DOCSLIB.ORG

SEATACMUNICIPALCOURT Your City. Your Court

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
SEATACMUNICIPALCOURT Your City. Your Court JULY, 2014 VOL #3 ISSUE #2 SEATACMUNICIPALCOURT Your City. Your Court. “Independence” In.de.pen.dence (noun): freedom from outside The Constitution contains Amendments 11-27 control or support: the state of being independent; which address additional rights: the time when a country or region gains political freedom from outside control. th The 13 Amendment prohibits slavery and This month, we celebrated our independence as a involuntary servitude nation. The Declaration of Independence, signed July 4, th The 14 Amendment prohibits any state from 1776, declared our independence, and dissolved all making or enforcing any law which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens, or which political connection and allegiance with Great Britain. shall deprive any person of life, liberty or property, without due process of law, or deny any Shortly thereafter, on September 17, 1787, the person the equal protection of the law Constitution of the United States was signed into effect. The 15th Amendment guarantees all citizens the Finally, on March 4th, 1789, Congress ratified the Bill of right to vote, regardless of race or color Rights, which consists of Constitutional Amendments 1- th The 19 Amendment guarantees all citizens the 10. That timeless, elegant document establishes the rights right to vote, regardless of sex with which we are most familiar: freedom of religion, (Continued on next page….) The United States Constitution called for a Supreme Court and a federal judiciary. The Judiciary Act of 1789 created 13 district courts in principal cities, with one judge in each court, and three circuit courts to cover the eastern, middle and southern United States. It also created a Supreme Court, with a Chief Justice and five Associate Justices. “Independence” (Continued from previous page) freedom of speech, freedom of the press, freedom of assembly, freedom from unlawful searches and seizures, freedom from suffering cruel and unusual punishment, right to due process, right to a speedy and public trial, right to confront your accuser, and the right to an attorney. These rights are enforced every day within your state and federal courts. Judges work hard each day to interpret the law and to uphold and preserve those constitutional rights we all hold so dear. Our world is constantly evolving as we advance further into the technological universe. We have constitutional rights guaranteed to us under our state and federal constitutions, meant to The United States Supreme Court operate as a living document, being open to interpretation as our world changes. Advancements in technology, travel, and commerce test our constitutions every day, but our constitutions remain solid in preserving our rights in all circumstances. Each of those documents provides a sturdy platform on which to exercise the freedoms they guarantee. Within those documents lies our independence as individuals and as a nation. (Continued on next page….) “We must never forget that it is a constitution we are expounding…a constitution, intended to endure for ages to come, and consequently, to be adapted to the various crises of human affairs.” - John Marshall, Supreme Court Justice 1801-1835 MONTH, YEAR VOL # ISSUE # HEADLINE SUBHEAD. SUBHEAD. SUBHEAD. SUBHEAD. Continue newsletter text here. Continue newsletter text here. Continue newsletter text here. Continue newsletter text here. Continue newsletter text here. Continue newsletter text here. Continue newsletter text here. Continue newsletter text here. Continue newsletter text here. Continue newsletter text here. Continue newsletter text here. Continue newsletter text here. Continue newsletter text here. Continue newsletter text here. Continue newsletter text here. Continue newsletter text here. Continue Delete box or place a cption here. newsletter text here. Continue newsletter text here. Continue newsletter text here. Continue newsletter text here. Continue newsletter text here. Continue newsletter text here. Continue newsletter text here. Continue newsletter text here. Continue newsletter text here. Continue newsletter text here. Continue newsletter text here. Continue newsletter text here. Continue newsletter text here. Continue newsletter text here. Continue newsletter text here. Continue newsletter text here. Delete box or place a caption here. JULY, 2014 VOL #3 ISSUE #2 “Independence” (Continued from previous page) As technology continues to advance at a break-neck speed, issues arise which were never considered by the founding fathers. Yet, the beauty of the Constitution and the Bill of Rights is that the content can be interpreted to have included those issues. Take for instance, the guarantee of freedom from The USS Constitution, aka “Old Ironside” unreasonable searches and seizures. Most people know that privacy rights exist regarding certain communications. Questions of application arise when the communications are in the form of e-mail, text messages, IM’s, facebook posts, metadata, and tweets, or for information contained in a cloud, drop-box, or other alternative locations. Due process issues may arise regarding juror’s access to information during a trial. All information must be presented within the court room to ensure that each party has a chance to challenge its admission. Sometimes information may be excluded because it may be overly prejudicial to one of the parties and of little probative value to the trial issues. Yet, John Jay, First Chief Justice of the United States, jurors may be able to access that information through the use 