Written Statement of Nikolas Bowie to the Presidential Commission on the Supreme Court of the United States, June 30, 2021
25 Pages Posted: 20 Mar 2025
Date Written: June 30, 2021
Abstract
This testimony to President Joe Biden's Commission on the Supreme Court makes two arguments against the U.S. Supreme Court's power to invalidate federal legislation. First, as a matter of historical practice, the Court has wielded an antidemocratic influence on American law, one that has undermined federal attempts to eliminate hierarchies of race, wealth, and status. Second, as a matter of political theory, the Court’s exercise of its review undermines the value that distinguishes democracy as an ideal form of government: its pursuit of political equality. Both arguments compete with counterarguments that its power is necessary to preserve the political equality of so-called discrete and insular minorities. But even accepting that the political equality of all Americans should be protected, the justification for the Court's power is not persuasive as a matter of practice or theory.
Keywords: judicial supremacy, constitutional law, supreme court
Suggested Citation: Suggested Citation
Bowie, Nikolas, Written Statement of Nikolas Bowie to the Presidential Commission on the Supreme Court of the United States, June 30, 2021 (June 30, 2021). Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=5168441 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.5168441
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