In the essay Federal No. 78 deals with the proposed structure of federal courts, their powers and jurisdiction, the method of appointing judges, and related matters. Alexander Hamilton begins in explaining his views on the independence on judge and evaluates the doctrine of the judicial review. Resulting in the Court believing that the Supreme Court violated part of the Constitution, Alexander Hamilton then evaluates the question of whether the Supreme Court should be able to declare acts of Congress null and void. Hamilton focuses on his three main points of the judicial department. First: the mode of appointing judges. Second: The tenure by which they are to hold their places. Third: The partition of the judiciary authority between different courts, and their relations to each other. He reaches his points in how he believes the things the judicial branch has authority to do and describing the different effects it has on the Constitution. …show more content…
Alexander Hamilton longs to compare the judicial to the other branches of government and, based on his findings, concludes that the judicial branch therefore is the least harmful to the rights of the Constitution. He says it has “neither Force nor Will but merely judgment”. This makes the judicial branch seem weak because with his statement, Alexander Hamilton connects the executive branch have the authority of ‘force’ being that it allows decision making within the courts. Alexander Hamilton also relates the ‘will’ to the cannot stand as activist based on the legislative branch. I agree with Hamilton on his opinion of how the judicial branch strands distinct from the others because it is in fact true to that the legislative and execute branches hold more weight in causing more danger to the rights of the Constitution than the
This statement from the passage shows that the Supreme Court is depended on to choose what’s right and what’s wrong for us. Secondly, I believe that the Supreme Court is given too much power because the Judicial branch, which includes the Supreme Court, is envisioned as superior than the others. In
SCOTUS is a far cry from Alexander Hamilton’s claim in The Federalist #78 that the judiciary “will always be the least dangerous to the political rights of the Constitution; because, the judiciary lacked the powers of the purse and of the sword, it had neither force nor will, but merely judgment.
The articles written by Antonin Scalia and Stephen Breyer both contribute valid insight on how the Constitution should be interpreted. They, however, end up taking conflicting views on whether to adopt what is known as a living constitution or to bind the judiciary by the original meaning of the document. Throughout their works, the authors mention the importance of objectivity, judicial restraint and the historical context in which the Constitution was written under and whether or not it should apply to the United States today. Scalia argues in favor of the originalist approach, stating that he supports neither a strict nor a loose interpretation of the Constitution, but rather, a reasonable interpretation. Breyer sides with the cosequentialist ideals, claiming that active participation in collective power is paramount when it comes to evaluating the Constitution's place in American law.
In addition, James Madison stated the idea of Checks and Balances and what it will do to the government, “...the constant aim is to divide and arrange the several offices in such a manner as that they may be a check on the other... The three branches should not be so far separated as to have no constitutional control over each other.” This statement means that each branch should have a different power, so they wouldn’t have any constitutional control over each other. That makes each branch check on the other branches to make sure they are doing everything correctly. One way that the Judicial Branch can check on the Legislative Branch is that when Congress creates laws, the Court can declare laws unconstitutional because some laws might not be a good idea for the people of the country, so the Judicial has the power to take away the possible law.
Rehnquist argues that Marshall saw the constitution, not only as a document, but as a “charter” that represented the will of the people (O’Brien 166). However, the argument made by Rehnquist reinforces Marshall’s interpretation of judicial review as the will of the majority. By comparison, Judge William Justice takes a different approach from Rehnquist on the interpretation of Judicial review. Judge Justice argues that Hamilton’s intention was for the court to be a “bulwark” against “Majoritarian excesses,” (O’Brien 181) so as to protect against the tyranny of the majority. Likewise, Hamilton saw the same principle of the court as a “bulwark” against congress.
Alexander Hamilton wrote the Federalist Papers which was a persuasive document appealing to the formation of a strong national government. In Federalist #78, Hamilton described his plan for a judicial system set up by the Federal Government that would interpret laws and hold them to the standard of the Constitution. In his essay, he remarked the judicial branch as the weakest of the branches. His reasoning behind this claim was that the judiciary posed the least threatening to individuals rights found in the Constitution. The judges themselves only held the power to interpret laws and strike them down during the legislative process.
An economic crisis demanded national solutions, and the Government in Washington grew fast to meet these new demands. Fundamental changes in the political landscape affecting Supreme Court appointments. There has been ten critical developments in American politics, which was the growth and bureaucratization of the Justice Department and of the White House. Also paralleling the increased role for national political institutions in American life has been growth in size and influence of federal courts, diving party government, the confirmation process had become increasingly public, the rise in power of the organized bar, increased participation by interest groups, increased media attention, advances in legal research technology and finally, the more visible role the Supreme Court has assumed in American political life has increased the perceived stakes of the nomination process for everyone that was involved.
