Courts likely to strike down Republican lame-duck power grabs, experts say

[Croatsky]

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2018/dec/11/republican-lame-duck-power-grabs-unconstitutional-experts-say

Republicans in Wisconsin, Michigan and North Carolina suffered stinging losses in November, but the parties aren’t transferring power quietly, or at all in some cases. On the way out the door, “lame-duck” state legislatures are bringing in last-minute laws that will strip power from incoming Democrats, gut voter-approved ballot initiatives, or otherwise undermine the election results.

But some legal experts say the most alarming legislation the Republicans have passed is unconstitutional and unlikely to survive outraged Democrats’ legal challenges.

Among other issues, they contend many of the Republican laws blur the constitutionally mandated separation of powers among the executive, legislative and judicial branches of government.

“One of the fundamental principles of the American constitutional system is that the legislature is not the whole government,” said Richard Primus, a professor of law at the University of Michigan. “The point of the constitutional system is that no decision-making system gets to act for the whole political community – the powers are separated.”

In short, some experts see the moves as a dramatic overreach by one branch of government to grab powers in the domain of others: one probably doomed to fail when it is legally challenged.

[Jaguar]

Striking it down is one thing. The real question is: would they get punished for it?

My money is on no.

[Borealis]

This is not a crime on the books and there is no punishment for it.

[Croatsky]

State legislator has to be ungerymandered first, only then will GOP be punished by fair elections.

[That Deer]

Not succeeding in passing it is punishment enough.

[Jaguar]

Then what's to deter them from just doing it again? They're already known to ignore the law when it suits them.