Left-wing legal scholars and editorials at big national papers have suggested that the executive branch can no longer regulate water, land, and air quality because of a June 28 Supreme Court decision. In truth, the court simply returned the state of administrative procedure law to what it was before 1984. The truth is that the Clean Air Act and Clean Water Act are still in full effect, as are the regulations spawned from them to protect the environment. 

Similarly, after Judge Aileen Cannon dismissed special counsel Jack Smith’s classified documents case this week, the same legal left critics want you to believe the Justice Department has been stripped of its ability to enforce federal law. Again, don’t believe them. Cannon’s 93-page opinion is a master class in the application of constitutional and administrative law. Aspiring lawyers should study it as a model of unbiased jurisprudence.