1789 - 1795 of his or her cell phone, tablet, ipad, or laptop. There have been instances of mistrials due to jurors accessing information without the approval of the judge or parties. In other cases, mistrials have been declared because jurors posted entries on social media about the trial before or during their deliberation. The longevity of our constitutions can be attributed to their ability to maintain relevance and remain current as our society continues to evolve. Judges will continue to work hard every day to protect those rights for everyone. When Chief Justice White died in 1921, President Harding named William H. Taft Chief Justice. Chief Justice Taft was the only former Chief Executive ever to hold the highest judicial office. Taft was delighted, for the position of Chief Justice, not the Presidency, had always been the honor he wanted most. The Judiciary Act of 1789 required Justices to journey twice a year to distant parts of the country and preside over circuit courts. Justices had to endure hazardous conditions and long stretches away from their families HEADLINE while traveling to perform their circuit duties. SUB-HEAD - Library of Congress JULY, 2014 VOL #3 ISSUE #2 President Abraham Lincoln appointed Any websites, web pages, links, or other internet content referred to or contained within this newsletter are for Salmon Portland Chase to serve as the reference purposes only and neither the SeaTac Municipal sixth Chief Justice in 1864. He had Court nor the City of SeaTac endorse, support, or recommend any advertisement contained within a referenced website, web previously served as a Senator in the page, or link that is external to the SeaTac Municipal Court Ohio legislature, Governor of Ohio webpage. and as the United States Secretary of the Treasury. The SeaTac Municipal Court Newsletter is written by Judge Elizabeth Cordi-Bejarano. Any copying, reproduction or distribution of this document, in whole or in part, without the author’s explicit written permission is strictly prohibited. To receive a copy of this quarterly newsletter via email, or to stop receiving this newsletter, simply email the Court Administrator, Ms. Tricia Kinlow, at: [email protected] SEATAC MUNICIPAL COURT 4800 S. 188th Street SeaTac, Washington 98188 206-973-4610 http://www.cityofseatac.com/court .
Load more

Recommended publications
  • The Role of Politics in Districting the Federal Circuit System
    PUSHING BOUNDARIES: THE ROLE OF POLITICS IN DISTRICTING THE FEDERAL CIRCUIT SYSTEM Philip S. Bonforte† I. Introduction ........................................................................... 30 II. Background ............................................................................ 31 A. Judiciary Act of 1789 ......................................................... 31 B. The Midnight Judges Act ................................................... 33 C. Judiciary Act of 1802 ......................................................... 34 D. Judiciary Act of 1807 ....................................................... 344 E. Judiciary Act of 1837 ....................................................... 355 F. Tenth Circuit Act ................................................................ 37 G. Judicial Circuits Act ........................................................... 39 H. Tenth Circuit Act of 1929 .................................................. 40 I. Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals Reorganization Act of 1980 ...................................................... 42 J. The Ninth Circuit Dilemma ................................................ 44 III. The Role of Politics in Circuit Districting ............................. 47 A. The Presence of Politics ..................................................... 48 B. Political Correctness .......................................................... 50 IV. Conclusion ............................................................................. 52 † The author is a judicial clerk
    [Show full text]
  • Chapter 2 the Marshall Court and the Early Republic
    Chapter 2 The Marshall Court and the Early Republic I. The Supreme Court in Its Initial Years: 1 78918O11 The Supreme Court of the United States was a relatively insignificant institution during the first decade of the new Republic. Presidents Washington and Adams had some difficulty attracting people to serve, and the rate of turnover was high. Three men were appointed chiefjustice during the first 12 years.JohnJay resigned after six years to serve as New York’s governor, which he presumably deemed the more important office (and during his tenure he sailed to England to serve as the princi pal negotiator of what became known as the Jay Treaty with Great Britain, which, together with his co-authorship of the Federalist Papers, remains his primary claim to fame for most historians) . His successor, John Rutledge, had been appointed as an Associate in 1 789 but had resigned in 1 791 , without ever sitting, to go to the more prestigious South Carolina Supreme Court. He was nominated to become Chief Justice ofthe U.S. Supreme Court in 1795 but failed to receive Senate confirmation. Thereafter, Oliver Ellsworth was nominated and confirmed in 1796; he served until 1800, when he resigned while overseas on a diplomatic mission to France. One source of discontent was the onerous duty of “riding circuit,” which required eachJustice to travel twice a year to sit in the federal circuit court districts. (There were no “circuit courts” in the modern sense; instead, they consisted of districtjudges sitting together with a Supreme Courtjustice as a “circuit court.”) The trips were strenuous and time-consuming.
