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Separation of Powers

By: Derek Hawkins//April 29, 2016//

Separation of Powers

By: Derek Hawkins//April 29, 2016//

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Case Name: Bank Markazi v. Peterson

Case No.: 14-770

 

Section 22 U.S.C. Sec. 8772 does not violate the separation of powers

 

“Article III of the Constitution establishes an independent Judiciary with the “province and duty . . . to say what the law is” in particular cases and controversies. Marbury v. Madison, 1 Cranch 137, 177. Necessarily, that endowment of authority blocks Congress from “requir[ing] federal courts to exercise the judicial power in a manner that Article III forbids.” Plaut v. Spendthrift Farm, Inc., 514 U. S. 211, 218. Although Article III bars Congress from telling a court how to apply pre-existing law to particular circumstances, Robertson v. Seattle Audubon Soc., 503 U. S. 429, 438–439, Congress may amend a law and make the amended prescription retroactively applicable in pending cases, Landgraf v. USI Film Products, 511 U. S. 244, 267– 268; United States v. Schooner Peggy, 1 Cranch 103, 110. In United States v. Klein, 13 Wall. 128, 146, this Court enigmatically observed that Congress may not “prescribe rules of decision to the Judicial Department . . . in [pending] cases.” More recent decisions have clarified that Klein does not inhibit Congress from “amend[ing] applicable law.” Robertson, 503 U. S., at 441; Plaut, 514 U. S., at 218. Section 8772 does just that: It requires a court to apply a new legal standard in a pending postjudgment enforcement proceeding. No different result obtains because, as Bank Markazi argues, the outcome of applying §8772 to the facts in the proceeding below was a “foregone conclusio[n].” Brief for Petitioner 47. A statute does not impinge on judicial power when it directs courts to apply a new legal standard to undisputed facts. See Pope v. United States, 323 U. S. 1, 11.”

 

Affirmed

DISSENTING: ROBERTS, SOTOMAYOR


Attorney Derek A. Hawkins is the managing partner at Hawkins Law Offices LLC, where he heads up the firm’s startup law practice. He specializes in business formation, corporate governance, intellectual property protection, private equity and venture capital funding and mergers & acquisitions. Check out the website at www.hawkins-lawoffices.com or contact them at 262-737-8825.

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