Jegley v. Picado

In my view, the majority has issued an advisory opinion declaring unconstitutional a law passed by the legislature and signed into law by the governor. I respectfully dissent on the grounds that there was no justiciable case before us for decision, and because I believe we should heed the principles articulated by Justice Felix Frankfurter, writing for the United States Supreme Court, in Poe v. Ullman, 367 U.S. 497 (1961). Justice Frankfurter cautioned courts that they should use their powers to overturn legislative acts only when a case is properly before the court, when he wrote:

Whenever,…