Читать книгу Keeping the Republic - Christine Barbour - Страница 86

It’s a little more difficult to make inferences about the judiciary because the founders didn’t spell out the details in the Constitution. They wanted a judiciary to have independence from political and public influence, hence the grant of lifetime tenure. And it’s pretty clear that the Federalists, at least, wanted it to be powerful. Hamilton’s argument in Federalist No. 78 laid the groundwork for John Marshall’s decision in Marbury v. Madison granting the Court the power of judicial review. They also wanted the federal judiciary to be supreme, something they spelled out gently because it was still a sore spot with Anti-Federalists, but that was reinforced with subsequent rulings. But they also wanted the Court to be perceived as above politics, and one way to achieve that illusion was for the court to remain nonpartisan in its rulings. Rulings would undoubtedly have political impact but not show blatant support for the agenda of one party over another.