The United States Supreme Court was established by Article Three of the Constitution and the Judiciary Act of 1787. For the first fifteen or so years they were virtually powerless. So powerless, in fact, that John Jay resigned from Chief Justice out of boredom, giving way for John Marshall to become Chief Justice. Marshall, as anybody who’s taken Con Law 101 could tell you, presided over Marbury v. Madison which, in short, boosted the power of the Court to a point that even the President would be forced to listen to it’s decisions. Judicial Review was established, giving nine unelected Justices the power to make void the acts of of elected Congressmen and Senators.
Let’s look at some of the decision of the Court. We have Dred Scott v. Sandford where the Taney Court decided that a section of humans were mere property of another section. We have Plessy v. Ferguson where the court decided that as long as it was equal, races could be separated from one another legally. We have Korematsu v. US where the US was legally allowed to imprison a race during a time of war. We have Roe v. Wade, regardless of whether or not you agree or disagree, where the court devalued prenatal life. We have Bush v. Gore where, while I feel the court made the right decision, the court decided an election and eliminated the democratic system! Do we see a trend here? I’m selecting only the most controversial and well known, but they are not the only ones.
If we think about the court as 1/3 the power of the Federal Government, just to keep things simple for a second, then let’s evaluate their power. We elect a President to lead the nation and do as the people want him to, if he wants to keep his job he needs to please the people so he is really at the will of the majority. The Congress is the same way, they make laws that, in essence, will keep them in office and better the country, always concerned about the people’s opinion of them. Now, the only thing close to democratic about the ascent to the court is that they are nominated by an elected official, and approved by elected officials. That is it. They are placed on the bench and they are there, unless they do something extreme warranting impeachment, for life or until they so choose. Therefore, this court, which essentially can overrule the President and the Congress in almost all instances, can make whatever decision they so choose and are not at the will of the people.
That’s all if the court are 1/3 the power of the Federal Government, but in reality they are not. Supreme Court decisions are 99% final, they can only possibly be overruled with another court decision or an Amendment to the Constitution. These decisions can overrule an act of the President (Ex Parte Milligan, Merryman, etc.), and an act of Congress (Most others), thus nullifying the voice of the other two branches of the Federal Government, and thus the voice of the people.
At this point in American History, I am only at ease with the court because of the strong Conservatives on it (Roberts, Scalia), but I am not at ease with the way it is run. As a Conservative, I want the least Government as possible. I’m not saying that the court should be less relevant in our lives, because it is ABSOLUTELY necessary, but it should definitely be more democratic and less-able to overrule the other two branches. Less Unfair Government= More power to the people, which is not only something that the country was founded on, but something I’m sure that most of us want.
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