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A comment on US Supreme Court leaves protections for internet companies unscathed. Parent comment

Re:US Supreme Court leaves protections for internet companie... by int_19h on Friday May 19, 2023 @04:02PM (#36006215)
Their authority is restricted to interpretation of situations where the meaning of federal laws or regulations is unclear. The problem is that, ultimately, pretty much any law can be challenged and appealed all the way to SCOTUS - and if they choose to take the case and issue a ruling, there's no recourse within the system. That is an immense amount of power no matter how one looks into it - it's basically a non-overridable veto on anything the government does, not even necessarily just passed legislation, and not just on the federal level (as any action by the state government can also be challenged on the grounds of being unconstitutional wrt the federal constitution).
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Re:US Supreme Court leaves protections for internet companie... by WalterBright on Friday May 19, 2023 @04:55PM (#36006750)
The SC can only rule on cases that appear before them. The SC cannot just decide to rule on whatever they want.
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Re:US Supreme Court leaves protections for internet companie... by int_19h on Friday May 19, 2023 @06:52PM (#36007724)
There are 250 million adults in the country who can sue over pretty much anything. It is not exactly difficult to arrange for a convenient case to land on SCOTUS plate - indeed, it has been done several times in history.
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Re:US Supreme Court leaves protections for internet companie... by WalterBright on Friday May 19, 2023 @07:33PM (#36007993)
The SC only hears a handful of cases in a year, and only those that have managed to bubble up through the lower courts. The SC does not invent cases they can then rule on.
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Re:US Supreme Court leaves protections for internet companie... by WalterBright on Friday May 19, 2023 @04:57PM (#36006764)
> it's basically a non-overridable veto on anything the government does

The Legislature and Executive can pass a new law that overrides a decision that ruled on existing law.

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Re:US Supreme Court leaves protections for internet companie... by int_19h on Friday May 19, 2023 @06:55PM (#36007748)
Not if the ruling was on constitutional grounds. Well, they can pass a new law and claim that it's constitutional, of course - but it would be likely to blocked right away in the lower courts if it is in blatant contradiction with the earlier ruling, regardless of whether those courts agree with the ruling itself. Worst case, it just gets appealed all the way back to SCOTUS which strikes it down again, so it's not at all like the usual 2/3 supermajority legislative override of the executive veto.
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Re:US Supreme Court leaves protections for internet companie... by WalterBright on Friday May 19, 2023 @07:32PM (#36007990)
Congress can change the Constitution.
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Re:US Supreme Court leaves protections for internet companie... by int_19h on Saturday May 20, 2023 @05:13AM (#36010432)
Congress can submit an amendment for ratification. 3/4 of state legislatures would have to ratify it for constitution to actually change. But yes, you're right, that is the one and only check there is ... although even that one is weak, because no matter what the constitution actually says, the court can interpret it however it wants in practice - there's no shortage of examples.
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