Why The Judicial Branch Is The Most Powerful

Under the Judiciary Act of 1801, Marbury sued Section 13 of the Judiciary Act of 1789. He was asking the Court to force Madison to accept the appointment. The court denied and held that it lacked strength because the section of the Judiciary Act passed by Congress in 1789 authorized the Court to issue such a writ was invalid. Chief Justice John Marshall declared that the Constitution must always

Mississippi v. Johnson 71 U.S. (4 Wall) 475 (1867) Facts A case involving After the civil war, Congress passed the Reconstructions Acts of 1867. President Johnson vetoes the legislation, but congress overrode his veto and the acts became federal law. In response, Mississippi sued President Johnson asking for an injunction to prohibit him from enforcing the laws. Mississippi argued that the president should not be and is not above the law. The president was preforming a ministerial action because there was not an exercise of discretion in carrying out an act of Congress.

These events all led to the signing of the Alien and Sedition Acts (History 1). However, the Republicans were against these acts and argued that states had the right to nullify a federal law, leading to the creation of The Virgina and Kentucky Resolutions, which said that states have the power to choose which federal laws they want to follow. Since it was said that the states voluntarily joined the union, they could devide that the federal government went over its borders and pick and choose what federal laws they want to follow (United States History 1). The Alien and Sedition Acts severely detracted from natural rights, such as the freedom of speech. When the first ten amendments were ratified, citizens were promised the freedom of speech, allowing all humans to give their opinion about the government without punishment.

"He has refused his Assent to Laws, the most wholesome and necessary for the public good." (168) Jefferson addresses this problem because, the King is refusing to enforce laws the colonists need. It is crucial to point out this problem, for it can lead to further denials by King George III. He is in a way deriving them of their unalienable rights, of which nobody has the right to take. "For imposing Taxes on us without our Consent."

An example of this branch checking another branch June 26, 2013, the Supreme Court ruled that section three of the “Defense of Marriage Act" is unconstitutional and that the government can’t discriminate against married L/G couples in deciding federal protection or benefits. The Judicial Branch rightfully checked this Congress law in an attempt to stop governmental prejudice. An instance of the Judicial Branch being checked is 1805 Associate Justice Samuel Chase was impeached due to expressing his strict federalist ideas in the court and the idea of Judges serving for life irritating Thomas Jefferson; The House of Reps passed the articles of impeachment, and then was acquitted by the Senate. This shows that the other branches have the right (with the right resources) to impeach Supreme Court justices if they step out of

Even through delegations to the Constitutional Convention of 1787 managed to booby-trap the Constitution to protect them. Article V states that the American people cannot amend the Constitution to get rid of equal suffrage for the states: "No State, without its Consent, shall be deprived of its equal suffrage in the Senate." And Article IV, Section 3, provides that no state can "be formed by the Junction of two or more States, or parts of States, without the consent of the Legislatures of the States concerned as well as of the Congress." Not one, but two poison pill

A Grand Remonstrance was narrowly passed to give Parliament control over the appointment of Royal ministries along with control of the armed forces. Charles I refused to accept this, and in January 1642 his response was to send armed soldiers to arrest Pym and four others in the House of Commons. They had left before the armed soldiers arrived and the episode proved to be a public relations disaster. During 1642 both the King and Parliament recruited armed forces. When Parliament issued a set of 19 Propositions that went far beyond the Grand Remonstrance, the King refused to accept them and declared a state of war.

The Virginia and Kentucky Resolutions are political statements created by Thomas Jefferson and James Madison, for the purpose of opposing the US Constitution at that time known as the Alien and Sedition Acts of 1798. The Jeffersonian Republicans strongly attacked this move through the Kentucky Resolution which declared that the Constitution merely established an agreement of unity between the states. Due to this fact, the federal government had no right to exercise powers not found under the terms of this compact or agreement. These resolutions, likewise, grants the right to decide as to the constitutionality of such acts to the states and not to the federal government. If and when the federal government assumed such powers, these acts would

The Supreme Court did not share Lincoln’s opinion. Especially, the Chief Justice Roger Taney who, in his role as the federal circuit judge, ruled that Lincoln’s suspension of Habeas Corpus was unconstitutional in a decision called Ex Parte Merryman. He did so after his recommendation for a trial of Merryman in order to determine if there were any legitimate reasons for his arrest met if refusal form Merryman captors. In the end, The President ignored Taney ruling, and Congress never contested Lincoln’s Habeas Corpus decision. Lincoln also met with strong resistance form the general public in regards to his executive order.

However; Lopez appealed that the Gun-Free Zone Act was an unconstitutional act on congress, which made the appeal go to the Supreme Court. COURT CASE HISTORY United States