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Brandeis Rules: A set of principles used by the U.S. Supreme Court to decide constitutional questions only when necessary and to avoid them if the case can be decided on another issue. These rules were created by Justice Brandeis and include policies such as not deciding a constitutional question in a friendly suit, not creating a rule of constitutional law that is broader than necessary, and not ruling on the constitutionality of a statute unless the plaintiff is harmed by it. The court also should not rule on the constitutionality of an act of Congress without first analyzing whether it can be interpreted in a way that avoids the constitutional question.
Brandeis Rules, also known as Ashwander Rules, are a set of principles that guide the U.S. Supreme Court in deciding constitutional questions only when necessary and avoiding them if the case can be resolved on another issue.
The rules were outlined in Justice Brandeis's concurring opinion in Ashwander v. Tennessee Valley Authority, a 1936 case. The principles include:
For example, if a person challenges a law that they have not been affected by, the court may not rule on the constitutionality of the law because the person has not been harmed by it. Similarly, if a case can be resolved on a non-constitutional issue, the court may avoid ruling on the constitutional question.