    [Show full text]
  • Politics, the Judiciary Act of 1789, and the Invention of the Federal Courts
    Duke Law Journal VOLUME 1989 DECEMBER NUMBER 6 "TO ESTABLISH JUSTICE": POLITICS, THE JUDICIARY ACT OF 1789, AND THE INVENTION OF THE FEDERAL COURTS WYTHE HOLT* TABLE OF CONTENTS I. Why Do We Have the National Judiciary We Have? . 1422 A. Unnoticed National JudiciaryPuzzles .................. 1422 * University Research Professor of Law, University of Alabama School of Law. B.A., 1963, Amherst College; J.D., 1966, Ph.D., 1979, University of Virginia. This essay is copyrighted by the author, who reserves all rights thereto. The author is grateful to Dean Nathaniel Hansford and the University of Alabama School of Law for their generous support of several years of research that forms the basis of this essay, and for a sabbatical leave that also in part supported the research for this essay. The author is most grateful to Charlene Bickford, Kenneth Bowling, Helen Veit, and their colleagues at the Documentary His- tory of the First Congress project at George Washington University, who graciously made available their magnificent collection of materials and have been kind enough to advise, assist, and cheer the author on many occasions. The author gratefully acknowledges the assistance of Jim Buchanan, Christine Jordan, Maeva Marcus, Jim Perry, Steven Tull, and their associates at the Documentary History of the United States Supreme Court, 1789-1800 project, for generously giving time, advice, and expertise, and allowing the author to supplement his research for this essay with their fine collection. William Casto, Eugene Genovese, L.H. La Rue, and Sandra Van Burkleo commented generously, helpfully, and often persuasively upon earlier drafts. Finally, the author gratefully ac- knowledges the expert aid, pleasantness, and unfailing good cheer extended to the author by the many librarians and research aides at the numerous repositories cited in this essay.
    [Show full text]
  • Congress's Power to Regulate the Federal Judiciary: What the First Congress and the First Federal Courts Can Teach Today's Congress and Courts
    Pepperdine Law Review Volume 37 Issue 3 Article 2 3-15-2010 Congress's Power to Regulate the Federal Judiciary: What the First Congress and the First Federal Courts Can Teach Today's Congress and Courts Paul Taylor Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalcommons.pepperdine.edu/plr Part of the Constitutional Law Commons, Courts Commons, and the Legal History Commons Recommended Citation Paul Taylor Congress's Power to Regulate the Federal Judiciary: What the First Congress and the First Federal Courts Can Teach Today's Congress and Courts , 37 Pepp. L. Rev. Iss. 3 (2010) Available at: https://digitalcommons.pepperdine.edu/plr/vol37/iss3/2 This Article is brought to you for free and open access by the Caruso School of Law at Pepperdine Digital Commons. It has been accepted for inclusion in Pepperdine Law Review by an authorized editor of Pepperdine Digital Commons. For more information, please contact [email protected], [email protected], [email protected]. Congress's Power to Regulate the Federal Judiciary: What the First Congress and the First Federal Courts Can Teach Today's Congress and Courts Paul Taylor* I. INTRODUCTION II. JAMES MADISON AND THE CONVENTION DEBATES III. THE CONSTITUTIONAL TEXT IV. THE FEDERALIST PAPERS (ALEXANDER HAMILTON) VI. OLIVER ELLSWORTH AND THE FIRST CONGRESS A. The JudiciaryAct of 1789 B. The Pro-FederalGovernment Policy ofSection 25 of the JudiciaryAct of 1789 C. Supportfor the JudiciaryAct of 1789 in the First Congress D. Cases Dismissed Under Section 25 of the JudiciaryAct of 1789 VII. THE POLICY BEHIND THE 1914 AMENDMENTS TO SECTION 25 OF THE JUDICIARY ACT OF 1789 VIII.
