A Potentially Wide Ranging Supreme Court Case. Will The Supremes Do the Right Thing?

Tom Knighton, writing at Bearing Arms sends the post entitled SCOTUS Agrees To Hear Case That May Ultimately Undermine ATF Power. Well, yes it may undermine ATF power, which is good. If it goes far enough, and it really should, it may undermine the administrative state, as well as the power of the executive branch, bringing the power balance between the three branches closer in line with the Constitution.  

The real problem the Left has with Donald Trump is that he keeps appointing conservative judges and justices to the Federal courts. They still have leftist judges, of course, but if Trump is allowed to remain in office for eight long years, he may take the courts away from the Left. Since so much of their agenda is not really popular, they need the courts to put it into place. As an example, in a Democrat wave election, the people still voted to place Voter ID requirements into the North Carolina Constitution. Still, I expect that an attempt will be made to declare our new Constitutional Amendment somehow Unconstitutional through the Federal judiciary.  That is the current power of the Federal courts.

The Federal judges in turn have buttressed the administrative state through rulings such as the  Aure Deference and Chevron Deference that basically means that many regulations that are patently Unconstitutional are never looked at by the courts.  Striking down these deferences to the regulatory state may eventually dismantle the power to make laws and enforce those same laws.  It also will make it more difficult to change their minds on a whim, providing better assurances that the law is indeed the law.  As it stands, the law you rely on to form the basis of your actions may not be the law tomorrow, and indeed you may be charged with a crime that was not a crime when you took such action.*

Here's the dirty little secret: Presidential candidates rail against the administrative states power that is currently goring whatever portion of the constituency is crying loudest.  The EPA is always a target, of course.  The Department of Education has become a target because of Common Core.  In the gun world, the ATFE is often maligned.  But when in office, no President wants to give up any agency or power.

If the so called conservative Justices of the Supreme Court follow the Constitution, they will begin dismantling the administrative state.  All legislation, including rule making, belongs in the Congress.  The executive branch should only be enforcing the laws, rules and regulations that Congress makes.  If there is a difference of opinion, the Courts should be deciding it.   Let's see how successful Trump's judicial picks really are.

* As an example of such a law, I will site here New Jersey's new law that makes previously legal magazines contraband at Third Circuit: Second Amendment Is A Second Rate Right.  Though this Unconstitutional train wreck is a law created by actual legislators, it illustrates that in the current climate where the Constitution is no longer respected, such rulings become more and more likely.  Relying on deference, these Unconstitutional rulings will likely stand.  One of the things that has made our nation prosperous has been the idea that you can not be prosecuted for something done while that action was not illegal.