Judicial Monarchs

Who has the final say on the meaning of the Constitution? Most agree that this power lies with the Supreme Court. From high school to law school, students learn that the framers of the Constitution designed the court to be the ultimate arbiter of constitutional issues, a function Chief Justice John Marshall recognized in deciding Marbury v. Madison in 1803. This provocative work challenges American dogma about the Supreme Court's role, showing instead that the founding generation understood judicial power not as a counterweight against popular government, but as a consequence, and indeed a support, of popular sovereignty. Contending that court power must be restrained so that policy decisions are left to the people's elected representatives, this study offers a combination of remedies--including term limits and popular selection of the Supreme Court--to return the people to their proper place in the constitutional order.