“The constitution ... is a mere thing of wax in the hands of the judiciary, which they may twist, and shape into any form they please.”
Thomas Jefferson had a unique and slightly odd view of the proper place of the judicial branch in America. He thought of judicial independence as both a strength and a weakness of our system: you want judges that are independent of popular factionalism but you want them to be accountable to the sovereign, to the American people. Jefferson, as portrayed by Clay S. Jenkinson, discusses his concept of judicial balance, his lifelong displeasure with the Supreme Court, and some of the changes that he thinks should be made. He said of life-tenured judges, 'Few die and none resign.'
Show Notes
Thomas Jefferson, as portrayed by Clay:
If you wanted judicial veto, you would have to erect some Olympian body of perfect judicial masters who never could be swayed by self interest or personal prejudices. That has never been the case. The Romans understood this. The Romans said, 'Yes, we need guardians. But who will protect us from our guardians?'
Further Reading:
- University of Chicago: Thomas Jefferson to Spencer Roane, 6 Sept. 1819
- Monticello: Few die, none resign (Spurious Quotation)
- National Archives, Founders Online: Thomas Jefferson to John Adams, 10 June 1815 ("I cannot live without books")
Good News for America
The Jefferson Watch
From Clay:
I feel that it is time to swing the pendulum back towards Mr. Jefferson's view that it is not the Senate that appoints judicial officers, but the victorious President of the United States. What the Republican Senate did to Merrick Garland was, in my opinion, obscene and unconscionable. I hope the Democrats in the Senate have behaved more responsibly towards nominee Gorsuch. Jefferson objected strenuously when his predecessor, John Adams, packed the federal court system in the very last days of his administration, with high Federalists who disliked Jefferson politically and personally and who made it their mission to prevent him from making any radical adjustments to the American republic.
Read Clay's Jefferson Watch essay, "Good News for America".
What Would Jefferson Do?
“There is nothing more important than judicial competence.”
Tune in to your local public radio or join the 1776 Club to hear this episode of What Would Thomas Jefferson Do?
Becky Cawley • (208) 791-8721 • odytours.net
Dr. Lindsay Chervinsky and Clay Jenkinson discuss the Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution.
Clay Jenkinson speaks with Beau Breslin, author of A Constitution for the Living: Imagining How Five Generations of Americans Would Rewrite the Nation's Fundamental Law. The book examines an idea that Jefferson shared with James Madison in 1789: "What would America's Constitutions have looked like if each generation wrote its own?"
We welcome back Dr. Lindsay M. Chervinsky to discuss her recent post "How Did the Senate End Up With Supermajority Gridlock?" She and Clay talk about the filibuster and congressional gridlock which they both feel is the product of decades of legislative machinations and not what the Constitution, nor the framers, intended.
When reading Thomas Jefferson’s correspondence, one often sees examples of his belief that the less government, the better. In this week's episode, President Thomas Jefferson discusses the writing of the Constitution and comments on The Journal of the Federal Convention by James Madison. Jefferson wrote, "it may be proved that no society can make a perpetual constitution, or even a perpetual law. The earth belongs always to the living generation."