The Firing Line Forums - View Single Post - Checks, Balances and Constitutional Theory

**Mike Irwin** · October 14, 2008, 11:04 AM

Phyrric victory at best, Al.

After 1936, even with the huge landslide that Roosevelt enjoyed, he wasn't able to get a single significant piece of New Deal legislation through Congress again.

And, it's also HIGHLY erroneous to say that Roosevelt's plan to pack the Supreme Court somehow "scared" the justices into rolling over and licking Roosevelt's boots.

It also requires an examination of the differences in the pieces of New Deal legislation that the court did review/reject, and the pieces that the court refused to review.

The court was not engaged in a program of rejecting every piece of New Deal legislation 20 minutes after it came off of Roosevelt's desk.

I think it's also an incorrect assessment to say that the 'checks and balances' failed miserably.

The checks and balances acted exactly as the framers NEVER envisioned them to act.

Remember, it was the Supreme Court itself that decided, via Marbury v Madison, that it had the ultimate judicial review over laws passed by Congress and enacted by the President.

That was a role that the framers never envisioned, because they never wrote that role into the powers allocated to the Supreme Court.

October 14, 2008, 11:04 AM	#24
Mike Irwin Staff Join Date: April 13, 2000 Location: Northern Virginia Posts: 41,390	Phyrric victory at best, Al. After 1936, even with the huge landslide that Roosevelt enjoyed, he wasn't able to get a single significant piece of New Deal legislation through Congress again. And, it's also HIGHLY erroneous to say that Roosevelt's plan to pack the Supreme Court somehow "scared" the justices into rolling over and licking Roosevelt's boots. It also requires an examination of the differences in the pieces of New Deal legislation that the court did review/reject, and the pieces that the court refused to review. The court was not engaged in a program of rejecting every piece of New Deal legislation 20 minutes after it came off of Roosevelt's desk. I think it's also an incorrect assessment to say that the 'checks and balances' failed miserably. The checks and balances acted exactly as the framers NEVER envisioned them to act. Remember, it was the Supreme Court itself that decided, via Marbury v Madison, that it had the ultimate judicial review over laws passed by Congress and enacted by the President. That was a role that the framers never envisioned, because they never wrote that role into the powers allocated to the Supreme Court. __________________ "The gift which I am sending you is called a dog, and is in fact the most precious and valuable possession of mankind" -Theodorus Gaza Baby Jesus cries when the fat redneck doesn't have military-grade firepower.