Two decades ago, the Supreme Court barred the execution of people with mental disabilities as a violation of the Constitution’s Eighth Amendment ban on cruel and unusual punishment. But the court’s composition has changed since then.
A ruling in the president’s favor in the case, which deals with his attempt to remove a member of the Federal Trade Commission, would be a major expansion of presidential authority.
Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. and other conservatives on the Supreme Court have embraced the so-called unitary executive theory, which holds that the Constitution vests all executive power in the president and that he must be able to control everything the executive branch does.
Login
