Power of Supreme Court Essay

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

The supreme Court is the head of the judicial part of Government in the USA, it acts as an appellant court which can also on occasion deal with ambassadorial and diplomat cases. It is separate from the other 2 branches of government in order to remain independent and provides a powerful check on those branches. However it has been criticised by being called democratically lacking. The members have a significant amount of power

All these checks on the judicial branch lead to a policy of what is known as judicial self-restraint --where the Court never hands down a decision so controversial that the other two branches seek to reduce the Court's power (Woll 515). On the opposite side, Wolfe and many others feel that this power grabbing has occured:

This country is a democracy. In simpler terms, that means that the American government makes decisions based on its people’s opinions. Removing the Judicial and Legislative branch would put a stop to that. First of all, an empathetic government

The Constitution of the United States is a carefully thought and written document. It is designed to provide for a strong and flexible government, to meet the needs of the public, yet sufficiently limited and just to protect the rights of American citizens; it permits a balance between society's need for order and the individual's right to freedom. Article III of the Constitution establishes the federal judiciary. The section states that "The judicial Power of the United States”, shall be vested in one Supreme Court, and in other inferior courts as established by the Congress. Although the Constitution establishes the Supreme Court, Congress has the power to decide how to organize it, however the Supreme Court Justices decide the cases. There has been a recent controversy on whether or not Congress should hold the most power when it comes to interpreting the meaning of the

According to Article III, the determinations of the Supreme Court are constitutionally fixed as the land’s superior law. This makes it seem like the Supreme Court wields its own power.

The President is given the power to veto or restrain Congress and the authority to appoint members of the Supreme Court with the advice and consent of the Senate. In this system the role of the Supreme Court has not yet been defined. Therefore it fell to a strong Chief Justice like Marshall to complete the checks and balances. Making the principle of judicial review. No other was unconstitutional until the Dred Scott case back in 1857. The Supreme Court invalidated the Federal and the state laws to the Constitution was never seriously challenged. Woodrow Wilson said “That the constitution of the United States was not made to fit like a strait jacket it is elasticity lies it is chief

The power the Supreme Court has today stems from the case of Marbury v. Madison: a hearing commonly known for the establishment of judicial review (McBride). Through this case, the court under Chief Justice Marshall came to three conclusions: Marbury has the right to be commissioned as a Justice of the Peace, the court is able to provide a writ of mandamus under the Judiciary act of 1789, and the fact that the Supreme Court has the power to issue such a writ under the Judiciary act is unconstitutional (Find Law). The law being referred to in this case is section 13 of the Judiciary act of 1789 which extends the cases in which the court has original jurisdiction (U.S Statue Page). Article III, section 2 states that Supreme Court only has original jurisdiction “In all Cases affecting Ambassadors, other public Ministers and Consuls, and

The wise Thomas Jefferson concluded this: “At the establishment of our Constitution, the judiciary bodies were supposed to be the most helpless and harmless members of the government. Experience, however, soon showed in what way they were to become the most dangerous;... these decisions… become law by precedent, sapping, by little and little, the foundations of the Constitution….” In a continuation of the perversion of the court began by Chief Justice John Marshall in Marbury v. Madison, the Supreme Court of the United States continues to erode the people’s right to govern themselves, thereby usurping the democracy.

The writers of the Constitution never intended the Supreme Court be the final arbitrator of what is Constitutional and not. The Supreme Court plays an important role in this process, however, its responsibilities are split and shared with two other branches of the federal government, the States, and the American

First, let’s clarify that the Supreme Court is the court of the land. After reading the book of Cheeseman and some research from the website that the Checks and Balances is needed because according to Muller “it is the framers of the Constitution designed the U.S. government so that each branch had a check on the others. In this way, no one branch would have absolute authority. Judicial review is the main way the Supreme Court can check the legislative branch's power. If a case before the court raises a constitutional question, the justices may decide a law violates the Constitution. Congress then has the power to pass another law to override that court ruling. Of course, that law, if challenged, would be subject to further judicial review” (Muller,2013).

The Supreme Court was given its power by Article III, Section 1 of the constitution. It states that, "The judicial Power of the United States, shall be vested in one Supreme Court, and in such inferior Courts as the Congress may from time to time ordain and establish." Given that the Supreme Court is the highest court it has important roles to fulfill such as, it is the last resort for those looking for justice. Due to the fact

The motivation behind the Supreme Court is not to make law, yet rather to decipher law and regardless of whether the issues being considered are steady with the United States Constitution. The Supreme Court is the most elevated court in the country for all question emerging under the Constitution or the laws of the United States. It is the last judge of the law and it is entrusted with ensuring that the American individuals have parallel equity under the law. It is basically the watchman and mediator of the Constitution.

The judiciary is not infallible. Judges’ error in interpreting the Constitution cannot be corrected at the ballot box. when the Supreme Court violates the Constitution, suing is not an option. The Supreme Court controls the lower courts on federal issues. That means the relief has to come from the other, political branches. The President can denounce the ruling and (like Lincoln with the Dred Scott case) refuse to enforce it beyond the parties to the particular case. Congress can take steps to reign the Court in by

At the apex of our federal court system stands the United States Supreme Court. It stands as the ultimate authority in constitutional interpretation and its decision can be changed only by a constitutional amendment. Two documents are responsible for its creation which is the Constitution, which explicitly creates the Supreme Court, and the Judiciary Act of September 24, 1789. The Supreme Court is the only court named in the constitution laying out the Courts basic jurisdiction, identifying the mode of selection and tenure for justices. Under Article III, Section 1 of the Constitution provides that "[t]he judicial Power of the United States, shall be vested in one Supreme Court, and in such inferior Courts as the