At about this time in 1788, Alexander Hamilton (a.k.a. Publius) writes Federalist Paper No. 81. His essay would later appear in a bound volume with other Federalist essays (see below). This paper honestly might leave you rolling your eyes a bit at the current state of affairs. Hamilton is still discussing the judiciary and concerns about the Supreme Court. The Constitution’s opponents were worried that the Court would end up being superior to the legislature. Hamilton dismiss

At about this time in 1788, Alexander Hamilton (a.k.a. Publius) writes Federalist Paper No. 80. His essay would later appear in a bound volume with other Federalist essays (see below). This paper continues Hamilton’s examination of the judiciary. Hamilton begins by noting that there “ought always to be a constitutional method of giving efficacy to constitutional provisions.” What good does it do to impose constitutional restrictions if you have no “constitutional mode of enfo

At about this time in 1788, Alexander Hamilton (a.k.a. Publius) writes Federalist Paper No. 79. His essay would later appear in a bound volume with other Federalist essays (see below). This paper examines the judiciary created by the Constitution. What constitutional provisions will safeguard the independence of judges? In the prior paper, Hamilton defended life tenure for judges because it contributes to their independence. This paper defends a “fixed provision for their sup

At about this time in 1788, Alexander Hamilton (a.k.a. Publius) writes Federalist Paper No. 78. His essay would appear in a bound volume with other Federalist essays. The paper examines the judiciary created by the Constitution. Hamilton spends the bulk of his time discussing the tenure of judges as it relates to the nature of what they do. But, honestly, much of what Hamilton says in this paper probably strikes the modern reader as odd, given how powerful our activist courts