Judicial Review Essay, Research Paper

Towering over us all

When looking at the three branches of government one sees all the power that the people have given them. One is looking at all the great accomplishments in the history of the U.S.A. In the beginning, the United States government was formed in the intent of having the power fall in the order of executive, legislative, and then judicial. Although this was supposed to be the case, now in the modern age the judicial branch holds the most power. This is largely because of the system of checks and balances. They have the power to impeach the President and members of the Congress. They also have the power of holding a man’s life in their hands. Finally, they also have the power to tell society what is right and wrong.

One of the judicial systems many powers is to impeach the President and members of Congress. This is done via the system of checks and balances. This is very important because they now can make sure that the public officials are obeying, and not above the law. This was the case of President Nixon. The power to impeach officials is also used to make sure that the officials are acting morally and in the best interests of the country. This was the case of President Clinton’s near impeachment.

The next power that the judicial system has is that of holding a man’s life in the balance. With all the criminal activity that is going on in today’s society, this branch of government is becoming more and more involved and powerful. They can sentence a man to life in prison or even give the criminal the death penalty in extreme cases. I do believe however, that the court system is not very efficient in the way a murderer can get off almost scott free because of one little slip up in the law.

The last and maybe the most influential power that the judicial system has is the power to decide and tell the public what is right and wrong. This is useful to shape the future of the country. As an example I give you the issue of gun control. With all the school shootings they must decide what to do with the right to bear arms amendment in the Bill of Rights. If they get rid of the right to bear arms then this will assure that only criminals and police will have guns. If they decide to keep the gun laws then the guns will be more available for the youth to get a hold of. This will definitely shape the future, and how society develops.

In conclusion, the powers of the judicial branch of the government are very strong and influential in today’s society. That is why they are now the most powerful branch of the government. This was not how it was intended to be, but that’s how it played out.