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The Balance Of Forces And The Empire Of Liberty: States' Rights And The Louisiana Purchase, Robert Knowles
The Balance Of Forces And The Empire Of Liberty: States' Rights And The Louisiana Purchase, Robert Knowles
Law Faculty Publications
This Article challenges the conventional wisdom about the Louisiana Treaty and argues that it was unconstitutional. As many students of history know, President Jefferson had serious misgivings about its constitutionality, which scholars have dismissed as driven by an overly strict construction of the Constitution. The Article concludes that Jefferson's concerns were in fact motivated primarily by respect for federalism principles.
This Article identifies and discusses the underlying conflict between two radically different visions of federalism. While Jefferson s Republicans believed that the incorporation of new states in the West would merely expand the Constitutions form of government to more territory, …
The True Story Of Marbury V. Madison, David F. Forte
The True Story Of Marbury V. Madison, David F. Forte
Law Faculty Articles and Essays
Though normally not friends of original intent or legal tradition, today's judicial "activists" like to trace their lineage back to the (purported) original judicial activist, to the great Chief Justice who was the first to persuade the Supreme Court to strike down a law of Congress.
According to this conceit, which is now the standard interpretation enshrined in countless histories and hornbooks, Marbury v. Madison was the breakthrough that demonstrated how truly powerful the judiciary could be. In this famous case, decided 200 years ago, Marshall supposedly showed that the Constitution is an elastic document or at least could be …