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government essay
May 17, 2012 Government

Government Essay The power of judicial review was never formally delegated either by the Constitution or an Act of Congress, but arose from British common law practices the US Courts adopted as a matter of course. Chief Justice John Marshall formally claimed the right of judicial review in his opinion for the Marbury v. Madison, (1803) case. Even though when the legislative, executive, and judicial branched was set up they wanted to give each branch equal power, judicial still seems to have a little bit more than the others. Even though the power to declare laws unconstitutional is not in equal power, it needs to be done. If the Supreme Court didn't who would? Without the power to rule laws unconstitutional who knows what kind of laws would stay in effect. The Court plays an important role in our nation's systems of checks and balances. Without separation of powers and an independent judiciary within a tripartite government, the nation's citizens are at greater risk of tyranny from either or both of the other branches. The Founding Fathers recognized this danger and deliberately fashioned a system of government that, while far from perfect, comes closer to ensuring personal liberty than most other political models. Of our three branches of government - Executive, Legislative, and Judicial - the judiciary is the weakest. It has no power to create new legislation, nor does it have the means of directly enforcing its mandates. Those are two limitations written into our Constitution that prevent the Supreme Court from wielding too much power. Likewise, our system of government provides a means for preventing the President and Congress from becoming despotic, passing and enforcing laws that infringe the rights of its

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