undocumented immigrants who commit violent crimes because they are more dangerous than those who do not?

Perhaps these are “policy” judgments of the sort that should be made by Congress. There is a pervasive slippery-slope worry that if the president can refrain from enforcing immigration laws against DREAM-ers, then he can also refuse to enforce corporate taxes (if he is a Republican) or laws that give mining firms access to mineral resources on public lands (if he is a Democrat). Indeed, if you accept the principle of prosecutorial discretion in the broadest sense, the president could decline to enforce campaign finance laws against his supporters, or instruct his subordinates to violate the law and refuse to prosecute them. Indeed, President Obama did refuse to prosecute Bush administration officials who appear to have violated laws against torture and surveillance. (The Republicans don’t seem to be upset about this particular exercise of presidential discretion.)

Boehner?s lawsuit against Obama is a loser because of American ideas about presidential power.

That being said, I don't think a court would even get to the merits of such a case. It would be dismissed as non-justiciable under the political question doctrine.

 

[zeke]

John Boehner is just trying to make himself relevant. To someone. It's not working. Mans an idiot.

 

[DiamondDave]

slate??? Why not huffo puffo commentary?? Why not stinkprogress commentary? Who not something from Madcow??

Winger opinion pieces from winger sites... yeah, THAT'S credible

 

[occupied]

Political stunt, Boehner is not so stupid that he actually thinks this thing has legs to stand on.

 

[Oscar Wao]

slate??? Why not huffo puffo commentary?? Why not stinkprogress commentary? Who not something from Madcow??

Winger opinion pieces from winger sites... yeah, THAT'S credible

Eric Posner is the son of Richard Posner, one of the most eminent legal thinkers and jurists in Ameican history. Eric Posner himself has an impressive resume and is HARDLY considered a liberal. In fact, Eric Posner is likely to be appointed by a future Republican President to either the SCOTUS or a federal circuit court.

He's not some random journalist on Slate who's puking out random word vomit for attention...he's a lawyer and professor at the University of Chicago, which is a conservative law school.

 

[plant]

GOP is nothing but failure that's all they know ..

 

[rightwinger]

Another "Kill Obamacare" stunt

Must be election season

 

[occupied]

The plan is as follows: Boehner files lawsuit>lawsuit dies a pitiful death>Boehner weeps crocodile tears about Obama unfairly using his terrible power to get it laughed out of court>conservatives say mean things on the internet and hopefully drum up some mid-term votes.

 

[mudwhistle]

They say that requiring positive I.D. to vote was racist as well.

I think if you have a convincing argument you can win in court.

 

[mudwhistle]

The plan is as follows: Boehner files lawsuit>lawsuit dies a pitiful death>Boehner weeps crocodile tears about Obama unfairly using his terrible power to get it laughed out of court>conservatives say mean things on the internet and hopefully drum up some mid-term votes.

Hobby Lobby sure took Obama to the whipping post, didn't they?

 

[occupied]

They say that requiring positive I.D. to vote was racist as well.

I think if you have a convincing argument you can win in court.

It's that "convincing argument" that poses a problem here, reread the OP.

 

[Oscar Wao]

They say that requiring positive I.D. to vote was racist as well.

I think if you have a convincing argument you can win in court.

The merits of the suit are irrelevant, IMO. This whole thing is a political question, which CANNOT be heard by a federal court. It's going to be dismissed on that basis.

 

[rightwinger]

The plan is as follows: Boehner files lawsuit>lawsuit dies a pitiful death>Boehner weeps crocodile tears about Obama unfairly using his terrible power to get it laughed out of court>conservatives say mean things on the internet and hopefully drum up some mid-term votes.

Hobby Lobby sure took Obama to the whipping post, didn't they?

Brought Obamacare to its knees

 

[occupied]

The plan is as follows: Boehner files lawsuit>lawsuit dies a pitiful death>Boehner weeps crocodile tears about Obama unfairly using his terrible power to get it laughed out of court>conservatives say mean things on the internet and hopefully drum up some mid-term votes.

Hobby Lobby sure took Obama to the whipping post, didn't they?

No

 

[R.D.]

slate??? Why not huffo puffo commentary?? Why not stinkprogress commentary? Who not something from Madcow??

Winger opinion pieces from winger sites... yeah, THAT'S credible

Eric Posner is the son of Richard Posner, one of the most eminent legal thinkers and jurists in Ameican history. Eric Posner himself has an impressive resume and is HARDLY considered a liberal. In fact, he's likely to be appointed by a future Republican President to either the SCOTUS or a federal circuit court.

He's not some random journalist on Slate...he's a lawyer and professor at the University of Chicago, which is a conservative law school.

Kinda like Jennifer Grant. Right?

 

[Geaux4it]

The lawsuit is very risky. If Boner loses, then the courts just validated Obama's dictatorship and he will go full ape chit. The EO's will come in a fury.

Watch what you ask for Boner

-Geaux

 

[occupied]

The lawsuit is very risky. If Boner loses, then the courts just validated Obama's dictatorship and he will go full ape chit. The EO's will come in a fury.

Watch what you ask for Boner

-Geaux

Ridiculous, there is another way to attack executive orders that would be more successful but they do not want to limit the power of a future republican president.

 

[rightwinger]

The lawsuit is very risky. If Boner loses, then the courts just validated Obama's dictatorship and he will go full ape chit. The EO's will come in a fury.

Watch what you ask for Boner

-Geaux

Ridiculous, there is another way to attack executive orders that would be more successful but they do not want to limit the power of a future republican president.

There will be no future Republican Presidents

 

[Geaux4it]

The lawsuit is very risky. If Boner loses, then the courts just validated Obama's dictatorship and he will go full ape chit. The EO's will come in a fury.

Watch what you ask for Boner

-Geaux

Ridiculous, there is another way to attack executive orders that would be more successful but they do not want to limit the power of a future republican president.

That's why he should be impeached instead

-Geaux

 

[occupied]

The lawsuit is very risky. If Boner loses, then the courts just validated Obama's dictatorship and he will go full ape chit. The EO's will come in a fury.

Watch what you ask for Boner

-Geaux

Ridiculous, there is another way to attack executive orders that would be more successful but they do not want to limit the power of a future republican president.

That's why he should be impeached instead

-Geaux

Every president that ever served would be impeachable under that standard, especially GWB.