Title: Influences on Judicial Power - Judicial Law Essays
Headings: Influences on Judicial Power
Influences on Judicial Power
Content: Enumerate powers are enforced to protect the rights of the public from an authoritarian government; therefore, transgression of these boundaries is a threat to individual liberty. It is the duty of the judicial branch to declare that “an act of the legislature, repugnant to the constitution, is void” (Woll, 415). The Constitution is the written document that establishes the congressional institution therefore it must be supreme when in confliction with legislative laws. In Marbury v.
Madison “the court must either decide that case conformably to the law, disregarding the Constitution, or conformably to the Constitution, disregarding the law” (Woll, 415). By granting the writ authorized by the Judiciary Act, Marshall is defying congressional legislation; however, he is maintaining the doctrine of the Constitution, which is superior. Hamilton conceived the judicial branch as the weakest of the three governmental branches; however, it is an indispensable contributor to the system of checks and balances. The executive and legislative branches check the judicial branch through the President’s power to appoint justices and Congress’ power to establish lower courts.