Had the court appointments been made temporary many people would have been discouraged to give up successful careers in law and politics. Adding good behavior as a requirement would ensure that the court would function as an independent body and protect people’s individual rights. Hamilton envisioned the court as the weakest of the three branches of government with few functions: the power to judge, and to relegate all actions upon which court decisions have been made to the authority of the president (Federalist No.
From his perspective, the court would focus on interpreting the constitutionality of the laws written by Congress in the light of the constitution. Hamilton’s sole purpose was to protect people from tyranny. In other words, the court’s job was not to impose their will on Congress, but to make sure laws were being written to respect people’s basic constitutional rights. Hamilton also purposed for the court to function as a protector from political factions within the political parties that might arise. He knew that special interest groups would attempt to pass certain legislation to benefit their self-interest.
Determining the specificities of what the framers originally intended, however, is the subject to some debate. Saikrishna Prakash, a distinguished Professor of Law at the University of Virginia, analyses the question of original meaning of executive power in his essay “The Essential Meaning of Executive Power”. He argues that not only is the president chief legislator, chief military officer, and the nation's top diplomat, he is “first and foremost...the chief executive empowered by the executive power to execute Congress’s laws and to control the law execution of executive officers”(Prakash, 820). He also acknowledges Justice Scalia’s assessment “that a complete understanding of the executive power might take 7,000 pages and thirty years to complete”(Prakash, 820). Suggesting that we have to be cautious in trying to analyze the presidency from a pure originalist point of view, and that we have to adapt to the ambiguities that result from the evolution of presidential power.
In a modern sense, proper use of Judicial Independence is important because as it says in, "May it Please The Court," on page 74, law is everywhere in modern America. Thus, Americans use law and courts to resolve disputes that are large and small, public and private. Therefore, you can see how Judicial Independence and legal professions in general are important and critical because it can shape and inform relations between individuals and institutions in this country today, as it has for more than 200 years. Therefore when considering Judicial Independence we must understand the critical aspect and importance it represents with regards to adhering to constitutional thought and or
In 1787-1788 eighty-five essays appeared in the New York newspaper, they were supporting the federal constitution, Alexander Hamilton was one of the writers. Hamilton was responding to antifederalist who had claimed that absence of the Bill of Rights and a powerful Judiciary would bring oppression to the people. Hamilton argued that Judiciary was a weak branch of government compared to Executive and Legislature because it lacked an army to command and would only react to what the two branches of the government had proposed. I disagree with the statement by Alexander Hamilton that judiciary is the weakest branch of the government, maybe at that time it could have been viewed as so, but its power has increased through several amendments (Jellum, 2008). The Congress creates law, for example, they created the National Prohibition in the 1920s, and the president executes the laws by ensuring all the laws passed by the Congress are implemented.
The writers of the Federalist Papers were supporters of the ratification of the U.S. Constitution. Number 78 is Hamilton’s opinion on how the Judiciary Branch should be chosen and what type of character a judge should be and the relationships between the different courts. Hamilton’s view that the Judiciary Branch be independent, impartial and keep the liberty of the nation, would in fact get true Justices for the people. Hamilton stated that this branch of government is the “least dangerous.” The reason he stated this is because the judicial branch will be there to place judgement and interpretation of the laws created by our legislative branch.
I disagree with Alexander Hamilton 's statement that the "Judiciary is the weakest branch of government” today. It might be the case because the judiciary branch is hardly in the media. Both the president and congress always making noise. They are always on the news, the president is trying to do something and complaining that congress is holding him back, for example “Obama Care”, and congress is all talk and no action especially, for issues that matter to the normal people for example, healthcare and taxes issues. On the other hand, judiciary branch is quite and hardly in the news and that’s what Hamilton probably meant by the “weakest branch” (The Judiciary, 2017).
Justice Thurgood Marshall Response Justice Thurgood Marshall said in his “Reflections on the Bicentennial of the United States Constitution”, “I do not believe the meaning of the Constitution was forever ‘fixed’ at the Philadelphia Convention. Nor do I find the wisdom, foresight, and sense of justice exhibited by the framers particularly profound. To the contrary, the government they devised was defective from the start, requiring several amendments, a civil war, and momentous social transformation to attain the system of constitutional government and its respect for the individual freedoms and human rights, that we hold as fundamental as today” (Marshall). In this passage of his essay, Judge Marshall is critical of the government that is