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Simple English definitions for legal terms
political question
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A quick definition of political question:
A political question is a topic that the Supreme Court decides is not appropriate for them to review because it should be left to the President and Congress to make decisions about. This means that the courts will not get involved in constitutional questions related to these topics and will let the political process handle them instead. The court will usually decide that a matter is a political question for one of two reasons: either the Constitution has already given the decision-making power to other branches of government, or the court decides it is better to stay out of the matter.
A more thorough explanation:
Political question refers to a topic that the Supreme Court considers inappropriate for judicial review. This is because the power to make decisions on such matters should be left to the branches of government that are accountable to the people, such as the President and Congress. Therefore, the courts will not interfere in constitutional questions related to political matters and will leave them to be resolved through the political process.
The courts usually consider a matter to be a political question for two reasons:
- The Constitution has already assigned the matter to other non-judicial branches of government for decision-making, and the courts do not want to interfere with the separation of powers.
- The courts choose to refrain from adjudicating the matter due to prudential concerns.
For example, the Supreme Court may consider a dispute between the President and Congress over war powers to be a political question. This is because the Constitution grants the President the power to make decisions related to national security, while Congress has the power to declare war. Therefore, the Supreme Court may choose not to intervene in such a dispute and leave it to the political process to resolve.