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 | Chief justice chides State of the Union Posted by Michael E. Marotta on 3/10, 6:57pm | |
| John Locke's three branches of government were the legislative, executive, and diplomatic. He perceived the courts as derived from the community as a protection against government. Our Constitution makes the courts an actual branch of government, a mechanism of checks and balances, and divisions of power. We accept the role of the Supreme Court when it declares laws to be "constitutional" or un, but that was an innovation of a Federalist. Chief Justice John Marshall in "Marbury versus Madison" took an expansionist and interpretative view of his powers that was not strictly republican as understood by those who would claim a narrow interpretation of the Constitution. These last 200 years, that innovation has functioned well through many tests. Perhaps the best benchmark is the tradition of dissenting opinions. Justice John Marshall Harlan's insights on Plessey v. Ferguson brilliantly and deeply identified truths that would haunt our nation for the next 50 years. Chief Justice John Roberts fully acknowledged the President's right to a bully pulpit. Absenting the Supreme Court from the State of the Union might be an important departure to re-establish the strong need to separate and balance the mechanisms of political power. Money is Speech here. | ||
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