# Does Governor Mark Sanford actually have a legal leg to stand on? **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [May 21, 2009, 10:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-governor-mark-sanford-actually-have-a-legal-leg-to-stand-on/497246 "2009-05-21T22:17:58Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 7\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Captain\_Carrot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f0a364/32.png) [@Captain\_Carrot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Captain_Carrot)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2009, 10:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-governor-mark-sanford-actually-have-a-legal-leg-to-stand-on/497246/1 "2009-05-21T22:17:58Z")
[Sanford is suing the legislature for overturning his veto of stimulus funds](http://www.dailykos.com/story/2009/5/21/124753/264). _Leaving aside the debate over the stimulus bill_, does he have any grounds for doing this? Isn’t legislative override of executive vetoes part of the South Carolina Constitution (should Constitution be capitalized there?), and thus something he should be upholding? If this actually worked, wouldn’t somebody else have done it before? ---
**Author:** ![Gangster\_Octopus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a8b319/32.png) [@Gangster\_Octopus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gangster_Octopus)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2009, 10:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-governor-mark-sanford-actually-have-a-legal-leg-to-stand-on/497246/2 "2009-05-21T22:21:01Z")
He has no basis. I mean of course he could sue and hold his breath to he turns blue, but that’s about what it amounts to. ---
**Author:** ![Captain\_Amazing](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/6de8d8/32.png) [@Captain\_Amazing](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Captain_Amazing)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2009, 11:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-governor-mark-sanford-actually-have-a-legal-leg-to-stand-on/497246/3 "2009-05-21T23:31:56Z")
Well, Sanford’s argument isn’t that the South Carolina legislature can’t override a veto. His argument is that only the governor can request the stimulus funds, and so they can’t pass a law mandating he accept it. I don’t know if he’s right or not, but that’s his argument. As he put it: > [@](#): > > The code is very, very clear in giving the governorship the power to apply or not to apply for that 10 percent of the stimulus monies that’s been in question all along,“ Gov. Sanford said. “The question you’ve got to ask yourself is if we allow the legislative branch to come in and usurp power that has been granted through a federal law, where are we in terms of balance of power in this state?“ ---
**Author:** ![Captain\_Carrot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f0a364/32.png) [@Captain\_Carrot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Captain_Carrot)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2009, 11:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-governor-mark-sanford-actually-have-a-legal-leg-to-stand-on/497246/4 "2009-05-21T23:51:02Z")
But the bill explicitly had the language specifying that the legislatures could override the governor’s decision. Notice that Palin and Jindal, among others, made noises about it, but the AK and LA legislatures were happy to accept the money. ---
**Author:** ![Ravenman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ravenman/32/2929_2.png) [@Ravenman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ravenman)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2009, 12:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-governor-mark-sanford-actually-have-a-legal-leg-to-stand-on/497246/5 "2009-05-22T00:07:34Z")
My own, mostly uninformed view is that I don’t think the Federal government should be meddling with the process by which state governments make decisions. If the Congress wanted governors to speak for their state, invest the power in governors to accept or reject stimulus funds. If the Congress thought both the legislative and executive should speak with one voice in requesting funds, that should have been the process. But to say that governors should make the decision, and then allow state legislatures a path to overturn the state’s decision, I think goes too far in intruding into the checks and balances of state governments. I have no clue if there are any other laws out there which have these types of provisions, but I am not really comfortable with them. I’m very curious how the courts will rule. ---
**Author:** ![Captain\_Carrot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f0a364/32.png) [@Captain\_Carrot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Captain_Carrot)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2009, 12:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-governor-mark-sanford-actually-have-a-legal-leg-to-stand-on/497246/6 "2009-05-22T00:14:16Z")
I’m betting they’ll either reject with no comment, or say it’s an inherently political process. ---
**Author:** ![Captain\_Amazing](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/6de8d8/32.png) [@Captain\_Amazing](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Captain_Amazing)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2009, 12:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-governor-mark-sanford-actually-have-a-legal-leg-to-stand-on/497246/7 "2009-05-22T00:25:27Z")
> [@Captain\_Carrot](#): > > But the bill explicitly had the language specifying that the legislatures could override the governor’s decision. Notice that Palin and Jindal, among others, made noises about it, but the AK and LA legislatures were happy to accept the money. The attempt failed in Louisiana: > **[Politics | News from The Advocate](https://www.theadvocate.com/baton_rouge/news/politics/)** > > Read the latest political news in Baton Rouge, East Baton Rouge Parish and the state of Louisiana from The Advocate. Here’s an argument that that language in the bill is unconstitutional, which might be the argument that Sanford is relying on: [http://archives.chicagotribune.com/2009/mar/15/entertainment/chi-perspec0315stimulusmar15](http://archives.chicagotribune.com/2009/mar/15/entertainment/chi-perspec0315stimulusmar15)