Court Opinion

ID: 9427606
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-02 23:21:19.441368+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T17:23:08.363951
License: Public Domain

Me. Justice Powell,
with whom The Chief Justice and Me. Justice Rehnquist join,
dissenting.
Although I join the opinion of The Chief Justice, I write separately to emphasize that no prior decision of this Court justifies today’s intrusion upon the legitimate powers of Members of Congress.
*252The Court’s analysis starts with the general proposition that “the judiciary is clearly discernible as the primary means through which [constitutional] rights may be enforced,” ante, at 241. It leaps from this generalization, unexceptionable itself, to the conclusion that individuals who have suffered an injury to a constitutionally protected interest, and who lack an “effective” alternative, “must be able to invoke the existing jurisdiction of the courts for the protection of their justiciable constitutional rights.” Ante, at 242 (emphasis supplied). Apart from the dubious logic of this reasoning, I know of no precedent of this Court that supports such an absolute statement of the federal judiciary’s obligation to entertain private suits that Congress has not authorized. On the contrary, I have thought it clear that federal courts must exercise a principled discretion when called upon to infer a private cause of action directly from the language of the Constitution. In the present case, for reasons well summarized by The Chief Justice, principles of comity and separation of powers should require a federal court to stay its hand.
To be sure, it has been clear — at least since Bivens v. Six Unknown Fed. Narcotics Agents, 403 U. S. 388 (1971) — that in appropriate circumstances private causes of action may be inferred from provisions of the Constitution.1 But the exercise of this responsibility involves discretion, and a weighing of relevant concerns. As Mr. Justice Harlan observed in addressing this very point, a court should “take into account [a range of policy considerations] at least as broad as the range of those a legislature would consider with respect to an express statutory authorization of a traditional remedy.” Id., at 407.
*253Among those policies that a court certainly should consider in deciding whether to imply a constitutional right of action is that of comity toward an equal and coordinate branch of government.2 As Mr. Chief Justice Waite observed over a century ago: “One branch of government cannot encroach on the domain of another without danger. The safety of our institutions depends in no small degree on a strict observance of this salutary rule.” Sinking-Fund Cases, 99 U. S. 700, 718 (1879). Even where the authority of one branch over a matter is not exclusive, so that a federal court properly may accept jurisdiction over the dispute, we have recognized that the principle of separation of powers continues to have force as a matter of policy. For example, in United States v. Nixon, 418 U. S. 683 (1974), we held on the one hand that the question whether the President had a claim of privilege as to conversations with his advisers was an issue to be resolved by the judiciary, and on the other hand that separation-of-powers considerations required the recognition of a qualified privilege.
*254Whether or not the employment decisions of a Member of Congress fall within the scope of the Speech or Debate Clause of the Constitution, a question the Court does not reach today,3 it is clear that these decisions are bound up with the conduct of his duties. As The Chief Justice observes, ante, at 249, a Congressman necessarily relies heavily on his personal staff in discharging the duties of his office. Because of the nature of his office, he must rely to an extraordinary extent on the loyalty and compatibility of everyone who works for him. Cf. Elrod v. Burns, 427 U. S. 347, 377-388 (1976) (Powell, J., dissenting). A Congressman simply cannot perform his constitutional duties effectively, or serve his constituents properly, unless he is supported by a staff in which he has total confidence.
The foregoing would seem self-evident even if Congress had not indicated an intention to reserve to its Members the right to select, employ, promote, and discharge staff personnel without judicial interference. But Congress unmistakably has made clear its view on this subject. It took pains to exempt itself from the coverage of Title VII. Unless the Court is abandoning or modifying sub silentio our holding in Brown v. GSA, 425 U. S. 820 (1976), that Title VII, as amended, “provides the exclusive judicial remedy for claims of discrimination in federal employment,” id., at 835, the exemption from this statute for congressional employees should bar all judicial relief.
In sum, the decision of the Court today is not an exercise of principled discretion. It avoids our obligation to take into *255account the range of policy and constitutional considerations that we would expect a legislature to ponder in determining whether a particular remedy should be enacted. It fails to weigh the legitimate interests of Members of Congress. Indeed, the decision simply ignores the constitutional doctrine of separation of powers. In my view, the serious intrusion upon the authority of Members of Congress to choose and control their own personal staffs cannot be justified.4
I would affirm the judgment of the Court of Appeals.

 A court necessarily has wider latitude in interpreting the Constitution than it does in construing a statute, McCulloch v. Maryland, 4 Wheat. 316, 407 (1819). Moreover, the federal courts have a far greater responsibility under the Constitution for the protection of those rights derived directly from it, than for the definition and enforcement of rights created solely by Congress. Bivens v. Six Unknown Fed. Narcotics Agents, 403 U. S., at 407 (Harlan, J., concurring in judgment).

 It is settled that where discretion exists, a variety of factors rooted in the Constitution may lead a federal court to refuse to entertain an otherwise properly presented constitutional claim. See, e. g., Trainor v. Hernandez, 431 U. S. 434 (1977); Juidice v. Vail, 430 U. S. 327 (1977); Huffman v. Pursue, Ltd., 420 U. S. 592 (1975); Younger v. Harris, 401 U. S. 37 (1971); Alabama Public Service Comm’n v. Southern R. Co., 341 U. S. 341 (1951); Douglas v. City of Jeannette, 319 U. S. 157 (1943); Burford v. Sun Oil Co., 319 U. S. 315 (1943); Railroad Comm’n v. Pullman Co., 312 U. S. 496 (1941); Hawks v. Hamill, 288 U. S. 52 (1933). Traditionally, the issue has arisen in the context of a federal court’s exercise of its equity powers with respect to the States. Concerns of comity similar to those that govern our dealings with the States also come into play when we are asked to interfere with the functioning of Congress.
The Court suggests that because the Speech or Debate Clause of the Constitution embodies a separation-of-powers principle, the Constitution affords no further protection to the prerogatives of Members of Congress. Ante, at. 246. This assertion not only marks a striking departure from precedent, but also constitutes a non sequitur. Our constitutional structure of government rests on a variety of checks and balances; the existence of one such check does not negate all others.

 It is quite doubtful whether the Court should not consider respondent’s Speech or Debate Clause claim as a threshold issue. The purpose of that Clause, when it applies, includes the protection • of Members of Congress from the harassment of litigation. Since the Court chooses not to consider this claim, and addresses only the cause-of-action issue, I limit my dissent accordingly. In doing so, I imply no view as to the merits of the Speech or Debate Clause issue or to the propriety of not addressing the claim before all other issues.

 The justification the Court relies upon is the duty of federal courts 'to vindicate constitutional rights — a duty no one disputes. But it never has been thought that this duty required a blind exercise of judicial power without regard to other interests or constitutional principles. Indeed, it would not be surprising for Congress to consider today’s action unwarranted and to exercise its authority to reassert the proper balance between the legislative and judicial branches. If the reaction took the form of limiting the jurisdiction of federal courts, the effect conceivably could be to frustrate the vindication of rights properly protected by the Court.