THE EVOLUTION OF JUDICIAL POWER IN THE UNITED STATES FROM MARBURY v. MADISON IN 1804 TO THE NIXON TAPES CASE IN 1974, AND BEYOND
4pm in FDR
The session would include discussion of the politics of seminal cases such as Marbury v. Madison in 1804 and the Nixon tapes case in 1974; the increased public support and, therefore, power that the courts developed in that period; and the threats to the authority of the courts which results from perceived abuses of that power. This session would provide a framework for continuing discussion of the proper role of the courts in American democracy, and for evaluating whether in particular cases judges are discharging their constitutional duty to protect minorities or are instead engaging in undemocratic and unjustified judicial activism.