Judicial Branch Dangerous

The Judicial Branch is the balancing factor of the Government. It is the listener of the people of the US and it decides on all matters regarding the people. It "interprets the nation's law" (World Book 141). Being able to interpret the law gives the Judicial branch a special kind of power. One of which the Executive Branch and the Legislative Branch do not possess. The Judicial branch decides when a law has been broken, to what extent, and how to punish the criminal act. And that is what makes it the strongest branch.

Lastly, it is impossible for any certain branch to gain too much power because of something called “checks and balances”. With checks and balances, each branch has the power to cancel another out and keep its power balanced. “In framing a government, which is to be administered by men over men, the great difficulty lies in this: you must first enable the government to control the governed; and in the next place, oblige it to control itself.” Here, James Madison is stating that first, the issue is to convince the people that they need laws for the country to run properly and smoothly, and second is to explain to the people that the educated elite will not receive too much power. This will be achieved by giving each branch the power to overrule one another. For example, the legislative branch can impeach the president and Supreme Court, the president vetoes laws and nominates the Supreme Court, and the Supreme Court declares laws and acts unconstitutional. This way, not one single branch will be the main source of government.

In your educated opinion, is the Judiciary really the weakest branch of government? Explain your answer. Has the Court gained or lost power over time? How would Hamilton respond to your argument?

Good evening to all. I hope all is well this week. As many of you have stated, I thought I had a descent grasp of the United States Intelligence oversight. However, to my surprise I found that I actually did not have as good of an understanding as I thought. My shortcoming was in understanding just how convoluted the system is. The system has evolved over the years just as many things do. However, the system still has a long way to go before it’s as effective as it could be. Former Under Secretary Charles Allen noted that “virtually any terrorist attack on the homeland that one can imagine must exploit a border crossing, a port of entry, a critical infrastructure, or one of the other domains that the department has an obligation to

Definition: the power vested in an appellate court to review/revise the decision of a lower court

The next paragraph that Hamilton wrote defined what the judiciary system is about. He first explains the roles of the Executive and legislature saying “the Executive not only dispenses the honors, but holds the sword of the community” and “the legislature not only commands the purse, but prescribes the rules by which the duties and rights of every citizen are to be regulated.” Directly following these statements, Hamilton described the judiciary by writing, “the judiciary, on the contrary, has no influence over either the sword or the purse; no direction either of the strength or of the wealth of the society; and can take no active resolution whatever. It may be said to have neither FORCE nor WILL, but merely judgment; and must ultimately depend upon the aid of the executive arm even for the efficacy of its judgments.” Hamilton wrote that the judiciary’s job was “merely judgment.” The judiciary has the power of judgment over the different levels of government, including state governments. It has the power to judge whether the laws made by these governments are constitutional or the antithesis.

In document B and C, separation of powers of the three branches, legislative, judicial, and executive, ensures that not one power is greater than the other. However, as a form of checks and balances, the branches should not be separated to the point of having no constitutional control over each other. Madison stated "Liberty requires that the three great departments of power should be separate and distinct." (Federalist paper #51) but “..they may be a check on the other” (Federalist paper #51) meaning that the three branches have separate powers, but are able to have constitutional control on each other. For example, Legislative branch can approve the presidential nomination, override a president’s veto, and impeach the president from the executive branch while the senate confirms the president's nominations for the judges and remove them from the office from the judicial branch”. While,the executive branch can veto the congressional legislation from the legislative branch and nominate judges for the judicial branch. The judicial branch can declare presidential acts unconstitutional in the executive branch and declare laws unconstitutional to the legislative branch. (Document C). Framer guarded against tyranny through separation of powers but still being able to check on each other and having constitutional control on each other. The branches should be separate and distinct as if they were together, it would be given too much absolute power to one group. Checks and balances illustrates how the constitution guarded against tyranny because the three branches have fair opportunity to stop the other branches from committing an unconstitutional act. Additionally to how checks and balances the constitution from tyranny, “The Great Compromise” does the

