Museum of Minds

Ratification Debates · Theme Cluster

The Judiciary

Should judges have life tenure and the power to strike down laws passed by the people's representatives?

USG.2.IPUSG.2.ER§59-29-155

Hamilton called the judiciary the 'least dangerous branch' — it had neither the sword nor the purse, only judgment. Brutus violently disagreed: a court with life tenure and no check on its power to interpret the Constitution would inevitably become the most powerful branch of all. The debate between Federalist No. 78 and Brutus XI is the founding argument for and against judicial review.

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Ask Publius — or the Anti-Federalists — about any argument in this cluster. The chatbot draws from both collections.
This is the cluster on The Judiciary. The central question: Should judges have life tenure and the power to strike down laws passed by the people's representatives? Ask me anything about the Federalist or Anti-Federalist arguments on this theme.