    [Show full text]
  • CREATING the FEDERAL JUDICIAL SYSTEM
    If you have issues viewing or accessing this file contact us at NCJRS.gov. CREATING the FEDERAL JUDICIAL SYSTEM ()c::) FEDERAL JUDICIAL CENTER ~ t--- ~ ~.... 1789-BICENTENNIAL OF THE FEDERAL JUDICIARY-1989 THE FEDERAL JUDICIAL CENTER Board The Chief Justice of the United States, Chairman Judge J. Clifford Wallace Chief Judge William C O'Kelley United States Court oj Appeals Jor the Ninth Circuit United States District Court, Northern District oj GeOTfJia Judge Monroe G. McKay Judge David D. Dowd, Jr. Uflfted States Court oj Appeals Jor the Tenth Circuit United States District Court, Northern District oj Ohio Judge Jose A. Cabranes Judge Robert E. Ginsberg United States District Court, District oj Connecticut United States Bankruptcy Court, Northern District oj Illinois L. Ralph Mecham Director oj the Administrative OJJice oj the U.s. Courts Director .Judge John C Godbold Deputy Director Charles W. Nihan Division Directors William B. Eldridge, Research Daniel L. Skoler, Continuing Education & Training Richard D. Fennell, Innovations & Systems Development Russell R. Wheeler, Spedal Educational Services Alice L. O'Donnell, Inter-Judicial Affairs & InJormation Services 1520 H Street, N.W. Washington, D.C 20005 Telephone (202) 633-6011 ~ 102728 u.s. Department of Justice National Institute of Justice This document has been reproduced exactly as received from the person or organization originating it. Points of view or opinions stated in this document are those of the authors and do not necessarily represent the official position or policies of the National Institute of Justice. Permission to reproduce this 0 : 5 Igl:tcd material has been granted by Public Domain Federal- JuCiicial Center to the National Criminal Justice Reference Service (NCJRS).
    [Show full text]
  • Establishing Judicial Review: Marbury and the Judicial Act of 1789
    Tulsa Law Review Volume 38 Issue 4 The Scholarship of Sanford Levinson Summer 2003 Establishing Judicial Review: Marbury and the Judicial Act of 1789 Mark A. Graber Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalcommons.law.utulsa.edu/tlr Part of the Law Commons Recommended Citation Mark A. Graber, Establishing Judicial Review: Marbury and the Judicial Act of 1789, 38 Tulsa L. Rev. 609 (2013). Available at: https://digitalcommons.law.utulsa.edu/tlr/vol38/iss4/4 This Supreme Court Review Symposia Articles is brought to you for free and open access by TU Law Digital Commons. It has been accepted for inclusion in Tulsa Law Review by an authorized editor of TU Law Digital Commons. For more information, please contact [email protected]. Graber: Establishing Judicial Review: Marbury and the Judicial Act of 178 ESTABLISHING JUDICIAL REVIEW: MARBURY AND THE JUDICIAL ACT OF 1789* Mark A. Graber** Marbury v. Madison1 occupies a place of pride in American constitutional law. Constitutional commentators regard that 1803 decision as a judicial landmark, one of the most important cases decided by any court in any country. Marbury's declaration that a provision in the Judiciary Act of 1789 was unconstitutional, scholars of all constitutional persuasions and professional affiliations agree, provided the necessary and sufficient foundations for judicial review in the United States. Such claims as "John Marshall's famous opinion in Marbury... established the Court as the final arbiter of the meaning of the Constitution, 3 litter the scholarly literature on constitutional law, theory, politics, and history. American constitutional law, in the received pedagogical canon, is largely a footnote to Marbury.
