Advice

On founding fathers

I hate to be this person, but judicial review wasn’t established by the founding fathers. It was Supreme Court Chief Justice John Marshall who essentially granted his own court that power. Again, I apologize for my own cuntiness. I just couldn’t let that one go.

No, no. I appreciate someone who knows their history, but I’m about to out-cunt your cuntiness.

The landmark 1803 case you’re referring to is Marbury v. Madison, which most people assume was the first time the Supreme Court exercised judicial review. It wasn’t. It was merely the first time the Supreme Court struck down an act of Congress as unconstitutional.

The first time the Supreme Court exercised judicial review was under Chief Justice Oliver Ellsworth during the lesser known case of Hylton v. US in 1796. Chief Justice Ellsworth was appointed to the court by George Washington and was himself one of the framers of the Constitution — a founding father if there ever was one.

Plus, founding father and proto-blogger Alexander Hamilton outlined the process of judicial review in his anonymous political zine known as the Federalist Papers.

Good times.

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