# By what process can congress and the president check-n-balance the courts? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [June 29, 2010, 12:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/by-what-process-can-congress-and-the-president-check-n-balance-the-courts/544866 "2010-06-29T00:31:31Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 6\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![dracoi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/90db22/32.png) [@dracoi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dracoi)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2010, 4:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/by-what-process-can-congress-and-the-president-check-n-balance-the-courts/544866/21 "2010-06-29T16:59:00Z")
For what it’s worth, the Tax Court provides an interesting example of how an executive-branch organization (the IRS) can deal with a judicial-branch decision they don’t like. When the Tax Court makes a ruling the IRS doesn’t like, the IRS issues an opinion that amounts to saying “We’re going to ignore the court ruling and continue conducting audits and assessing penalties based on our position.” Taxpayers can always use the court decision as a precedent when they take their particular issue to court, but they’ve got to go through the hassle of the audit and trial to get there. That’s partly how the checks and balances system “works” - lots of passive-aggressive behavior. ---
**Author:** ![Deeg](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/deeg/32/2955_2.png) [@Deeg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Deeg)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2010, 5:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/by-what-process-can-congress-and-the-president-check-n-balance-the-courts/544866/22 "2010-06-29T17:11:52Z")
> [@dracoi](#): > > That’s partly how the checks and balances system “works” - lots of passive-aggressive behavior. That’s the check that the executive branch has–to not carry out (“execute”) rulings from the other branches. ---
**Author:** ![Tim\_T-Bonham.net](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/46a35a/32.png) [@Tim\_T-Bonham.net](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tim_T-Bonham.net)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2010, 5:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/by-what-process-can-congress-and-the-president-check-n-balance-the-courts/544866/23 "2010-06-29T17:28:56Z")
> [@friedo](#): > > Yes, [Samuel Chase](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Samuel_Chase) was impeached and acquitted. And we ended up putting his picture on the $10,000 bill. One of the few non-presidents to be on our money – the other non-presidents are all founders of the nation. ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2010, 6:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/by-what-process-can-congress-and-the-president-check-n-balance-the-courts/544866/24 "2010-06-29T18:15:23Z")
> [@t-bonham@scc.net](#): > > And we ended up putting his picture on the $10,000 bill. One of the few non-presidents to be on our money – the other non-presidents are all founders of the nation. At the risk exposing a whoosh-moment, the $10k bill portrait is not of Samuel Chase, Associate Justice of the Supreme Court, but of Salmon Chase, Lincoln’s Secretary of the Treasury and later appointed by Lincoln to Chief Justice. ---
**Author:** ![Darth\_Panda](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ee7513/32.png) [@Darth\_Panda](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darth_Panda)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2010, 8:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/by-what-process-can-congress-and-the-president-check-n-balance-the-courts/544866/25 "2010-06-29T20:38:38Z")
> [@Chessic\_Sense](#): > > How about making a “Supreme Court v2.0” where the original court just becomes some crazy group of nine, banging gavels in an empty room and making rulings that fall on deaf ears? You make a new court and call that “The Supreme Court” and just ignore those other lunatics. > > That way, you get around the problem of them saying “Nope, your puny Amendment to get rid of us isn’t valid! Muahaha!” Oh, it’s easy to prevent them from saying “Nope, your puny Amendment to get rid of us isn’t valid! Muahaha!” - you simply arrest them for trespassing when they show up to the courthouse to try to rule on it. 😛 ---
**Author:** ![Darth\_Panda](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ee7513/32.png) [@Darth\_Panda](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darth_Panda)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2010, 8:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/by-what-process-can-congress-and-the-president-check-n-balance-the-courts/544866/26 "2010-06-29T20:40:48Z")
Actually, the best amendment may be one to allow SCOTUS justices to be impeached for “‘gross distortions’ of the Constitution” or something like that. Just require a 85% majority vote to prevent abuse. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/by-what-process-can-congress-and-the-president-check-n-balance-the-courts/544866.md?page=1)