Larelle was as strong as Merean, requiring deference, but they were outside the Tower, now.

"The separation-of-powers doctrine does not require judicial deference to a patently unconstitutional and obviously unauthorized use of legislative appropriations," he said.

Justice O'Connor's opinion referred only obliquely to Section 5, noting that Justices "have taken different views" on whether the section requires special deference to Congress in the area of equal protection.

She also said that because Congress had refused "on 13 occasions" to amend the habeas corpus law to require deference from Federal judges, the Court itself should not now take that step.

The court then noted that when construing a statute dealing with Indian tribes, the statute is to be construed to the favor of the tribe over the more general canon requiring deference to agency determinations.

National and Local Spiritual Assemblies are seen as requiring deference and obedience, but can be overruled by a superior elected institution.

The majority added that far from disregarding Supreme Court precedents requiring deference to prison administrators' judgment, it was simply trying to determine "whether an asserted goal is logically connected to the prison regulation."

A Patent Violation' "The separation-of-powers doctrine does not require judicial deference to a patently unconstitutional and obviously unauthorized use of legislative appropriations," he said in his 140-page decision.

Calculating that obligation can be highly contentious, and the law created a system requiring deference to the judgments of the plan's trustees, usually a joint labor-management committee.

However, protectionist legislation such as this, which shifts burdens and expenses to other states, does not require such deference.