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Apologies if this is a stupid question; I'm a foreigner so I can't understand freedom like Americans do. But if the first words are "Congress shall make no law

Apologies if this is a stupid question; I'm a foreigner so I can't understand freedom like Americans do. But if the first words are "Congress shall make no law", does that mean that the President and his executive orders are not bound by the First Amendment?

javagram 6y ago
The president has no authority over this subject matter except that given him by congress. This executive order is a directive to the FTC and FCC, which are both bodies created by congressional law. As a result, neither has power to violate the first amendment since by virtue of being created by congress, they are subject to the literal reading of “Congress shall make no law”. For what it’s worth - the 14th amendment passed after the civil war has been read to extend the protections of the bill of rights beyond their literal sense anyway.
nine_zeros 6y ago
Technically yes, other branches are not bound by the first amendment. By the spirit of the law, no. A lot of historical laws and constitutional writings were to limit power of the government in general. When the constitution was actually written, the executive was just a puppet with military commander powers. But over the centuries there has been power creep into the executive. Such battles end up in supreme court and the court decides ultimately what interpretation would hold up. The current supreme court is republican/right wing leaning which often ignores the spirit of the law FWIW.
- takeda 6y ago
  Actually, the way it works is: legislative branch - writes the law judicial branch - interprets the law executive branch - executes the law FCC, FTC etc were created by legislative branch to make governing specific areas more streamlined, they are still bound by whatever legislative branch is bound.
  - nine_zeros 6y ago
    > FCC, FTC etc were created by legislative branch to make governing specific areas more streamlined, they are still bound by whatever legislative branch is bound. I would recommend reading up on historical executive orders held judicial review and how they impacted operations of 3-letter organizations

javagram 6y ago

The president has no authority over this subject matter except that given him by congress. This executive order is a directive to the FTC and FCC, which are both bodies created by congressional law. As a result, neither has power to violate the first amendment since by virtue of being created by congress, they are subject to the literal reading of “Congress shall make no law”. For what it’s worth - the 14th amendment passed after the civil war has been read to extend the protections of the bill of rights beyond their literal sense anyway.

nine_zeros 6y ago

Technically yes, other branches are not bound by the first amendment. By the spirit of the law, no. A lot of historical laws and constitutional writings were to limit power of the government in general. When the constitution was actually written, the executive was just a puppet with military commander powers. But over the centuries there has been power creep into the executive. Such battles end up in supreme court and the court decides ultimately what interpretation would hold up. The current supreme court is republican/right wing leaning which often ignores the spirit of the law FWIW.

takeda 6y ago
Actually, the way it works is: legislative branch - writes the law judicial branch - interprets the law executive branch - executes the law FCC, FTC etc were created by legislative branch to make governing specific areas more streamlined, they are still bound by whatever legislative branch is bound.
- nine_zeros 6y ago
  > FCC, FTC etc were created by legislative branch to make governing specific areas more streamlined, they are still bound by whatever legislative branch is bound. I would recommend reading up on historical executive orders held judicial review and how they impacted operations of 3-letter organizations