    [Show full text]
  • MIDNIGHT JUDGES KATHRYN Turnu I
    [Vol.109 THE MIDNIGHT JUDGES KATHRYN TuRNu I "The Federalists have retired into the judiciary as a strong- hold . and from that battery all the works of republicanism are to be beaten down and erased." ' This bitter lament of Thomas Jefferson after he had succeeded to the Presidency referred to the final legacy bequeathed him by the Federalist party. Passed during the closing weeks of the Adams administration, the Judiciary Act of 1801 2 pro- vided the Chief Executive with an opportunity to fill new judicial offices carrying tenure for life before his authority ended on March 4, 1801. Because of the last-minute rush in accomplishing this purpose, those men then appointed have since been known by the familiar generic designation, "the midnight judges." This flight of Federalists into the sanctuary of an expanded federal judiciary was, of course, viewed by the Republicans as the last of many partisan outrages, and was to furnish the focus for Republican retaliation once the Jeffersonian Congress convened in the fall of 1801. That the Judiciary Act of 1801 was repealed and the new judges deprived of their new offices in the first of the party battles of the Jeffersonian period is well known. However, the circumstances surrounding the appointment of "the midnight judges" have never been recounted, and even the names of those appointed have vanished from studies of the period. It is the purpose of this Article to provide some further information about the final event of the Federalist decade. A cardinal feature of the Judiciary Act of 1801 was a reform long advocated-the reorganization of the circuit courts.' Under the Judiciary Act of 1789, the judicial districts of the United States had been grouped into three circuits-Eastern, Middle, and Southern-in which circuit court was held by two justices of the Supreme Court (after 1793, by one justice) ' and the district judge of the district in which the court was sitting.5 The Act of 1801 grouped the districts t Assistant Professor of History, Wellesley College.
    [Show full text]
  • The Judiciary Act of 1789
    The Judiciary Act of 1789 Time and Grade Level Two 50 minute class periods in a Grade 9-12 US history, government or civics classroom Purpose of the Lesson The purpose of this lesson is to teach students about the significance of the Judiciary Act of 1789 in establishing a federal judiciary, and the power of judicial review as outlined by the landmark U.S. Supreme Court Case, Marbury v. Madison (1803). By the conclusion of this lesson, students will understand the key provisions of the Judiciary Act of 1789 and the structure of the federal judiciary, as well as the power of judicial review. Critical Engagement Questions & Lesson Objectives 1. What are the key features of the Judiciary Act of 1789, and why are they significant? Objective: Students will be able to analyze and explain the structure of the federal judicial system as created by the Judiciary Act of 1789. They will be able to articulate the reasoning for the structure of the judiciary, as well as how the statute relates to the U.S. Constitution. 2. What is the concept of judicial review, and where did it originate? Objective: Students will be able to define judicial review, articulate the arguments for and against it, and explain the case Marbury v. Madison. Standards Common Core Standards: English Language Arts Standards-History/Social Studies- Grade 9-10 CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RH.9-10.1 Cite specific textual evidence to support analysis ofprimary and secondary sources, attending to such features as the date and origin of the information. CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RH.9-10.2 Determine the central ideas or information of a primary or secondary source; provide an accurate summary of how key events or ideas develop over the course of the text.
