Is there really a separation of powers in government?

No, because he has the initiative to begin it. The courts can only react to it if a suit is filed in the first place, and makes it through the hurdles necessary to reach the supreme court of appeals.

If the president does something but no suitably strong case can be pursued, then its unlikely to be overturned.
 
And if someone wanted to take the President to court for all of that, and the Supreme Court heard the case, they could decide that what he was doing was wrong - and he would stop. That's how powerful they are. Them being a reactionary body has nothing to do with whether they can dictate to the other Branches what to do.
 
And again, if you go back and read the decisions of major case law, many of the decisions come down to precise issues that are specifically illuminated for their problems. Even if the courts have the final word on Executive action, often the result is "well you cant do what you're doing this way". The executive/congress can simply do it again, differently, and force an entirely new case.

Congress did just that with United States vs New York over nuclear waste disposal.
 
And of course the Presidency is the most destructive and all that other jazz. I'm not arguing about any of that. I'm arguing that, despite all that power the President wielRAB, if the Supreme Court wanted to shut it down, they could with a court case.
 
And that's their job. I don't see the problem? Congress can shut down court decisions with new legislation, etc etc. Checks and balances, whee?

I highlight this section because again, I want to restate that a PRIVATE PARTY has to bring a case to the court. The SCOTUS has no power to bring cases themselves.
 
I agree that's a problem with the people. The Courts are most powerful because the President and Congress allow it to be. Congress would have good constitutional backing to reign back the Courts anytime they wanted to (not to mention they could do the same to the President).
 
Historically, that wasn't their job. The other two branches would routinely ignore Court cases in the 19th Century. Now, however, Congress passes laws, the President signs a law, and then the Courts can overthrow. The Courts are a check upon the other Branches, but there is no check upon them.
 
Pretty silly definition of power in the face of an office that can unilaterally invade countries and overthrow governments on the orders of a single individual, with no check, and which has that power as one among many, and not the largest among them.

The courts have more power in one specific, reactionary instance listed. It is substantial, but it cannot change the face of the world, which the President can and does do semi-regularly.
 
Those arguing against the courts being the most powerful seem to not be distinguishing between the existence of 'potential checks'(like impeaching justices), and simply disregarding a Scotus decision vs. how and when those checks are actually called on.

In the contemporary political climate most people are so ignorant of how the government is actually supposed to operate, that if you were to even suggest ignoring a court decision, someone would surely think that was illegal. And whenever the issue of impeachment comes up, you're bound to get labeled an extremist at some point.

What were once almost routine bureaucratic functions have been pushed to a place where they require absurd amounts of political momentum to even consider, so the effectiveness of checks has broken down to near non-existence. With the courts being empowered the most if for no other reason than because they aren't elected(by the people) and seen as apolitical by most americans; ergo someone trying to impeach a justice might get sacked by his voting district for perceived political bias.
 
No, I agree with all of that, and I agree with almost everything Roth is saying...minus that it makes the judiciary more powerful than the executive.

The Executive has a far greater power to shape the nation and world and wielRAB more powers in far more areas.
 
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