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Power Line University, Session 8: The Federalist & the Judiciary

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Settle down class, time for our next lesson. This week we take up how The Federalist explains Article III, the judiciary, and especially the nowadays familiar power of judicial review, which is nowhere specified in the text of the Constitution, and was in fact an issue of controversy and confusion at the time of the founding.

So we start our investigation with Federalist #78, where Alexander Hamilton skillfully walks through the nature of judicial review, and how the American version will differ from the British practice from which we borrowed much, but not everything.

Of course this matter didn't begin to get settled until Marbury vs. Madison in 1803, and not even then in some important respects that we introduce this week, and will return to in our next and concluding class in a few days.

And if your preference is to watch the session and read along with our Power Point slides of excerpts from The Federalist, you can take in the YouTube version here.

Host:
Steve Hayward
Guest:
"Lucretia"

Discussion (2)

  • Albert Arthur@AlbertArthur

    I have a small nitpick with Lucretia: at one point she said she "doesn't blame" illegal aliens for entering the country. I believe she was simply making the point that of course people from the proverbial s-hole* countries would like to come here. But I just want to say that I do blame the illegal aliens. They're the ones breaking our laws. And I do also blame the Democrats AND the Republicans for keeping the border open. Let it never be forgotten than Trump asked a Republican Senate and a Republican House to fund the border wall -- I believe at $25 Billion -- and Paul Ryan and Mitch McConnell refused. Obviously the price tag was not the sticking issue, given the $100+ Billion that we have sent to secure Ukraine's borders, something Mitch McConnell says is the most important thing in the world.

    *It was claimed by the fake news -- based on anonymous sources who admitted they weren't present at the time -- that Trump had used the word "s-hole" to describe certain countries. However, multiple U.S. Senators who were in the room went on record to say Trump said no such thing.

    Anyway, I always refer to this podcast as "The Lucretia Show," since the other two, while amiable, are dunces who would get hopelessly lost in the weeds if not for our Lady of Arizona.