The Framers in composing their new government, first started with the legislative branch because they felt lawmaking a major and vital role of the republican government. Article 1 is the longest, and most elaborate of the articles. It grants limited legislative power to Congress. Section 8 of Article 1, expresses the basis of enumerated powers which means Congress can exercise only the powers that the Constitution assigns to it.
The last clause in Section 8 of Article 1, of the United States Constitution is the ‘necessary and proper clause’ other known or referred to as the elastic clause. This clause is the principle of Congress implied powers. These powers allow Congress to execute its enumerated powers such as power to charter a bank.
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The Framers goal was to build a strong government one that would remain, and survive the test of time. The Framers were aware that the world changes however, unable to predict the future they added a rule. Close to the end of Section 8 of the Constitution, it is stated that Congress has the power to make all Laws which shall be necessary and proper for carrying into Execution the foregoing Powers and all other Powers vested by this Constitution in the Government of the United States or any department of officer thereof. …show more content…
Marshall, was strongly devoted and committed to the judicial system. He was often referred to as the “father of Supreme Court.” He reformed (http://www.ushistory.org/us/20e.asp).
It all began when James Madison Jefferson’s secretary of state William Marbury sued him for not receiving his commissions as justice of the peace. Marshall’s written ruling decision on behalf of the unanimous Court found that the petitioners were entitled to their commissions however, he denied to take legal action. Instead Marshall proclaimed the Judiciary Act of 1789, the power to declare congressional acts invalid if they infringe the Constitution. He upturned the acts of Congress for the first time based on the fact that it encountered with the Constitution.
John Adams, the previous Federalist president, lost the Election of 1800 to Thomas Jefferson, a Democratic-Republican. Before Jefferson took office, Adams decided to appoint as many Federalists into the Supreme court as he could, including William Marbury, all of whom needed to be commissioned in order to be officially sworn in. However, Jefferson took office before the commissions could be handed out, and he ordered his Secretary of State, James Madison, to not deliver the commissions. Marbury proceeded to ask Marshall for a writ of mandamus (found in Section 13 of the Judiciary Act), forcing Madison to issue the commissions. This dispute between Marbury and Madison sparks the famous case. The dilemma here is the differences in interpretation. Some viewed Section 13 as unconstitutional, as it added power to the Judicial Branch, disrupting checks and balances. Others saw that “Marbury had been duly appointed…[and] the writ of mandamus [was] to be an appropriate legal remedy for resolving Marbury’s dilemma”(Clinton 86). Marshall wanted to issue the...
Throughout the course of time the elastic clause and the commerce clause has been utilized in court cases and arguments. With time the clauses have changed the fit into the change of society. As represented by various court cases. A variation of interpretations has been drawn out within the time frame of its establishment. A loose and strict interpretation has been implemented in the constitution depending on point of views. Although, the interpretation of the constitution is strictly restricted to the Judicial Branch as concluded in the court case Marbury Versus Madison. The elastic clause is known as congress has the power to do what is “Necessary and Proper”. In contrast, commerce clause is, often, limited with concerning trading issues. Thus concluding, the Elastic Clause has more power rather than the Commerce clause.
Certain things became apparent to Marshall. The Constitution did give the federal government complete control over the nation’s commerce. (Article 1, Section 8, Clause 3) Also, the Federal Law, according to the Constitution, was the supreme law of the land. (Article 6, Clause 2) Marshall, a Federalist, had always supported a strong central government. However, issues were arising in other parts of the country that would make him consider any decision he made further.
In Federalist 78, Alexander Hamilton argued that the Judicial Branch is the “least dangerous to the political rights of the Constitution" and that it is “beyond comparison the weakest of the three departments of power” since it has “neither force nor will, but merely judgment.” [*] While it is true that Hamilton wrote the Federalist Papers as propaganda to garner support for the Constitution by convincing New Yorkers that it would not take away their rights and liberties, it is also true that Article III of the Constitution was deliberately vague about the powers of the Judicial Branch to allow future generations to decide what exactly those powers should be. In the 1803 case of Marbury v. Madison, the Supreme Court, led by Chief Justice John Marshall, established the Court’s power of judicial review. However, as Jill Lepore, Harvard professor of American History, argued, “This was such an astonishing thing to do that the Court didn’t declare another federal law unconstitutional for fifty-four years” after declaring the Judicial Act of 1789 unconstitutional in Marbury v. Madison. [*Jill Lepore] Alexander Hamilton was incorrect in his assertion that the Judicial Branch is the least dangerous to political rights and the weakest of the three government branches because judicial review has made the Supreme Court more powerful than he had anticipated. From 1803 to today, the controversial practice of judicial activism in the Supreme Court has grown—as exemplified by the differing decisions in Minor v. Happersett and United States v. Virginia—which, in effect, has increased the power of the Supreme Court to boundaries beyond those that Alexander Hamilton stated in Federalist 78.
