Janise Marvin

AP Government

Federalist Paper No. 78

Summer Work

Federalist Paper No. 78

I. We will now examine the judicial branch of the proposed

government.

II. In showing the defects of the current government, we have found

that we have shown the need of a federal judiciary system. We don’t

need to repeat them here because the propriety of the institution in the

abstract is not disputed. There have only been questions regarding its

structure and extent. We will confine our writings to these points only.

III. In the Constitution, it only outlines the points of appointing judges,

the time in which they hold their positions, and judiciary authority

between the different courts and how they interact.

IV. Appointing judges is the same as appointing other officers to the

Union, so we won’t elaborate in order to keep from useless repetition.

V. The tenure of the judges concerns their duration in office, the

provisions for their support and the precautions for their responsibility.

VI. The way in which they secure their tenure is to hold their offices

with good behavior; this is one of the most valuable qualities. They must

secure a steady upright and impartial interpretation of the laws.

VII. The Judiciary branch is the least dangerous of the three branches

of government when they are separated. The Judiciary branch does not

control the sword or the purse. It only has judgment.

VIII. The Judiciary is the weakest branch because it cannot attack the

other branches, but can only defend itself against the other branches.

Liberty cannot be endangered from the judiciary branch, but from the

union of the other two branches it can.

IX. The judiciary branch must be separate from the other branches,

because of the limited Constitution. If not all rights and reservations can

mean nothing.

X. The Judiciary branch can declare legislative acts unconstitutional.

Some people have seen this as showing that judiciary power is superior

to legislative power.

XI. If a group acts against its purpose then that act is void. Therefore

any legislation acting against the constitution is void. If you denied this

you would be saying that the group is more important than the purpose.

XII. The judiciary branch is the go between for the people and the

legislature. The judiciary branch therefore cannot just ignore the people

and impose their own will on the government and laws. The judicial

system regulates the legislative branch according to the constitution and

people’s interests.

XIII. This does not mean that the judiciary branch is superior to the
 legislative branch, only that the interest of the people is superior to both

of the branches. It is the job of the court to ensure that the legislative

branch is acting for the benefit of the people. They are both accountable

to the people.

XIV. If there are two clashing laws, which there often are, it is the job of

the judiciary branch to resolve this. They shall do this based on the

principles of reason and law. A rule of thumb is to go with the latter law

over the former, because it is usually more current, but this is not always

the case. Reason, truth and propriety should govern these methods.

XV. When there is a conflicting act involving a superior authority and a

subordinate authority, the superior authority should be preferred

according to the converse of this rule.

XVI. The judges are required to base their decisions on the constitution

and not on their own preference. Because of this, no judge should be

appointed that was previously affiliated with a legislative branch.

XVII. These judges should be granted tenure, because they would be

more inclined to adhere to these guidelines when granted tenure.

XVIII. The judges independence is essential to liberty, for when the

people and the legislative branch are for something unconstitutional, the

judges have to be fully together in order to keep with the constitution.

XIX. The independence of the judges in the Union is important to

safeguard against the whims of the people. The judges’ positions must
 also be permanent to keep a constant in the changing legislatures and

opinions of the people.

XX. Temporary positions cannot be held to a uniform and inflexible

adherence to the constitution. The appointment of judges cannot be by

just one branch because of partialness to that branch, or by both

branches, because of the unwillingness to hazard of the displeasure of

either branch. The people cannot elect them either because of a

tendency to go with majority, which could be corrupt.

XXI. The permanent terms of the judges are also important because of

the limited number of people qualified to serve as a judge. The cases in

the superior court are very long and require a lot of attention, so often

cases would run between different terms, and the cases would be unfair

and biased based on the different judges taking them.

XXII. It was wise of the Constitution to call for the good behavior of the

judges and the permanent terms of the judges.