2305+-+Judicial+Review+and+the+Supreme+Court

Power Points



Description: This section takes us through judicial review.

Goals: After reading through the material above, you should be able to address the following questions:

- What is judicial review. Which institution has it and why? - Why did Hamilton argue that judicial review was necessary? Why were the framers of the Constitution unwilling to give the power to any institution in the original document? - Be familiar with the issues associated with Marbury v Madison. - Why is constitutional law held to be superior to statutory law? - What arguments exist over how the Constitution ought to be interpreted? What different techniques exist? - How might a loose interpretation of the Constitution lead to the discovery of rights that one with the strict interpretation would not recognize? How was the discovery of some rights justified? - What limits ought to exist on the power of judicial review? What is judicial activism and judicial restraint? - How does judicial review allow interest groups to use the courts to challenge statutory law? Be able to answer questions about famous test cases. - What impact does judicial review have on the power of the courts? - What did Hamilton say about the strength of the court? - What is the current composition of the Supreme Court? What is the ideological breakdown of members of the court?