Opinion ID: 2590393
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 11

Heading: Core legislative function

Text: In Brady v. Dean , the Vermont Supreme Court concluded that a challenge to a law, based on the contention that members of Vermont's House of Representatives were required to disqualify themselves from voting on that law, constituted a nonjusticiable political question. 173 Vt. 542, 790 A.2d 428, 432-33 (2001). In reaching its conclusion, the court relied on Chapter 2, Section 14 of the Vermont Constitution, which provides that the House of Representatives shall have the power to `judge of the elections and qualifications of its own members.' [6] Brady, 790 A.2d at 431 (quoting Vt. Const., ch. II, § 14). The court concluded that Chapter 2, Section 14 conferred the exclusive authority on the legislature to judge the qualifications of its members. Id. In that regard, the court determined that Section 14 applied to determinations as to whether members of the house were required to disqualify themselves from voting on legislation. [7] Brady, 790 A.2d at 431-32. As a result, the court held that a challenge to a law based on the argument that members of the house were required to disqualify themselves from voting constituted a political question. Id. at 432-33. The Brady court noted, however, that Chapter 2, Section 14 did not immunize members of the house from all conflicts of interest oversight by the executive and judicial branches. Id. at 432. Nonetheless, the court concluded that, when the conduct at issue constitutes a core legislative function, constitutional and prudential concerns protect members of the house from having that conduct scrutinized by another branch of state government. Id. at 432-33. The court reaffirmed that voting on legislation constituted such a core legislative function. [8] Id. at 432. In doing so, the Brady court recognized that voting must remain inviolate to ensure the continued integrity and independence of [the house]. Id. Although Brady involved an extension of the constitutionally granted power to judge members' qualifications to encompass determinations regarding whether members were required to disqualify themselves from voting on legislation, the principles set forth in Brady are applicable to the case before us. Specifically, Brady's conclusion that Chapter 2, Section 14 shields members of the Vermont House of Representatives from scrutiny by another branch of government with regard to core legislative function activities is particularly persuasive. Id. at 432-33. Here, Article 4, Section 6 of the Nevada Constitution expressly grants the authority to discipline legislators for disorderly conduct to the individual houses of the Legislature. Applying Brady to the present case, we conclude that, to the extent that a legislator's actions are undertaken in the course of the legislator's participation in, or conduct of, a core legislative function, any discipline for purported disorderly conduct in the course of engaging in these core function activities is a function constitutionally committed to each legislative house with regard to its members that cannot be delegated to another branch of government. [9] Id. at 431-33. And because voting on legislation is a core legislative function, the authority to discipline legislators for disorderly conduct allegedly committed in the course of voting on legislation is also a function constitutionally committed to each house of the Legislature and cannot be delegated to another branch of the government.