Constitutional Limits Quotes
This quotation is very important because it illustrates a big difference between English Conservatives and American conservative (Republicans). In America, the Conservatives were committed to having the government regulate and control the private morality of citizens—particularly in matters of sex. English conservatives, like the Prime Minister, saw this as an improper intrusion of big government.
In a 1949 dissenting opinion in Terminiello v. Chicago Jackson claimed the majority view would “convert the Bill of Rights into a suicide pact.”
Character Franklin invented early in his career
Dodd observed that FDR expanded the power of the Presidency to deal with the emergency of the Great Depression, and like most Americans hoped that these measures would succeed. The Supreme Court limited some of the power expansion to the Executive Branch, but was the start of the huge Presidential power expansion that would continue through the Cold War and the War on Terror by Presidents of both parties.
Essentially, Scalia held that it was the job of the legislature to correct evils of society that he felt were not specifically mentioned in the Constitution. Other justices have argued that if the things are so evil and serious that they deny an individual the rights that were mentioned in the Constitutional, then they might be unconstitutional.
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.
