Overriding Supreme Court Statutory Interpretation Decisions

Abstract

As if to debunk the conventional wisdom, the 101st Congress busied itself with efforts to override numerous Supreme Court decisions construing federal statutes. Successful legislation overrode eight recent opinions interpreting federal statutes. Overturning an older decision, another law for the first time rejected a Supreme Court interpretation discriminating against bisexuals, gay men, and lesbians. Even abortive override efforts in the 101st Congress illustrated Congress' attention to the Court's statutory interpretation cases. Most prominent among the unsuccessful override efforts was the vetoed Civil Rights Act of 1990, which would have overturned nine recent decisions narrowly construing Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and related statutes. A similar Civil Rights Act of 1991, however, was enacted into law by the 102d Congress.