The President signed the commissions as required by law and the Secretary of State at the time affixed the Presidential seal as required by law. James Madison as current Secretary of State refused to deliver these signed commissions to Marbury and the other nominees. Statement of the Rule: A law in conflict with the Constitution is void and it is the duty of the Court to determine if such a conflict exists. Holding: Marbury is not entitled to a writ of mandamus from the Supreme Court requiring Madison to deliver the justice of the peace commission. Reasoning: The section of the Judiciary Act of 1792 (passed by Congress) relied on by Marbury which granted the Supreme Court the right to issue writs of mandamus to government officials was unconstitutional and therefore is void and of no effect.
The second amendment says “A well regulated militia being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the People to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed.” (Bill of Rights). But how could we interpret this amendment? Does this mean that we have the right to have only one gun, or we have the right to have as many guns as we want? Every right has its limitations and this right is not the exception. The first amendment says: “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech…” (Bill of Rights).
8. Penumbras Emanations The United States Constitution does not directly state our right to privacy, but the rights are specifically mentioned in the Bill of Rights in the First, Third, Fourth, Fifth, and Nine Amendments. Justice William O. Douglas explains that “have penumbras… that give them life and substance,” (113). Furthermore, penumbras literally means shadow, or, “zones of privacy” for which people have the freedom to make choices without the government interfering. Penumbras Emanations is important because the modern-day reading of the Constitution helps protect human rights as society changes.
The Supreme court decision included, “ Congress was deprived of all legislative power over mere opinion, but was left free to reach actions which were in violation of social duties or subversive of good order.” Ultimately, this case highlighted the power of the Supreme Court to deviate from the free exercise clause in cases of religious acts that are socially unacceptable or justifies multiple marriages ( Reynolds vs. United States). Lastly, political institutions that limit the impact of Supreme Court decisions include the fact that Constitutional Amendments can be passed at any time to overturn the decision of the Supreme court. This specific power is safeguarded under the Supremacy clause, which designates the Constitution as the “supreme law of the land,” and a doctrine that can be utilized in times of conflict in the law. Lastly, appellate jurisdiction limits Supreme Court decisions, as the Supreme court has the jurisdiction to hear cases from lower courts and change the outcomes of those decisions if
Why has the United States paid lip service to the 14th & 15th Amendments while it venerates Amendments 1-10? Amendments 1-10 are known as the Bill of Rights and guarantee individual freedoms and protections from the intrusion of the federal government. Perhaps the most important and critical amendment is the first Amendment:“Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the government for a redress of grievances.” This amendment details the freedoms the founders were seeking to give the people; for with these rights they guaranteed that we can assert our views of religion, of speech, that we can protest and change unfair practices. Three Amendments are called the Reconstruction Amendments for the period following the Civil War called Reconstruction 1865-1877. The concept was that the defeated southern states would be rehabilitated and brought back to normal standing as citizens of the united states during this reconstruction period.
Is the Constitution still Relevant? An ongoing argument over modern political and social issues centers on whether the U.S. Constitution is relevant in today’s world. With all the advancements in technology, communication, transportation, commerce, and in the medical field, some argue that the Founding Fathers could not have seen what would be necessary for the United States to stay the great nation that it already is, so I believe that the constitution is still relevant to a degree. For most, when forming the Constitution, the framers did not construct the constitution’s durability based on any advancement in technologies or society. They wrote the restrictive forces of the Constitution on something far more predictable, the meaning of freedom.
It is claimed that the founding fathers worded certain parts of the constitution vaguely and in general terms in order to prepare for future changes without needing to make an amendment. for example the first amendment states ‘congress shall make no law respecting an establishment
Politics The Relative Power of the Judicial Branch 1. “It is emphatically the province and duty of the Judicial Department to say what the law is.” These are the words written on the wall of the Supreme Court building and are a summary of the outcome of the landmark case Marbury v. Madison. In a most simplistic, pithy and straightforward way, this single sentence sums up the Judiciary Branch’s infinite strength and relative weakness at the same time. The Judiciary branch cannot create new law, they cannot lay a path for governmental change, and in a sense of driving change the Judicial Branch has no power whatsoever. But, it is the responsibility to interpret laws that have been previously made and apply their interpretations and applications to the current time.
The tenth amendment to the United States Bill of Rights states “The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people.”(6). The United States constitution gives states the ability to shape their own constitution, barring any contradiction to the positions that the Federal Government takes on divisive issues. When state amendments don‘t align with the U.S. constitution, the Federal Government can flex their muscle to prove the power they have over states. In short, states have limited, some explicit others vague, powers over their own constitution. The U.S. constitution sets the rules and “state constitutions provide
The argument is that the constitution states "Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof". (US Constitution 1802). The courts have erroneously upheld that the separation of church and state prohibits church/government unions. What the courts have failed to understand it that the said amendment to the Constitution is to protect religious freedoms not to hinder or prohibit churches and government from uniting for a common