constitutional law Essay -- essays research papers

Constitutional LawMarbury v. Madison     Marbury v. Madison, one of the first exacting coquette fictional characters asserting the power of judicial review, is an effective argument for this power however, it lacks remove textual basis for the decision. marshalmanaged to get away with this deficiency because of the privacy on manyissues and the vague wording of the Constitution. During the earlytesting time period when few precedents existed, there was much debate aboutfundamental issues concerning what was mean by the words of theConstitution and which part of presidency should have the closing word indefining the meaning of these words. Marshall used the Marbury case toestablish the Supreme Courts place as the final judge.          Marshall identify three major questions that needed to be answered before the Court could determine on the Marbury v. Madison case. The first of these was, "Has the applicant a ri ght to the fit he demands?" The Constitution allows that "the Congress may by Law clothe the Appointment of such inferior Officers, as they think proper, in the chairman alone, . . . " (Art. II, 2). The Judiciary Act of 1793 had given thePresident the right to appoint federal official judges and justices of thepeace there is no dispute that such an involvement was within the scopeof the presidents powers. Debate arises because the Constitution issilent on the claim time at which the appointment is consideredcomplete. The Supreme Court ruled that "when a commission has beensigned by the president, the appointment is made and that thecommission is complete, when the lettre de cachet of the United States has beenaffixed to it by the secretary of state." This ruling does non have reckon constitutional support, but it is not an unreasonable decision.          The second question which Marshall addressed was, "If Marb ury has a right, and that right has been violated, do the laws of this computationryafford him a remedy?" The answer is logically yes although there are no specific words in the Constitution to support such an answer. Based onthe type of government intended by the Constitution, the government isexpected to nurture individual liberty. As Marshall says, "Thegovernment will certainly cea... ...urthermore,the president in addition was not in a position to allow the federal governmentmore leeway in interpreting their powers. He does not mold any laws ofhis own and has no power to settle any questions of the states. Clearly,the Supreme Court was the branch that could most easily facilitate thestrengthening of the topic government into an effective and mergenation rather than thirteen nonparasitic countries as the states hadseemed under the Articles of Confederation.     Critics will protest that the people do not elect the Supreme CourtJustices and ther efore the Supreme Court should not have the power ofjudicial review. As McCloskey points out, "No institution in ademocratic society could become and remain potent unless it could counton a solid block of public opinion that would nettle to its side in apinch." Clearly, the Supreme Court is ultimately accountable to the willof the people. By maintaining independence from politics, the Justicesavoid the major problems of political parties and society platforms.Furthermore, the Supreme Courts small size allows the Constitution tospeak with a unified voice throughout the country.