Checks, Balances, and Challenges to the Supremacy of the Supreme Court

Author: Zachary Carr

A legitimacy crisis seems to be brewing in the Court, and in order to maintain their authority, the Court will need to resist
acting in ways that continue to erode public confidence. Even if the justices can cure their ethical lapses, further threats to institutional legitimacy come from the other branches of government. There are numerous examples of the political branches disregarding, repudiating, or trying to avoid orders issued by the Court, dating back to the early Nineteenth Century. While these incidents were largely isolated throughout history, some anticipate a disobedient trend emerging.

How can the Court’s legitimacy survive if its primary constitutional function is being disregarded by the rest of government? The system of checks and balances created by the Constitution strikes a delicate balance of federal power, and removing the Court’s influence from that system leads to the risk that one of the remaining branches will accumulate power excessively. By second-guessing the Court’s constitutional interpretation, these governors purport to assume some judicial power in addition to and in excess of their executive power. By analyzing similar cases throughout history, this Note attempts to suggest how this power struggle will be resolved. Read more.