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A
practical question for Marty Laderman: Does DOJ have other sources of funding
for its activities beyond the regular appropriations bill that passed the House
with those riders? (BTW, they are in sections 803 and 808 of H.R. 2799, the
House-passed Departments of Commerce, Justice, and State, the Judiciary, and
Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 2004.) As a practical matter, how
sweeping are these restrictions, assuming they survive into the appropriations
bill that is ultimately enacted?
Jonathan L. Entin
Professor of Law and Political
Science
Case Western Reserve University
216-368-3321
(voice)
216-368-2086 (fax)
[EMAIL PROTECTED] (e-mail)
One of the riders provides: "None of the funds appropriated in this Act may
be used to enforce the judgment in Newdow v. U.S. Congress 292 F.3d 597 (9th
Cir. 2002)."
The
other provides: "None of the funds appropriated in this Act may be used
to enforce the judgment of the United States Court of Appeals for the Eleventh
Circuit in Glassroth v. Moore, decided July 1, 2003 or Glassroth v. Moore, 229
F. Supp. 2d 1067 (M. D. Ala. 2002)."
[snip] The riders do not prohibit the Federal
Government from using funds other than those "appropriated in
this Act" to enforce the judgments, and do not purport to absolutely prohibit
any entity (e.g., the Department of Justice) from enforcing
the judgments -- let alone prohibit every possible enforcement entity, federal
and state, executive and judicial, from enforcing the judgments. If
Congress passed a law completely precluding any means of enforcement, only
then would the statute implicate the classic, and unresolved, questions
discussed by, e.g., Sager, Fallon &
Meltzer, etc.
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