buried treasure

[Scott Gerber]

I just stumbled across a 1781 veto message from the governor of North 
Carolina in which he rejects a court bill that would have permitted him 
to remove certain judges at his pleasure.  He does so on judicial 
independence grounds and, this is the important part, he recognizes the 
power of judicial review.  He wrote:  "civil liberty would be deprived 
of its surest defences against the most dangerous usurpations, that is 
the independency of the Judiciary power and its capacity of protecting 
Individuals from the operation of Laws unconstitutional and tyrannical."

It's findings such as this that justify consulting original sources, 
rather than secondary materials.  It takes longer to write this way, 
but it's worth it in the end.

Scott


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Scott Gerber
Law College
Ohio Northern University
Ada, OH 45810
419-772-2219
http://www.law.onu.edu/faculty/gerber/