Powers of Congress Flashcards
Creating legislation that limits a state’s ability to make certain laws
The federal government may exercise only those powers specifically enumerated by the Constitution. The Fourteenth Amendment, Section Five Enabling Clause permits Congress to pass legislation to enforce the equal protection and due process rights guaranteed by the amendment, but not to expand those rights or create new ones. In enforcing such rights, there must be a “congruence and proportionality” between the injury to be prevented or remedied and the means adopted to achieve that end. Accordingly, though Congress may override state government action that infringes upon Fourteenth Amendment rights if the “congruence and proportionality” test is satisfied, its enforcement power would not stretch to prohibit a law that does not violate the Constitution. In other words, as there would be no constitutional injury to prevent or remedy, the proposed law would be both incongruent and disproportionate.
