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Article: Constitutional law - political question doctrine - Ninth Circuit holds that whether the president may conclude a treaty with Hong Kong does not constitute a political question.(Case note)
- Article from:
- Harvard Law Review
- Article date:
- May 1, 2006
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 2006 Harvard Law Review Association. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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The political question doctrine mandates that the political branches, rather than the courts, determine the constitutionality of certain courses of action. Since the doctrine requires courts to recognize the President's discretion over many aspects of foreign affairs, judicial treatment of the doctrine is often intertwined with issues of sovereignty. However, courts have been woefully unclear about the meaning of the term "sovereignty" and have, as a result, imprecisely applied the political question doctrine in foreign affairs cases involving determinations of sovereignty. Recently, in Wang v. Masaitis, (1) the Ninth Circuit held that whether the President could conclude ...