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Simple English definitions for legal terms

constitutional avoidance

Read a random definition: forum domesticum

A quick definition of constitutional avoidance:

Constitutional avoidance is when the Supreme Court tries to avoid making decisions about the Constitution if they can. Instead, they try to solve cases using other laws. This means that if there are two ways to understand a law, and one way is clearly okay with the Constitution, while the other way might not be, the Supreme Court will choose the way that is okay with the Constitution. This is to avoid having to make hard decisions about the Constitution. For example, in one case, the Supreme Court said that a law that said people had to have a jury trial for breaking a court order only applied to criminal cases, not civil cases. This was because having a jury trial for civil cases might not be okay with the Constitution.

A more thorough explanation:

Constitutional avoidance is a legal principle that suggests that the Supreme Court should avoid ruling on constitutional issues if possible. Instead, they should try to resolve cases based on other grounds, such as statutory interpretation.

For example, if the Supreme Court is faced with two possible interpretations of a law, one of which is clearly constitutional and the other of which is questionable, the court will choose the interpretation that is constitutional to avoid having to make a difficult constitutional decision.

One example of constitutional avoidance is the case of Michaelson et al v. United States ex rel. Chicago. In this case, the court interpreted the Clayton Act's requirement of a jury trial for contempt of court charges to apply only to criminal contempt charges. This was because legislation mandating jury trials for civil contempt of court raises constitutional questions.

Another example of constitutional avoidance is the case of National Federation of Independent Business v. Sebelius. In this case, the Supreme Court upheld the Affordable Care Act's individual mandate as a tax, rather than as a regulation of interstate commerce. This allowed the court to avoid ruling on the constitutionality of the individual mandate under the Commerce Clause.

These examples illustrate how the Supreme Court uses constitutional avoidance to avoid making difficult constitutional decisions. Instead, they try to resolve cases based on other grounds, such as statutory interpretation or tax law.

constitutional amendment | constitutional clauses

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Dkk
1:15
@cheriebomb: Fake. Her natural hair color was blond.
1:16
A fake ginger bitch will ruin your life <3
CynicalOops
1:16
I met a ginger and i thought she was a real one and then she was fake and it shattered my world
CynicalOops
1:16
Then she moved to london
Dkk
1:16
Uhhh she kinda just ruined hers by trying to cheat on me and then some guy raped her lol.
CynicalOops
1:16
Shattered x2
Dkk
1:17
@cheriebomb: maybe though. Maybe that is true but you shouldn't be saying that to people if you want them to date you.
1:17
Why are women always moving to London? There’s nothing good there
1:17
I’m just being transparent
1:17
The heart indicates that it’s a good thing
Dkk
1:18
Okay sounds good. Yeah my cousin moved to London. Nothing there for him after 6 years and he moved back to New York.
Dkk
1:19
Great to visit, not great to stay imo.
1:19
London sucks and cyncial’s fake ginger is probably regretting it right now
1:19
So dark and rainy and I hate the way they talk
1:19
And their sense of humor
CynicalOops
1:19
Shes was from london so im not sure
CynicalOops
1:21
Dkk i do appreciate your transparency i really understand you better
Dkk
1:21
Europe seems off to me in general. I met a lot of weird europeans in Crypto.
1:21
Oh maybe not then. But that’s your fault for dating a girl from London in the first place
Dkk
1:21
@CynicalOops: lol maybe maybe
1:23
I always understood Dk like we developed in the womb together so this is not new to me
Dkk
1:28
Mhhh maybe
Dkk
1:29
Do I understand you?
CynicalOops
1:46
Si señor yo entiendo
Dkk
2:07
Bueno lol
Dkk
2:07
Jajajaja
CynicalOops
2:08
Latina milfs are on high alert tonight
Dkk
2:51
As they should be. Nah I aint doing shit till January. Holidays I never go out drinking and eating. Gotta take advantage of the fact you can get 5.5 lbs of mussels for $20 at costco rn.
so fuckin cold
my laptop feels like an icecube
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