<p>The ninth-annual John L. Gedid Lecture provided a history lesson and much thought-provoking comment on the amount of authority American presidents have when deciding whether and how to enforce U.S. laws.</p>
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<p>Tara Leigh Grove, associate professor of law at William &amp; Mary Law School, delivered the lecture. An expert on Constitutional law, federal courts and statutory interpretation, Grove began her talk asking the audience to imagine a new president taking office in 2017. What if that person announced the individual health insurance mandate built into the Affordable Care Act was unconstitutional &ndash; in the new president&rsquo;s view, at least &ndash; and would not be enforced.</p>
<p>While such an action seems impossible, Grove said, &ldquo;the issue is actually not that clear.&rdquo;</p>
<p>The Constitution says presidents shall take care that laws be faithfully executed, but what about laws presidents don&rsquo;t view as lawful, she asked. Grove pointed to Thomas Jefferson, who refused to uphold the Sedition Act of 1798, which made it illegal for citizens to speak against their elected officials. Or Abraham Lincoln who issued the Emancipation Proclamation granting freedom to slaves, six years after the U.S. Supreme Court declared slaves as property, not people, in Dred Scott v. Sandford. In 1968, Congress enacted a law that overturned the Miranda warning &ndash; which requires police to explain the right to an attorney at the time a person is being arrested. That law was still on the books in the 21<sup>st</sup> century, even though it was not enforced.</p>
<p>There are ways to hold these authorities in check, Grove said. Congress could withhold funding from the executive branch if it viewed a president&rsquo;s discretionary authority moving out of line. Or, the public has opportunities to share its views with presidents through opinion polls, which presidents would be wise to watch. &ldquo;We the people ultimately judge whether a president did take care that the laws were faithfully executed,&rdquo; she said.</p>
<p>The Gedid Lecture is presented by Widener&rsquo;s <a title="Law &amp; Government Institute" href="ipl://391//W10=">Law &amp; Government Institute</a>, which Gedid founded. Grove joined the faculty at William &amp; Mary Law School in 2011.</p>
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