Madison as he was in the Louisiana Purchase, he was still a key player in this episode that redefined the Judiciary branch of American government. Jefferson had just taken over the presidency from John Adams, a member of the rival Federalist Party, who, during his last days in office, had many of his fellow Federalists assigned offices in the Judiciary, including the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court, John Marshall (Goldfield 277). Jefferson and his Secretary of State, James Madison, resented this Federalist grab for power and refused to give one of the appointees his position. This appointee, William Marbury, used the Judiciary Act of 1789 to take the issue to court (277). However Marshall, did not rule that Marbury be given his appointment by Jefferson, who had been actively removing Federalist Judges and would likely choose not to acknowledge Marshall’s authority (277). Marshall took a different approach, instead of giving Marbury his appointment, he declared the Judiciary Act of 1789 unconstitutional because it gave the Supreme Court authority that was beyond what was outlined in the Constitution (277). By taking away some of his own authority, Marshall gave the Supreme Court the formidable ability to declare laws unconstitutional (277). Interestingly, it would never have happened if Jefferson and his administration had not have taken action (or in this case lack of action) against the appointment
The framers had four major goals for the constitution. They wanted to create a strong government that would be able to meet the need's of the nation. Yet they wanted to keep the existence of the separate states. They also didn't want to threaten liberty. And lastly they wanted to create a government that everyone could agree upon.
The Legislative Branch is Congress, which has just two branches - the House of Representatives and the Senate. To understand the power held by the Legislative Branch, we should refer to the Constitution itself. Per Section 8 of Article I, Congress may only act within the powers granted to them explicitly in the Constitution, these are called enumerated powers. But this doesn’t mean the powers granted to them were diminutive. The entire legislative power was constitutionally delegated to Congress. The House and Senate serve, for the most part, to work together (though not necessarily in harmony) on passing laws, and both House and Senate must approve all bills. The framers began with the forming Article I: The Legislative Article for a simple reason; law making is an extremely important function for our government. I believe they dug their heels in here first because they intended for it to be the longest, most thorough article in the Constitution, and every word truthfully serves a divine purpose of laying out the structure of how our Legislative Branch should run. With a mere 2,...
I think that executing a minor violates the 8th amendment, “No cruel or unusual punishment.” If a little kid makes a mistake and accidentally shoots a gun or does something that kills someone, and they are executed I think that that falls under cruel and unusual punishment.
The founding fathers of the American Constitution divided the government up into the following three branches to prevent the majority from ruling with an iron fist; legislative, judicial, and executive. The three braches were created by the Constitution: Article 1, Legislative branch made up of the House and the Senate, collectively known as Congress; Article 2, Executive branch, or President; Article 3, Judicial branch, made up of the federal courts and the Supreme Court. This was done in efforts to distribute power amongst the three so that one would not have more power than the other. Each branch has the ability to check the power of the other branches. This power check of the other branches is referred to as the checks and balances, better known as the Separation of Powers. This was to prevent tyriny.
The “cruel and unusual” clause in the eighth amendment states that “cruel and unusual punishment” such as torture or lingering death can not be inflicted on anyone as a form of execution. It is however permissible under the 8th Amendment to execute a convict by means of hanging, shooting, electrocution, and lethal gas.
The document I chose to write about is the United States Constitution. When the thirteen British colonies in North America declared their independence in 1776, they laid down that “governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed.” The “colonies” had to establish a government, which would be the framework for the United States. The purpose of a written constitution is to define and therefore more specifically limit government powers. After the Articles of Confederation failed to work in the 13 colonies, the U.S. Constitution was created in 1787.
Before the adoption of the United States Constitution, the U.S. was governed by the Articles of Confederation. These articles stated that almost every function of the government was chartered by the legislature known as Congress. There was no distinction between legislative or executive powers. This was a major shortcoming in how the United States was governed as many leaders became dissatisfied with how the government was structured by the Articles of Confederation. They felt that the government was too weak to effectively deal with the upcoming challenges. In 1787, an agreement was made by delegates at the Constitutional Convention that a national judiciary needed to be established. This agreement became known as The Constitution of the United States, which explicitly granted certain powers to each of the three branches of the federal government, while reserving other powers exclusively to the states or to the people as individuals. It is, in its own words, “the supreme Law of the Land” (Shmoop Editorial Team).
The Constitution of the United States was ratified in 1787 and it established the powers of the federal government. Its intended purpose was to protect individual rights and liberties. It constructed the three branches of government that we know today: Executive, legislative and judicial. These branches created a separation of powers, in addition to check and balances. Originally, the judicial branch did not have much power when the constitution was written. It was not until the case of Marbury v Madison in 1803 that it actually established the judicial review. The judicial review is what gave the federal courts a great deal of power to void acts of Congress that they deemed violates the Constitution. After this case, the Supreme Court Justices
Ratified in 1787(IIP), the American constitution became the supreme law of the land under article VI of the document: and when the Supreme Court has appropriate jurisdiction, they have the definite power to determine what is says. However, under special circumstances this can be refuted due to article III of the constitution states that congress has the power to make exceptions to the court 's appellate jurisdiction(Heritage). Ergo, while the Supreme Court has the power to say what the constitution is, Congress has the power to grant or remove jurisdiction from any appellate case that is not considered original jurisdiction.
The United States Congress is the legislative branch of our government made up by the Senate and the House of Representatives. Our Congress, just as all branches of our government, derives its power from the US Constitution, specifically Article 1 section 8 which outlines the specific enumerated powers of Congress. This Article also outlines the implied powers of Congress. These implied powers include all things which are deemed necessary in order for Congress to carry out the jobs assigned to it by their enumerated powers.