When forming the three branches, James Madison knew they each had to be separated, but have equal power, thus giving different jobs to each and solving the issue of one possibly gaining too much power(Document B). The job given to the legislative branch is to illustrate, or make, laws and consists of the Senate and House of Representatives(Ibid). The executive branch now enforces those laws and the power is in the hands of the President(Ibid). The judicial branch is powered by the Supreme Court and has the job of forming courts and making sure laws are dealt with correctly(Ibid). This separation of powers guards against tyranny by balancing power so one branch is not higher than

The political cartoon analyzes the branches of government using football as a metaphor to show checks and balances that limit the power of the government. Furthermore, checks and balances work for the U.S. government because powers are delegated to each branch and the checks allow for equity among the branches. In the cartoon, the legislative branch and the executive branch are playing against each other while the judicial branch is the referee. In document one, Congress has the power to write laws, but the president can veto the bills that Congress proposes. Thus, the powers balance out the branches’ powers, which keeps them in a tight line of what they are allowed to do. Also, the President appoints judges, but Congress can reject them. They

Federalist 51 addresses the importance of checks and balances in defense of the United States Constitution. By setting up the government in this fashion, Hamilton or Madison argues that no one branch will tyrant over another. His argument mentions that first, each of the distinct powers of the government needs to be divided so that each branch has a purpose of its own and does not overlap the jurisdiction of another branch. This, according to Hamilton or Madison, will lay down the foundation of the government of the United States. The three branches include “the supreme executive, legislative, and judiciary” and “[the branches] should be drawn from the same foundation of authority, the people.” The author calls for a democratic form of government

The United States government consists of three main branches: the legislative, the executive, and the judicial. Within the contents of this essay, the judicial branch will be examined. The judicial branch of the United States government oversees justice throughout the country by expounding and applying laws by means of a court system.1 This system functions by hearing and determining the legality of such cases.2 Sitting at the top of the United States court system is the Supreme Court. The Supreme Court of the United States encompasses the federal judiciary, explicitly the judicial branch. This court is comprised of life-long serving Justices who are selected by the President of the United States and approved by the Senate.3 Cooperatively,

The Articles of Confederation had a weak central government. Alexander Hamilton believed that the more powerful state governments would take over. In Federalist Paper 16, he states that the death of the confederacy would be the result of the lack of a large national defense. Hamilton says the government should have control over the individual as well as the states so that the government can protect the “hopes and fears” of the individuals. Government is important to the unity of its country, and Hamilton claims that no government can always avoid or control those who will be disorderly, but it would be “vain to hope to guard against events too mighty for human foresight or precaution, and it would be idle to object to a government because it

James Madison said that “The three branches of government should not be so far separated as to have no constitutional control over each other.” (Doc D) James Madison was saying that the three branches do need to be separated but not to much that they are totally don’t have different views and are on different pages of each other. In the Constitution the three branches are given what they are allowed to do in other branches like “Congress can impeach the President and remove him or her from office,” “The President nominates judges,” and “The Court can declare laws unconstitutional.” (Doc D)

Hamilton discusses the powers of the judiciary in the Federalist papers essay no 78. He asserts that the judicial arm of the government is the least likely to threaten liberty and property of the citizens. Part of this assertion was brought about by his conviction and beliefs, that the judiciary was the weakest branch of government. The constitution spells out three branches of government which are independent of each other and perform different roles to the benefit of citizens. This document also spells out the checks and balances that help in regulating the three branches. For the judiciary, however, its nature of the roles makes it weakest. It also means that the role that judiciary plays in ensuring justice is meted upon every individual in the country makes it the least arm of government that can threaten individuals’ political rights.

I believe that the judicial branch has the most power because they have the power to settle disagreements about the meaning of laws and decide if laws and the president decides if laws or action.