Exemplar Essay Plan A2 Edexcel G&P Unit 4C

Exemplar Star Essay Plan of the Month

Essay Question: 7 Has the Supreme Court become an ‘imperial judiciary’? (Total for Question 7 = 45 marks) Essay Jigsawing ©

Introduction – Plan Arthur Schlesinger first coined the phrase “imperial” in accosiation to the president. What he meant was that the president had over stepped his constitutional boundaries and was undermining the checks and balances on him. In essence ruling unchallenged. An argument can be made that Supreme court is displaying the signs of an imperial judiciary. Since what ever they rule can be final. Nevertheless an equally valid argument can be put forward that the supreme court is not imperial and in many regards can be seen imperilled since they are have no enforcement power and their decisions can be reversed by constitutional amendment. Furthermore the rise of judicial restraint retracts from the argument that the supreme court is indeed imperial.

Main Body Choose a paragraph to write in full and then evaluate paragraph – Many political commentators have accused the supreme court of exercising too much power. The increased willingness of justices to strike down federal legislation adds weigh to the argument that the supreme court is indeed imperial.  Which essentially means they have power and say over a variety of policies. The supreme court challenging the congress legislation in Citizen United vs  FEC  further emphasises how active the court has become.  The court has strayed away from its original intention, in which Founding fathers such as Jefferson intended the court to practice restraint.  However on the contrary it can be equally argued that the supreme court only strikes down legislation when necessary. Furthermore justices, Scalia and Roberts are proponents of Judicial restraint and intend that the Court stays within its constitutional bounds since it is unelected and should leave the legislation duties to the Elected Bodies. However on balance it is more convincing to say that the supreme court is indeed imperial since whenever it strikes down legislation it is very difficult to overturn their say. It requires a constitutional amendment and in practicality is very difficult to cast an amendment.  The court indeed operates on a level higher then the elected bodies since it essentially has the last say on any legislation. To challenge the courts decision is nearly impossible.

Write a Plan ·       It is indeed imperial gave it self powers like judicial review which was not explicitly stated in the constitution ·       Counter can be impeached and have been before ·       Re-counter haven’t been impeached since 1803 so really a useless power Evaluate a second paragraph Not imperial because the president appoints them  and in service to him Since they hold duty for life they owe no one anything they don’t appeal to voters and to the other bodies Though too much criticism has resulted in supreme court individuals stepping down like Harriet Miers stepped down before even becoming a judge – they are there to server in the interest of the people and so if the people are against them they leave their post.

Choose two paragraphs - Then evaluate each paragraph

Conclusion write in full   - In conclusion it can be assessed that the conservative fear of a too imperial supreme court is justified. With the rise of the Supreme Court having the last say in social causes such as Brown vs Topeka and the fact the supreme court has over stepped its constitutional bounds by granting itself new powers such as judicial review. Whilst it can be asserted that they are still able to be checked upon by the legislative branch – the lack of impeachment highlights how this check has not been exhausted usefully and therefore it is more compelling to suggest that the supreme court is indeed imperial.

Really well written essay clearly focused on the remit of the question and good embedding of the Mark scheme throughout.  Clearly argued, supported with evidence, evaluated and linked back to the question, clearly this is topic you are very passionate about.  I would suggest you write this essay out in full and use this template to apply to your other essays to improve their calibre.  A pleasure to read and will be shared as an exemplar of good practice with my other students.  Well done.

Mark Scheme

Factors which suggest that the Supreme Court has become an imperial judiciary include:

• judicial review means that the constitution means what the court says it means

• almost no area of public policy is immune to constitutional challenge

• the increased willingness of justices to strike down state and federal legislation

means that they have become arbiters over a wide range of policy, most famously

desegregation and abortion

• many conservatives would argue that some of the rights which the court has

established in recent years have only a tenuous basis in the constitution

• once appointed justices have security of tenure and may vote on the court in ways at

odds with the impression they created during their confirmation hearings

Factors which suggest that it has not include:

• its lack of enforcement power

• the court’s decisions may be reversed by constitutional amendment

• it has no power of initiation and must wait for cases to be brought to it

• the reluctance of the court to become involved in some areas, such as foreign policy

• the need for justices to give at least some regard to public opinion and the political

context if the legitimacy of the court is to be maintained – perhaps such

considerations influenced Justice Roberts in the Sebelius decision.

• many liberals would argue that the court must intervene to strike down legislation

sometimes if basic rights are to be maintained

• Congress has the power to impeach justices and vary the size of the court – the

threat of the latter was sufficient to prompt the court to change course in 1937

A threshold Level 2 response will typically exhibit the following features:

• Outline awareness of the meaning of the term ‘imperial judiciary’

• Limited knowledge of at least one way in which it might or might not apply to the

Supreme Court

A threshold Level 3 response will typically exhibit the following features:

• Clear understanding of the meaning of the term ‘imperial judiciary’

• Clear explanation of at least one least one way in which it might and one way in which it

might not apply to the Supreme Court.