Arlen Specter: The U.S. Supreme Court “has been eating Congress’ lunch by invalidating legislation with judicial activism.”

Through rigorous research, IJ set out to check that claim by comparing the total number of laws and regulations passed with the total number struck down by the U.S. Supreme Court.  The results were startling:

• Congress passed 15,817 laws from 1954 to 2002.  The Supreme Court struck down 103­—or just two-thirds of one percent.

• State legislatures passed 1,006,649 laws during the same period.  The Court struck down 452—or less than one-twentieth of one percent.

• The federal government adopted 21,462 regulations from 1986 to 2006.  The Court struck down 121—or about a half of a percent.

• In any given year, the Court strikes down just three out of every 5,000 laws passed by Congress and state legislatures.