The topic of
discussion for this Constitution Monday comes from Article III, Section 2,
Clause 1: “The Judicial Power shall
extend to all Cases, in Law and Equity, arising under this Constitution….” This provision in the Constitution simply
states that the people can take any constitutional question directly to the
federal court system.
“Even though the Founders
emphasized that the jurisdiction of the state courts was to be kept entirely
separate from that of the federal courts, if a constitutional question is
raised during the litigation of a state case, the matter can be immediately
referred to the federal courts for a decision.
“One question answered by the
Founders in connection with this provision was… Why must constitutional
questions always be referred to a federal court?
“[Alexander Hamilton explained
that the] federal judiciary is the exclusive guardian of the Constitution: `It seems scarcely to admit of controversy
that the judiciary authority of the Union ought to extend … to all [cases]
which concern the execution of the provisions expressly contained in the
articles of Union …. There ought always
to be a constitutional method of giving efficacy to constitutional
provisions….’
“[Hamilton also argued that”
laws must conform to the Constitution:
`The Constitution ought to be the standard of construction for the laws,
and that wherever there is an evident opposition, the laws ought to give place
to the Constitution….” (See W. Cleon
Skousen in The Making of America – The
Substance and Meaning of the Constitution, pp. 595-596.)
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