Supreme Courts Dbq

The Supreme Court priorities from the time period of 1790 to 1865 were establishing the Judiciary Act of 1789, which was instrumental in founding the Federal Court System. The framers believed that establishing a National Judiciary was an urgent and important task. After the installation of Chief Justice John Marshall who “used his dominance to strengthen the court 's position and advance the policies he favored” (Baum 20). However, in the decision of the landmark case of Marbury v. Madison in 1803 was an example of the power he exuded “in which the Court struck down a Federal statute for the first time” (Baum 20). This created some internal conflict between Marshall and President Thomas Jefferson, however Marshall was able to diffuse this with

Thus causing even more conflict, especially amongst those not in the South. Another controversial issue was federalism because Marshall gave the national government a vast amount of power over state 's rights, and Taney believed more in giving power to the state rather than the national government. In addition, this is when outside groups started forming and lobbying their influence over government decisions, whether it is pertaining to slavery, rights, or economic interests. James Madison regarded “factions” or interest groups with concern when authoring segments of the Federalist Papers. The problem he envisioned was that eliminating them from the political scene was a threat to democratic principles, a cure worse than the disease. Today, we still find significant concerns for how vast and powerful interest groups and their associated PACs have become over the past few decades, and their far reaching ability they have to affect even the highest court in the

Although there were many positive accomplishments of the Supreme Court, as a Woman I would have to say that the decision of Roe v. Wade which legalized abortion was by far the most vital because by deciding in favor of Roe it made the statement that no government was going to decide what a female has the right to do with her body; even if it was controversial. This was a very personal issue and one that was fought and in some cases died over, this is still an issue that woman struggle to protect even to this day. This gave women of all stations in life access if they so chose, to an abortion in a safe, clean and legal environment instead of a back alley somewhere. This wasn 't just a case of abortion rights because it resulted in access to contraception, better and more affordable OBGYN access, and medically accurate sex education as well; not to mention the fact that it set a precedent that affected more than thirty Supreme Court cases on denial of abortion services. When it comes to a decision that I feel was the most detrimental, I would have to say the Supreme Court decision of the case of the “hanging chad” in Bush v. Gore in 2000. I believe this particular decision was one made in haste and based solely on political preference rather than based on having a fair and impartial electoral process that would benefit society rather than the justices. The Supreme Court stepped in and decided the election for the voters, which was an