Legal Supremacy Quotes
In the English system the checks and balances of the American system are not present. Historically in England the Monarch and the Parliament acted as checks upon each other. With a Constitutional Monarch there is no institutional check on Parliament. The checks are their restraint--respect for precedent--and the voters. The Prime Minister is a member of Parliament and has no powers other than what Parliament gives him/her. The courts in England are under Parliament and the upper house, the House of Lords is the equivalent of the highest court—but it may always be overruled by the parliament itself.
Senior civil judge in the Court of Appeal of England and Wales
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.
She was explaining her antipathy to Muslim Fundamentalists having French citizenship or even sing allowed into the country.
This has been one of the fundamental debates in America since its founding. Which is more important, the preservation of civil rights and personal liberty or the supremacy of the law and the stability of our institutions. In war, the tension is always existent. In law enforcement, there is also a common conflict. Prohibition, like the later War on Drugs, was not able to be enforced without the invasion of personal rights. Americans decided that Prohibition benefits were not worth it/ The debate is ongoing with respect to the War on Drugs.
Waite said that exempting plural marriage from criminality under the guise of religious freedom was to make religion superior to the law
This concept was later formalized in British law. See Blackstone.
