Why Are Three Independent Branches of Government Essential for Liberty?

            The topic of discussion for this Constitution Monday is the importance of maintaining three separate branches of government. The Framers of the Constitution established a government that resembles a three-headed Eagle with three branches of government – Executive, Legislative, and Judicial. The Legislative branch has the authority to make laws, the Executive branch has the responsibility to enforce the laws, and the Judicial branch has the charge to determine that laws are constitutional.

            Recent administrations have legislated laws by executive orders because Congress fails to do its job to pass laws. Congress should have legislated and funded a wall on the southern borders decades ago. Because it failed to do so, President Donald Trump signed executive orders to build the wall and secure the border. The policies worked and limited illegal immigrants to entering the United States. Then President Joe Biden, by the use of executive orders, cancelled the successful policies and opened the borders to millions of illegal immigrants.

            This year, the Supreme Court will hear challenges to several presidential mandates and court decisions. The justices will hear arguments about two vaccine mandates on January 7, 2022. If the court intervenes and stops the mandates, it will mean liberty for many Americans.

            Other cases before the Supreme Court will challenge the 1973 decision of Roe v. Wade, affirmative action (Students for Fair Admission v. Harvard), the right to concealed carry (New York Rifle & Pistol Association v. Bruen), and the “Chevron deference” adopted in 1984 (AHA v. Becerra). A fellow Alaskan, Fritz Pettijohn, wrote the following about these cases. 

Roe v. Wade is one of the worst decisions in the history of the Supreme Court, right up there with Plessy v. Ferguson, which authorized legally sanctioned racial discrimination. On the subject of abortion policy, the Court writes the rules. But there is no right to an abortion in the Constitution. They just made it up. This has been a constitutional travesty from the day it was decided….

Affirmative action is well intended, but it’s still racial discrimination. In Harvard’s case, it’s mainly Asian-Americans who are the victims, and I fully expect Justice Thomas to write the opinion declaring such discrimination unconstitutional. As a proud, highly intelligent black man, Thomas is viscerally opposed to being treated as if he were incapable of making it on his own….

Practically speaking, you can’t get a concealed carry permit in New York. Does this violate the 2^nd Amendment’s guarantee of “the right of the people to keep and bear Arms”? Emphasis on bear. That’s the question before the court in NYR&PA v. Bruen). There is an excellent chance that the majority will rule that there is a right to “bear,” or carry, arms. After all, it’s specifically guaranteed in the language of the Bill of Rights. If so, this case will be the most important advance in 2^nd Amendment law since District of Columbia v. Heller (2008).

This country and this economy are practically strangling in over-regulation. The administrative state is a constitutional abomination. Overturning Chevron deference will be the first step in reining in this bureaucratic monster. AHA v. Becerra is the perfect case to start rolling back burdensome regulations.

            Pettijohn expects the conservative-majority Supreme Court to overturn several cases. Liberals must expect the same because they are threatening to pack the court with more liberal justices. My desire is for our laws to be constitutional. This requires Congress to make the laws, the Executive branch to enforce the laws, and Judicial branch to determine constitutionality.