Also known as: legislative actions · legislative act · legislative acts
Written by attorneys · grounded in primary & secondary sources — see below
A formal enactment or resolution by a legislative body that creates binding rules or policy with the force of law. Such action must satisfy bicameralism and presentment when undertaken by Congress and cannot be commandeered by federal statute when undertaken by a state legislature.
State legislators in State A pass a bill licensing sports gambling operators within their borders. Federal officials immediately sue to enjoin the new licensing regime. The court holds that the federal prohibition targets the state's own legislative action rather than private conduct and therefore violates the anti-commandeering doctrine.
The city council of East Cleveland adopts an ordinance that restricts which relatives may live together in a single dwelling. A grandmother who shares her home with a grandchild is prosecuted under the new rule. She challenges the ordinance as an arbitrary legislative action that infringes protected liberty interests.
Select any source to read its text and confirm it supports the definition.
The New York legislature enacts a statute limiting bakers to ten hours of work per day. A bakery owner is fined for violating the limit and sues, arguing that the legislative action lacks a reasonable relation to public health and therefore exceeds the state's police power.
State legislators in State B pass a statute authorizing same-sex couples to obtain marriage licenses on equal terms with opposite-sex couples. Opponents file suit claiming the legislative action exceeds state authority under the federal Constitution. The court upholds the statute as a valid exercise of legislative power.
The Pennsylvania legislature adopts detailed requirements for abortion providers, including informed-consent rules and a twenty-four-hour waiting period. A clinic challenges the provisions as an undue burden on the right to choose. The court evaluates whether the legislative action survives constitutional scrutiny under the undue-burden standard.
The West Virginia legislature passes a statute requiring all public-school students to salute the flag each morning. A family whose religious beliefs forbid the salute refuses to comply and faces expulsion. The students challenge the legislative action as violating the First Amendment right to refrain from compelled speech.
Legislative action originates in a legislative body and must satisfy bicameralism and presentment when undertaken by Congress. Executive or administrative rules implement existing statutes rather than create new substantive policy. When an agency issues nationwide rules without fresh statutory authorization, courts treat the measure as unauthorized legislative action.
The doctrine prevents Congress from issuing direct orders to state legislatures about what they may or may not enact. A federal statute that prohibits states from authorizing sports betting targets legislative action itself rather than private conduct and is therefore invalid. The same principle bars federal commands that force state legislatures to adopt identical harbor-access rules.
Yes. When a legislative body enacts an ordinance directing pedestrians to use a designated detour around a construction site, that enactment can itself define the minimum level of care a reasonably prudent person must exercise for self-protection. The jury then decides whether the plaintiff violated the ordinance and whether the violation caused the harm.
…and unlimited government is abolished. Either the Constitution is superior and paramount or it is on a level with ordinary legislative acts. If the former, then a legislative act contrary to the Constitution is not law. It is emphatically the province and duty of the judicial department to say what the law is. Those who apply…