Legal Definitions - strike down

To strike down a law or regulation means that a court, typically a higher court, declares it to be invalid and unenforceable. This usually happens when the court finds that the law or regulation violates a higher legal authority, such as a constitution or a superior statute. Once a law is struck down, it no longer has legal effect and cannot be applied.

Here are some examples illustrating how this term applies:

• Imagine a state passes a new law that prohibits individuals from criticizing government officials on social media. A group of citizens challenges this law in court, arguing it violates their First Amendment right to freedom of speech under the U.S. Constitution. If the court agrees that the state law infringes upon this fundamental constitutional right, it would strike down the law, rendering it void and preventing the state from enforcing it.

  This illustrates "strike down" because the court invalidates a state law due to its conflict with a higher legal authority (the U.S. Constitution).

• Consider a city council that enacts an ordinance requiring all local businesses to use a specific, locally manufactured type of packaging for their products, even if federal regulations permit a wider range of packaging options. A national manufacturing company might challenge this city ordinance, arguing it interferes with interstate commerce and conflicts with federal trade laws. If a court determines the city ordinance oversteps its local authority and contradicts federal law, it would strike down the ordinance, making it unenforceable.

  Here, "strike down" applies because the court nullifies a local law for conflicting with a federal statute, which holds superior legal authority.

• Suppose a government agency, tasked with regulating environmental safety, issues a new rule that imposes severe restrictions on carbon emissions, far beyond what its enabling legislation authorized it to do. An industry group might sue the agency, arguing that the agency exceeded its statutory powers. If a court finds that the agency acted outside the scope of the authority granted to it by Congress, it would strike down the new rule, meaning the agency cannot enforce those particular restrictions.

  This example demonstrates "strike down" when a court invalidates a regulation because the issuing body (the agency) acted beyond its legal authority, essentially violating the law that created it.