Can Inherent Powers Protect State Courts in Tough Fiscal Times?
Historically the judiciary has always been the weaker of the three branches of government and never more so than in its fiscal relationship with state legislatures. State legislatures retain a powerful check on actions of state courts through their use of their appropriation powers. Nevertheless, state courts retain an inherent right to adequate funding if the Founder’s vision of a system of checks and balances is to be meaningfully maintained. But how are state courts to deal with state legislatures on budget issues when disputes over funding necessarily imply competition between two primal powers: the state legislature’s enormously broad spending powers and the inherent authority of state courts to compel funding for their operations?
