New Debate Resource

Via the PrawfsBlawgs discussion of the debater/professor link, I came across a new site by Lindsay Harrison, former debater at Greenhill HS and currently a Law Lecturer at the University of Miami. Her site is designed to give HS policy debaters some guidance on the legal implications of the cases they're running, but I'm sure it can be used by debaters of all stripes (or indeed, anybody else).

One of her early posts focused on the limits of congressional power. There was one section that was confusing to me however:

There is an important limitation on legislation passed pursuant to Section 5 of the 14th Amendment. If the Supreme Court has held that a right does not exist, Section 5 cannot be the basis for a statute passed ostensibly to enforce such a right. The Supreme Court has stated, "Section 5 legislation reaching beyond the scope of § 1's actual guarantees must be an appropriate remedy for identified constitutional violations, not an attempt to substantively redefine the States' legal obligations." [Nevada Department of Human Resources v.] Hibbs, 538 U.S. 721, 728 (2003) (quotation omitted). By way of example, since the Supreme Court has stated that there is no right to be free from traffic stops made without probable cause, Congress could not pass legislation banning traffic stops made without probable cause since it lacks the authority to enforce a right that does not exist.

In comments, I asked the following (edited slightly for clarity):

At least as you're describing it, this seems to conflict with the precedent set by Geduldig v. Aiello, 417 U.S. 484 (1974) and how it was essentially overruled by statute via the 1978 Pregnancy Discrimination Act. If freedom from discrimination against status of pregnancy is not a right under the 14th amendment, then it seems that congress could not have passed the PDA making it a protected status. I can think of a few distinguishing characteristics between that case, and the example you give, but it seems that these events put a significant wrinkle in the claim you make.

This isn't an area of law I claim to know very well, but I was always under the impression that there is at least a limited amount of wiggle room between the "floor" of what the constitution absolutely requires, and the "ceiling" by which congress can expand those protections beyond the baseline. So Pregnancy is not an inherently protected class, but congress, pursuaint to its power under the 14th amendment, can make it one. Of course, there is almost definitely some outward limit to what congress can do under the 14th amendment. But turning back to Harrison's example, could congress respond to cases proclaiming that there is no right to be free of an unreasonable search and seizure in a traffic stop by (for example) passing a law claiming that automobiles are private spaces and thus are contained within the limitations of the 4th amendment? Or, that any search and seizure must be reasonably be expected to yield additional information/evidence about the act that provoked suspicion in the first place? Would these laws be unconstitutional exercises of congressional power (putting aside from whether they're wise policy)?

Explanation about why I'm foolish and ignorant would be much appreciated.