The power of the Supreme Court to declare laws unconstitutional leads some people to assume that the judicial branch will be superior to the legislative branch. Hamilton examines this argument, starting with the fact that only the constitution is fundamental law. To argue that the constitution is not superior to the laws suggest that the representative of the people are superior to the people and that the constitution is inferior to the government it gave birth to. The courts are the arbiters between the legislative branch and the people; the courts are to interpret the laws and prevent the legislative branch from exceeding the powers granted to it. The courts must not only place the constitution higher than the laws passed by congress, they must also place the intentions of the people ahead of the intentions of their representatives.
It is not thought that adherence to original meaning is one alternative among many, a choice that might be made or that might not. (Whittington, 2008). It is dangerous to leave to the judges the authority to interpret the constitution in a way that cannot be free of subjectivity. Indeed, if the judge has his sole conscious to indicate the objective interpretation of a piece of original law, America will be subjugated under a regimen of contradictory interpretations. “Judges should not feel free to pour their own political values and ideals into the constitution” ( Whittington,2008, p162).
Checks and balances is a political term that relates to the separation of powers between the branches or divisions of government. This creates the three branches of government in the United States: Judicial, Legislative and Executive. The Executive branch consists of the President and Vice President. The Judicial branch consists of the Supreme Court and Federal Courts. The Legislative Branch consists of the Senate and House of Representatives.
He is indirectly saying; court’s rulings give back power to the people. So, therefore, they are not superior to the other two branches but rather, as written by Hamilton (1788) “the power of the people is superior to both…” (p.257). Also, Hamilton strongly rooted for judicial review and regards Brutus’ fear against it as a false reasoning based on misconstrue fact. Hamilton (1788) stated that it is the judiciary’s job “to declare all acts contrary to the manifest tenor of the constitution void,” (p. 258) and without judicial review, “all the reservations of particular rights or privileges would amount to nothing” (p. 258). Hamilton (1788) defended the need for the
Federalist #78 Analysis The Federalist #78 was written by Alexander Hamilton on May 28, 1788. In the essay, Hamilton expresses his views on the structure of the Judiciary as written in The Constitution. Although Hamilton listed many positive aspects of the Judicial Branch, he also wrote about negative features the Judicial Branch has neglected to offer as stated in The Constitution. In The Constitution, there are three branches to help balance the government, to make sure there is no way to overpower any other branches within the system. The Executive Branch, which includes the president, is in charge of enforcing laws, the Legislative Branch controls making laws, and the Judicial Branch is a system of courts that interpret the laws created and enforced by the other branches.
The Supreme Court presides on cases that conflict with the Constitutional laws and with treaties of foreign affairs. The framers of the US Constitution were determined to separate the powers of the federal government into three branches: Legislative, Executive, and Judicial. The Supreme Court is in the Judicial Branch of government. Once the Supreme Court renders a decision, all other courts in the country follow the precedent set by that decision (Dautrich and Yalof 277). This precedent is also known as Stare
Marshall studied the case in a manner that helped to create the Judicial Review, which allows congress to study the constitutionality of a law. Marshall stated that Marbury is correct in the fact that he is deserving of an appointment, yet the Judicial Act of 1789 is unconstitutional so the court can't give him an appointment. In this case Marshall stated the powers given to the Supreme Court in the Constitution. By using the Marbury v. Madison case, Marhsall was able to create the Judicial Review which gave more power to Federal government, and thus helping his ideas as a federalists. John Marshall also used the powers of Congress and the relationship between federal and state authorities to end a dispute between national and state law regarding banks—McCulloch v. Maryland in 1819.This time was during the Era of Good Feelings as James Monroe was president.
Separation of Powers Vanessa Totsch Everest University The separation of powers is considered to be the division of powers and responsibilities between the different branches of the government. (Magleby & Light, 2009 Brief Edition, p. 21) This can also be within the same lines as “checks and balances”. The different branches of the United States Government can overrule another, for instance, the judicial branch can overrule the legislature if it finds that a ruling that the legislature has passed is unconstitutional. (Magleby & Light, 2009 Brief Edition) The Framers of the Constitution of the United States wished to have a strong central government, yet have limited powers that could be used by the government. This was to help keep someone from making the democracy into a monarchy for one example.
Government can be divided into three branches: executive (executing law), legislative (making law), and judicial (interpreting law). While the executive branch decides what actions the government will take, it can only act within the bounds of the law, which are determined by the legislative branch. When conflict arises over whether the law has been broken, the matter is settled by the judicial branch. Historically, the three branches of government were intermingled. Today, the United States features separation of powers (in which all three branches are separate), while the United Kingdom and other parliamentary governments feature fusion of powers (in which the judicial branch is separate, but the executive and legislative branches are combined).
Congress itself is responsible for certain things as well. The powers of Congress are set forth by the United States Constitution, defined by rulings of the Supreme Court. There are three different kinds of powers that the Congress is granted: general power, enumerated power, and implied power. Enumerated powers are explicitly defined by the Constitution, and implied are just assumed to exist. Some examples of these powers are authority of finical budgetary matters, lay and collect taxes, to pay debts, and provide to provide the common defense and general welfare of the United States.