Freshman U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, has issued a report analyzing six instances, over the last 15 months, where the U.S. Supreme Court has unanimously voted to overturn the Obama administration's attempts to expand the power of the federal government and to violate Americans' civil liberties.
Cruz, the ranking Republican member of the Senate Judiciary Committee on the Constitution, Civil Rights, and Human Rights, implied the report, titledThe Legal Limit: The Obama Administrations Attempts to Expand Federal Power," would be the first of many.
When President Obamas own Supreme Court nominees join their colleagues in unanimously rejecting his administrations call for broader federal power six times in just over one year, the inescapable conclusion is that the Obama administrations view of federal power knows virtually no bounds, he said in astatementannouncing the report's release. This is a deeply troubling pattern that we will continue to highlight as long as this administration continues seeking ways to expand its power in direct violation of Americans constitutional rights.
The cases reviewed are:
-- United States v. Jones (2012): Obama's Department of Justice (DOJ) wanted to attach GPSs to a citizens vehicle to monitor his movements, without having any cause to believe that a person has committed a crime.
-- Sackett v. EPA (2012): Obama's DOJ sought to deprive landowners of the right to challenge potential government fines as high as $75,000 per day and take away their ability to have a hearing to challenge those fines.
-- Hosanna-Tabor Evangelical Lutheran Church and School v. EEOC (2012): The Obama administration argued it had a right to interfere with a churchs selection of its own ordained ministers.
-- Arizona v. United States (2012): The DOJ had argued that President Obama's personal lawenforcement priorities--as opposed to federal statutes passed by Congress or regulations enactedby federal agencies after receiving public input--trumped state laws.
-- Gabelli v. SEC (2013): President Obama tried to unilaterallyextend statutes of limitations, contrary to the original public meaning of the relevant statutory exceptions, to impose penalties for acts committed decades ago.
-- Arkansas Fish and Game Commission v. United States (2013):The Obama administration argued it had a right to destroy citizens private property without compensating them.
Reach Eric Giunta at egiunta@sunshinestatenews.com or at (954) 235-9116.
