MET PO 241 Lecture Notes - Lecture 5: Absolute Immunity, Curtis Wright, Enumerated Powers
19 Oct 2016
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Facts: congress creates the u. s sentencing commission underneath the 1984. Issue: john mistretta was accused of selling cocaine on three counts, but he countered his sentencing by charging that the commission was given excessive legislative authority which violated the delegation of powers principle. Many federal courts and judges were in disagreement about whether the sentencing guidelines were constitutionally defective: arguments: use of article iii judges was a violation because they were making legislative policy decisions. Counter: executive can"t interfere with their role as judges, but rather only as their spot on the commission. Ruling: as long as there is an intelligible principle by which the body that congress has commissioned is supposed to conform to, they can be delegated certain legislative powers legally. In this instance, congress gave such specific and carefully laid out guidelines, criteria and goals for the commission that the delegation of authority was perfectly constitutional.
