John McKinley Quotes
All constitutional laws are binding on all the people, in the new States and in the old ones, whether they consent to be bound by them or not.
John McKinley, 1780-1852, U. S. Supreme Court Justice, Pollard v. Hagan, 1845
Sourced by: Eigen's Political and Historical Quotations
This concept of balance of power and the equal role of the judiciary is actually quite rare. Even in Parliamentary democracies the parliament can override any court interpretation. In England, the upper legislative house, the House of Lords, actually serves as the nation’s highest or supreme court. And these “Law Lords” can override all regular judicial bodies.
See John Marshall's later (1803) use of the concept and term "repugnant." {606483}
Franklin and many Americans believed that the Colonial Legislatures were independent legislative bodies and need not follow the instructions of the Colonial Governors even though they came from the British Government in London. Franklin replied "This is new doctrine to me."" 1st Marquess of Stafford
One of the conundrums of our constitutional system is who has the last word as to what the Constitution means. Essentially it is the judicial branch headed by the Supreme Court. But there are those who believe that the current popular majority should have a say in what is or is not constitutional. If so the legislative branch should have the last word. Still others say that the President is the only person elected by ALL the people, so his opinion most reflects the will of the public. And then there are most who argue that the Constitutional system was created just to avoid the power of currently popular majorities, and the courts should decide based on the Constitution itself. So the statement has very little meaning except that Phillips thinks that the courts have too much power. Whoever gets to decide what is or is not Constitutional will be accused of being “over” the Constitution by those who don’t like the decisions. In our system, that is the courts.
Individual states passed laws that impinged on Indian rights and undid the effect of previous treaties. Some tribes complained to the President. In actuality, there was Federal legislation that preempted the states, but President Jackson, as a matter of policy allowed the state action.
On the Fugitive Slave Act: As one of the leading American Catholic intellectuals during the 19th Century, Brownson’s opinions went far in keeping Catholics from joining the side of the abolitionists. However, just a few years later his tone would change and he would become one of the few Catholic writers to refuse to defend slavery, see {610710}. While the majority of Catholics refused to join the abolition movement, they often did so because abolitionism was closely tied to anti-Catholicism, see Gordon {611392} or Shaftesbury {611106}. Other reasons included Irish immigrants fearful of competition from Black labor and the fear of liberal individualism and social disorder, which was prevalent in 19th century Catholic thought. For a further explanation on the relationship between American Catholics and slavery, see McGreevy {612036}.
John McKinley was a U.S. Senator from the state of Alabama and an associate justice of the United States Supreme Court.
