Essentials of The American Constitution: The Supreme Court and the Fundamental Law docx

[...]... the Court' s special purview is the law specifically and the Constitution as the ultimate law, the justices rather than the president have that responsibility Although, as we shall see, the justices of the Supreme Court are not entirely free to impose their will on the other agencies of government, the study of the Constitution principally entails a study of Supreme Court cases Organization of the. .. nature of the compact that makes the Constitution fundamental could influence the balance between Congress and the courts in the separation of powers (Marbury v Madison, 1803); or the question of the relations between the states and the federal government could define the form of the compact (McCulloch v Maryland, 1829); or the compact could define the limits on governmental action listed in the Bill of. .. applying this standard to issues brought to them despite their preferences and despite the demands of the public helps the jurists to remain independent "A government of laws, not of men" symbolizes this myth and the ceremony The black robes worn by the ~urists surrounding the solemn proceedings typical of hearings before the nation's high bench and their ornate and impressive courtroom also set the justices... separate themselves from their preferences and biases when settling legal disputes When lawyers don the robes of judicial office, they forgo the role of advocates and third-party stance of a ~udge, accountassume the ob~ective, able to the law or to those who make the law Of course, there appears to be a natural tendency for the judges to strive for independence, but a number of restraints remind them of their... conference room and in chambers, secure from the prying eyes of the press and public With the decisional process free from close public observation, the jus- 22 The PoEiL-ics ofjztdr'czcrll Revieu~ tices are not held accountable for what they say in conference and how they arrive at their decisions The mystique of the law also protects judges The idea that the law is an objective standard and that the justices... provisions of the written Constitution If not in accord, they are declared null and void." Judicial Review and Public Policy From the beginning, the debate over the Supreme Court' s use of judicial review focused mostly on the results of the decisions rather than on the role of the Court in American government If the decision was viewed favorably, judicial review was deemed acceptable If the results... on Supreme Court cases! Are not Congress, the president, and the states involved in explaiiling the Constitution! Judicial Review and the Constitution as Symbol As Corwin recognized, the power of judicial review has both "conserved the Constitutional Symbol" and benefited there- FXCURE 1 ' 1 The Hoiisric Coxzstitution from.9 When the Supreme Court attaches certain meanings to the organic law, the American. .. the constit~~tion apply to a particular case, so that the court must either decide that case conformably to the law3 disregarding the constitution; or conformably to the constitution, disregarding the law; the court must determine which of these conflictiw rules governs the case Is the very esseEce of j~*tdiczaI d2~ifl)~ (emphasis added11 Of course, for Marshall, the Constitution was paramount and the. .. in a case and ignore the strident shouts of the majority outside the courthouse Consequently, the Court, unlike Congress or the executive, must satisfy two contradictory demands Judicial independence or rule of law competes with public accountability or majoritarian democracy for the attention of the justices Rather than arguing over the correctness of the outcome of any particular case, the debate... involve the exercise of power to achieve specific ends The components of the Constitution as symbol, those that provide constitutional sanctity and authority, are the compact and the Bill of Rights The component of representation bridges the instrument and the symbol aspects of the U.S Constitution, Within each of the components are built-in redundancies For example, in federalism both state and national . whether, because of the Fourteenth Amendment, the var- ious provisions of the Bill of Rights apply to and limit the states. Help in understanding the. machine. The Fr~unders believed that "he actions and affairs of men are subject to as regular and uniform laws, as other events [and that] the laws of