Most Humble Servants / G. Powell.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Powell, G., Author.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Advisory opinions--History--United States.

Advisory opinions.

Judicial opinions--History--United States.

Judicial opinions.

Advisory opinions--History--Great Britain.

Judicial opinions--History--Great Britain.

Physical Description:

1 online resource

Place of Publication:

New Haven, CT : Yale University Press, [1997]

Language Note:

English

Summary:

It has long been assumed that throughout the history of the United States, the role of judges was limited to adjudicating cases and did not include performing other official functions for the executive and legislative branches of government. This book challenges that assumption, investigating the variety of duties judges performed until the end of the eighteenth century and exploring why a new separation of powers developed only after 1793.Stewart Jay shows that early judges in both the United States and Great Britain provided extrajudicial advisory opinions to the executive, took administrative assignments, assisted in legislative drafting, and even held offices in other branches of government. In 1793, however, the U.S. Supreme Court refused to answer the Washington administration's request for legal advice on American treaty relations with France. Jay argues that if we take into consideration late eighteenth-century theories of separation of powers and the probable intent of the Framers of the Constitution, no significant constitutional barriers prevented the Court from answering Washington's questions. The actual reasons for the Court's refusal were more related to the practical consequences that would result if the Justices issued a formal advisory opinion during a foreign policy crisis. Similarly, says Jay, British judges of the same period also abandoned advisory opinions owing to pragmatic concerns. Jay thus offers a revisionary accoun of the 1793 political-legal crisis, a landmark event in the formation of the American judiciary and the doctrine of separation of powers.

Contents:

Frontmatter

Contents

Acknowledgments

Introduction

I. The Advisory Role of Judges in Great Britain Through the Eighteenth Century

2 The Advisory Role of American Judges Prior to 1787

3 The Advisory Role of Judges During the Formation of the U.S. Constitution

4 The Advisory Role of Judges During the Washington Administration

5 Declining Washington's Request: The Events of 1793

6 Explaining the Supreme Court's Refusal to Assist 149 the Washington Administration

Conclusion

Appendix: Letter from the Justices of the :Supreme Court to President George Washington

Abbreviations

Notes

Index

Notes:

Bibliographic Level Mode of Issuance: Monograph

Description based on online resource; title from PDF title page (publisher's Web site, viewed 24. Apr 2020)

ISBN:

9780300146561

0300146566

OCLC:

1024006717