Section 5 of the 14th Amendment states "The Congress shall have power to enforce, by appropriate legislation, the provisions of this article," giving Congress authority to pass laws preventing states from violating equal protection or due process.
The Supreme Court upheld the Voting Rights Act under this power in Katzenbach v. Morgan (1966), ruling that Congress can ban literacy tests for voting even if the tests themselves were not unconstitutional, because the law aimed to prevent constitutional violations.
But the Court limited this power in City of Boerne v. Flores (1997), requiring that congressional action be "congruent and proportional" to the constitutional violation it seeks to remedy.
In Trump v. Anderson (2024), the Court held that Section 5 delegates enforcement of the 14th Amendment's Insurrection Clause to Congress for federal and state officers, while allowing states to also impose disqualification on state candidates.
Congress cannot redefine constitutional rights, but it can create remedies and procedures to protect rights the Court has already recognized.
Section 5 of the 14th Amendment gives Congress independent power to protect civil rights without waiting for courts to rule violations occurred. This allows Congress to strengthen voting rights protections, anti-discrimination rules, and equal protection safeguards even before cases reach the Supreme Court.
People often think courts are the only branch that interprets the Constitution. In practice, Congress can use its enforcement power to expand protections beyond what courts have explicitly required, as long as the Supreme Court hasn't explicitly rejected those protections.
Section 5 of the 14th Amendment gives Congress independent power to protect civil rights without waiting for courts to rule violations occurred. This allows Congress to strengthen voting rights protections, anti-discrimination rules, and equal protection safeguards even before cases reach the Supreme Court.
People often think courts are the only branch that interprets the Constitution. In practice, Congress can use its enforcement power to expand protections beyond what courts have explicitly required, as long as the Supreme Court hasn't explicitly rejected those protections.