Justice Says Congress Pushes Legal Envelope

Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia chastised Congress on Tuesday for enacting provisions that allow quick court review of new laws that push “the edge of the constitutional envelope.”

“I think that is disturbing because it indicates that Congress is increasingly abdicating its independent responsibility to be sure that it is being faithful to the Constitution,” the justice told a telecommunications symposium sponsored by Michigan State University.

“My court is fond of saying that acts of Congress come to the court with the presumption of constitutionality,” Scalia said.

“But if Congress is going to take the attitude that it will do anything it can get away with and let the Supreme Court worry about the Constitution . . . then perhaps that presumption is unwarranted.”

Two laws struck down by the Supreme Court in recent years provided speeded-up court review of their provisions.

In 1997, the justices threw out a measure that sought to protect children from sexually explicit material on the Internet, and a year later the court threw out Congress’ effort to enact a presidential line-item veto.

“Congress has in recent years been pushing the edge of the constitutional envelope so aggressively that it has begun to include special review provisions in its more dubious offerings,” Scalia said.

“If you have a Legislature that is eager to push the envelope, you should expect a higher percentage of invalidations,” he said.