Learning Resources, Inc. v. Trump · ¶214

“Legislative power” for purposes of the Vesting Clause means the power to make substantive rules setting the conditions for deprivations of life, liberty, or property. I have described this power as the “core legislative power” to distinguish it from other powers that the Constitution grants Congress. Id., at 80. Core legislative power includes only the power to make “law” in the “Blackstonian sense of generally applicable rules of private conduct,” the violation of which results in the deprivation of “core private rights.” Id., at 73, 76. These core private rights are the natural rights to life, liberty, and property. See 1 W. Blackstone, Commentaries on the Laws of England 123–136 (1765) (Blackstone); C. Nelson, Adjudication in the Political Branches, 107 Colum. L. Rev. 559, 566–567 (2007).

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