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People in the future are going to be so confused. "If the Americans were the first to systematically limit government power in a written constitution, why did t
by javert 12y ago
People in the future are going to be so confused. "If the Americans were the first to systematically limit government power in a written constitution, why did they just start ignoring it all of a sudden?"
- eropple 12y agoIt wasn't "all of a sudden". We've been doing it--sometimes for good reasons, often times bad--since the country's inception. "John Marshall has made his decision; now let him enforce it!" is two hundred years old.
- hga 12y agoAndrew Jackson's famous quote is actually part of the checks and balances in the system, a guard against an out of control Federal Court system, even if this example is awful. The check against that is the ability of the Congress to impeach and convict a President. It should also be noted the Congress can remove anything they want from the remit of the Supreme Court, and have done this more than a few times in the past (generally or all also bad) and some in recent times. Of the three branches, our Founders were supremely suspicious of the courts, if you'll pardon the pun. Life tenure, insulated from political pressure aside from impeachment and conviction, they've proven themselves to be equally capable of doing ill as has the Congress and Presidents.