Judicial Review : The Constitution

The Judicial Review it helps to make sure that all new laws passed do not voglite the constitution. Or are rights as citizens. This power however is weekend by a slow to act congress. It is also strengthened by the changing opinions of the court judges. The job of the federal government is to lead but also protect the rights and freedoms of its citizens. Judicial review accomplishes this by insuring that laws are checked with the constitution.

“...Power over any one thing, if not limited by some obvious and precise affinity, may amount to a Power over every other.”-James madison. James Madison’s ideas about the American Constitution (considering he wrote the first draft) clearly reflects his opinion about how one branch should not have more power than another, and if one happens to be able to exploit a specific power, or given to much power; it will have power over everything. This is crucial to the inner workings of America’s government because without Branches constantly checking each other, America is just a good as a Monarchy.

With the young nation of America entered into the 19th century, there were still major issues when it came to the balance of powers of the different government branches. The status of judicial review in the Supreme Court was never pressed upon or given any real structure to. The power of judicial review had appeared many times in history before the set up of the Supreme Court as, in England, Chief Justice of the Common Pleas Sir Edward Coke made the originated the idea . During the ruling of the case of Dr. Bonham’s Case, Coke found that the London College of Physicians had no right to levy fines against anyone who violated their rules. He would later go on to state that, “no person should be a judge in his own case” (Fletcher 12). The act was revolutionary at the time as it set the notion of that an official body of government was needed to give fair governess to the people. The idea would pop up once in a while in events such as the Constitutional Convention where records that were kept by the textbook University of Chicago Law Review saw that “13 out of the 15 delegates made statements that were in support of the idea of judicial review” (Prakash 123). The interesting part about the quote is that it states that the idea of judicial review was in place in America many years before the actually case of Marbury v. Madison. Even in the Federalist Papers No. 78 which was published in May 28, 1788, by Alexander Hamilton, went into lengthy discussion about judicial review. In

The American concept of democracy provides that no branch of government shall be more powerful and uncontrolled than the other branches (Lutzenberger, 2012). Judicial review is the power of the courts to oversee and prevent the legislative and executive branches from becoming abusive. Through this power, the courts interpret the meaning of laws and their application. They can invalidate a law, which they deem inconsistent with the US Constitution. They can also change the application of the law when interpreting it. Although the Constitution does not explicitly mention this power, the courts infer it from the provisions on the judicial branch in the Constitution. This inference was first made in 1803 in the Marbury v Madison case. The court declared the existence of the power and that it was for the exclusive use of the courts. They use it to interpret the intents of the Constitution on legal issues submitted to them for decision (Lutzenberger).

Judicial Review – the power of the Supreme Court to say whether the federal, state, or local law or government action goes against the Constitution.

Primarily, judicial review consists of four main components.5 The first dynamic of judicial review is that the Supreme Court can reject any federal, presidential or congressional, act or law which is deemed to be unconstitutional centred upon the judiciary’s interpretation of the United States Constitution.6 For instance, the Supreme Court can void a presidential-line item veto, i.e. the President’s ability to erase part of a bill passed by the legislature involving taxation or spending.7 In addition, the second factor of judicial review is the authority of the Supreme Court to strike down any state act (gubernatorial) or law (state legislature), which is judged as unconstitutional based, again, upon the Court’s interpretation of the United States Constitution.8 One such example of this power being exercised is when the Supreme Court annulled California’s attempt to enforce congressional term limits.9

A. Define Judicial Review- The power of the courts authority to review the actions of the executive and legislative branch and to invalidate if their actions are contrary to the constitutional principles.

The concept of Judicial Review is to review cases using the power of the courts over the actions of the executive and legislative branches to deem them invalid or unconstitutional. The Supreme Court has a unique position because of its broad commitment to the American People and its Constitution. The Court's principles on judicial review are that The Constitution is the supreme law of the country, they have ultimate authority on constitutional matters, and they must vote against any law that clashes with the constitution. One of the most significant cases that brought forth such convictions was the case of Marbury vs. Madison in 1803. Which was a case that brought many complications because when Jefferson ordered his Secretary of State James

Without the power of judicial review, the legislative branch could gain too much power. Congress could pass laws that are unconstitutional. With no one to compare the laws to the rights stated in the constitution, the executive and legislative branches could gain unnecessary power.

-The power of the judicial review is “A court’s power to review statutes to decide if they conform to the U.S. or state constitutions”. It is important to our legal system to have the power of the judicial review as a tool to the disposal of the courts when conflicts arise within the law or constitution.

Judicial Review is one of the court's most important powers and arguably the most powerful one that this branch or any branch has. This is a power that allows the supreme court to make legislative and executive actions subject to review and possible invalidation. The power of Judicial Review was earned in the Supreme Court Case Marbury v. Madison. In this case it was decided that James Madison’s decisions to prevent William Marbury from taking office as justice of the peace was unconstitutional, this has extended the power and now created what is known as judicial review. This has continued to affect laws and acts presently such as in the case of United States v. Nixon when Nixon was denied the powers of absolute executive privilege due to

Since the establishment of our government the Judiciary branch has been intended to be the passive or least dangerous of the three branches; this can be seen in the Federalist Papers, said by Alexander Hamilton, “The Judiciary, on the contrary, has no influence over either the sword or the purse” (Woll 373). This was soon thwarted when the power of judicial review came into play. Judicial review gave the Supreme Court the power it needed to be as influential and powerful as the other two branches. Throughout history judicial has been key in many controversial and important court case, beginning with Marbury vs. Madison, which established judicial review, to many other case including McCulloch vs. Maryland, Plessy vs. Ferguson, Roe vs. Wade,

Judicial Review is the power to declare that a law is unconstitutional. Judicial Review is not a power that is given to the Supreme Court under the Constitution. Every time that the Supreme Court uses Judicial Review, they themselves are acting unconstitutional. The Supreme Court does not have the power to review laws to decide if they constitutional [2]. The Supreme Court and Chief Justice John Marshall, assumed the power of Judicial Review, in the case of Marbury v. Madison, 5 U.S. 137 (1803) [3].

The Constitution of 1787 describes powers of the three branches of government, the Legislative Branch, the Judicial Branch, and the Executive branch. Many believe that these branches are equal in power, and equally keep each other in check. This is not the case. Outlined in the Constitution is a case that the Legislative Branch is superior to every other branch. This is not to undermine the legitimacy of the other branches; the Judicial and Executive branches still need to interpret and enforce, respectively, the laws congress creates. This is evident from the very first Article of the Constitution.

Many of America’s democratic principles are drawn from the constitution like the checks and balances system. The supreme court’s power of judicial review was not mentioned in the constitution. It evolved following the Marbury Vs Madison case and was not granted by the constitution. The Supreme Court therefore does not have the authority to carry out judicial review and become a quasi-legislative branch because the constitution granted this power to Congress.