Supreme Court Conservatives Fracture Over Presidential Power In Jerusalem Passport Case
Forbes
Supreme Court Conservatives Fracture Over Presidential Power In Jerusalem Passport Case
The conservative wing of the U.S. Supreme Court shattered in a case testing the limits of President Obama’s power over foreign policy, with Justices Anthony Kennedy and Clarence Thomas siding with the president against Congress and the other conservatives howling in dissent.
Kennedy, writing for the majority in Zivotofsky v. Kerry, held that a 2003 law allowing citizens born in Jerusalem to list “Israel” on their passports was an unconstitutional intrusion on presidential powers. While the precise question of whether the executive branch has exclusive power to recognize foreign governments hadn’t been decided until today, Kennedy wrote, precedent and historical practice dictate that it does.
In order to pursue effective foreign policy on matters as fundamental as recognizing a legitimate foreign government, the majority ruled, the nation must speak in one voice and that voice belongs to the President.
Congress can “express its disagreement with the President in myriad ways,” Kennedy said. “It may enact an embargo, decline to confirm an ambassador, or even declare war. But none of these acts would alter the President’ s recognition decision.”
The decision — redolent with implications for the Obama administration’s dealings with Iran and Cuba — drew a fierce dissent from Justice Antonin Scalia, who was joined by Samuel Alito and Chief Justice John Roberts. By reaching to decide a question it didn’t have to, Scalia wrote, the majority established a doctrine of “functionalism” that “will systematically favor the unitary President over the plural Congress in disputes involving foreign affairs.”
Psst: You got it wrong on foreign policy, Kennedy. (Photo by Mandel Ngan-Pool/Getty Images)
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http://www.forbes.com/sites/danielfisher/2015/06/08/supreme-court-conservatives-fracture-over-presidential-power-in-jerusalem-passport-case/B
