In the same week large swaths of the US were under extreme heat warnings, Joe Biden’s Justice Department filed its most recent motion to dismiss a landmark climate case by arguing that nothing in the Constitution guarantees the right to a secure climate.
That section of it had essentially no legal force, given that it can be construed to authorize literally anything.
For instance, one might argue that a eugenics program to eliminate all “inferior” genes from the population “promotes the general welfare” of the people. You don’t actually want language that incredibly vague to have legal force
I don’t buy that, “The 8th amendment’s prohibition against cruel and unusual punishment has no legal force because it can be construed to mean anything, someone could argue having to pay their taxes was cruel and unusual” makes about as much sense to me. Words mean things, especially when they’re in the context of the rest of the Constitution’s clauses that suggest certain things are or aren’t allowed, so I just don’t see how throwing General Welfare on to the table instantly greenlights a reign of terror.
Also, it’s not like the non-enforcement of General Welfare prevented eugenicist policies in the past
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