Marshall's legacy

Townhall ^ | 9/25/05 | George Will

[Crackingham]

A nation's identity consists of braided memories, which are nourished by diligence at civic commemorations. It is, therefore, disappointing that at this moment of keen interest in the Supreme Court and the office of chief justice, scant attention has been paid to the 250th anniversary of the birth of the nation's greatest jurist, Chief Justice John Marshall. The oldest of the family's 15 children, he was born Sept. 24, 1755, into Virginia rusticity where women pinned their blouses with thorns. Yet he developed the most urbane and subtle mind of that era of remarkable statecraft. He was a member of Virginia's ratifying convention, and in nearly 35 years as chief justice he founded American constitutional law. That kind of legal reasoning by Supreme Court justices is a continuous exegesis of the Constitution and is sometimes not easily distinguished from a continuing writing of the document.

[hershey]

Great post, thank you.

[inquest]

Marshall's capacious construction of the "necessary and proper" clause shaped the law, and the nation's consciousness of itself.

Yup, and we're still living with that lovely little "legacy" today.

Marshall was one seriously overrated justice. He was an early judicial activist who turned much of the Constitution on its head.

[ncountylee]

Marshall is the most important American never to have been president.

Ben don't worry, you are the man.