The Supreme Court and the last word

Please note that SCOTUS Outside Opinions constitute the views of outside contributors and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of SCOTUSblog or its staff.Many critics of the Supreme Court contend that the court has abused the power it has assumed. Few, however, question whether the court can properly lay claim to this power in the first place. Indeed, the justices’ authority to have the final word on whether legislation is constitutional is nowhere found in the Constitution. Yet, many of our most serious social, economic, and political problems arise from this assumed power. It is long past time to start reconsidering what the proper constitutional balance between the court, Congress, and the president should be, or how to undo the grave harm the Supreme Court has caused.***Let’s start with some of the damage the court has done throughout its history – though the following is by no means exhaustive.In 1883, the Supreme Court ruled that civil rights laws passed in the 1860s and ’70s were unconstitutional because, the justices said, the 13th and 14th Amendments only restricted state government discrimination, not private acts. The decisions effectively crippled these laws, such as one that outlawed lynch mobs, and another that said “All persons… shall have the same right… to make and enforce contracts, to sue, be parties, give evidence, and to the full and equal benefit of all laws and proceedings for the security of persons and property as is enjoyed by white citizens.” In