    [Show full text]
  • A History of the United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit Ohio, Kentucky, Michigan, and Tennessee
    A History of the United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit Ohio, Kentucky, Michigan, and Tennessee M. NEIL REED, TOM VANDERLOO, AND STEPHANIE WOEBKENBERG 34 • THE FEDERAL LAWYER • August 2016 upreme Court Justice Potter Stewart may have best explained the importance of the Sixth Circuit when he wrote, “The Sixth Federal Judicial SCircuit is a cross section of the nation. Extending from the tip of Michigan’s Upper Peninsula to As the nation grew and new states entered the union, Congress the Mississippi border, it spans the heartland of periodically realigned some of the circuits. The boundaries of the our country. So it is that the United States Court Sixth Circuit underwent some shifting changes before their final realignment after the Civil War. With the Judiciary Act of 1866,7 of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit is not a regional Congress reorganized the states into nine circuits and established court but in every sense a national one. Its the geographical outline that has remained unchanged except for the workload reflects the pluralism and diversity of inclusion of new states within existing circuits and the division of two 8 9 our national life.”1 circuits. The Judiciary Act of 1869 created a judgeship for each of the nine circuits, thus lessening the demands of circuit riding among the Supreme Court justices as they were required to attend each Congress first implemented the constitutional provision that “[t]he circuit court within their assigned circuit only once every two years. judicial power of the United States, shall
    [Show full text]
  • A History of the United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit Ohio, Kentucky, Michigan, and Tennessee
    A History of the United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit Ohio, Kentucky, Michigan, and Tennessee M. NEIL REED, TOM VANDERLOO, AND STEPHANIE WOEBKENBERG 34 • THE FEDERAL LAWYER • August 2016 upreme Court Justice Potter Stewart may have best explained the importance of the Sixth Circuit when he wrote, “The Sixth Federal Judicial SCircuit is a cross section of the nation. Extending from the tip of Michigan’s Upper Peninsula to As the nation grew and new states entered the union, Congress the Mississippi border, it spans the heartland of periodically realigned some of the circuits. The boundaries of the our country. So it is that the United States Court Sixth Circuit underwent some shifting changes before their final realignment after the Civil War. With the Judiciary Act of 1866,7 of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit is not a regional Congress reorganized the states into nine circuits and established court but in every sense a national one. Its the geographical outline that has remained unchanged except for the workload reflects the pluralism and diversity of inclusion of new states within existing circuits and the division of two 8 9 our national life.”1 circuits. The Judiciary Act of 1869 created a judgeship for each of the nine circuits, thus lessening the demands of circuit riding among the Supreme Court justices as they were required to attend each Congress first implemented the constitutional provision that “[t]he circuit court within their assigned circuit only once every two years. judicial power of the United States, shall
    [Show full text]
  • Marbury, Section 13, and the Original Jurisdiction of the Supreme Court Akhil Reed Amart
    Marbury, Section 13, and the Original Jurisdiction of the Supreme Court Akhil Reed Amart In this year marking the Bicentennial of the Judiciary Act of 1789, and in a symposium designed to commemorate that Act, it might seem perverse, if not downright gauche, to begin by re- minding the reader that § 13 of this Act was the only congressional provision held unconstitutional by the Supreme Court for the first third of our Constitution's history. (The case, of course, was Mar- bury v Madison.1 ) I nevertheless begin this way because I believe that a careful re-examination of the narrow constitutional issues raised by § 13 will yield important insights into larger and much debated issues of constitutional law. And the icing on the (200th birthday) cake is that such a re-examination will acquit § 13 of the Marbury Court's charge of unconstitutionality-surely a fitting message to deliver on this celebratory occasion (even though it raises some problems for me about what I shall be able to write without perversity or gaucherie fourteen years hence, on the Bicen- tennial of Marbury itself).2 A brief summary of the questions that I shall pose, and the answers that I shall offer, is in order at the outset. After a broad t Associate Professor, Yale Law School. B.A., 1980, Yale University; J.D., 1984, Yale Law School. I thank Bruce Ackerman, Vik Amar, Willy Fletcher, Jack Goldsmith, Paul Kahn, Larry Lessig, Mike Paulsen, Mike Rappaport, and John Siegel for their helpful com- ments on earlier versions of this essay.
    [Show full text]
  • The Federal Key to the Judiciary Act of 1789
    South Carolina Law Review Volume 46 Issue 5 Article 3 Summer 1995 The Federal Key to the Judiciary Act of 1789 Henry J. Bourguignon University of Toledo Follow this and additional works at: https://scholarcommons.sc.edu/sclr Part of the Law Commons Recommended Citation Henry J. Bourguignon, The Federal Key to the Judiciary Act of 1789, 46 S. C. L. Rev. 647 (1995). This Article is brought to you by the Law Reviews and Journals at Scholar Commons. It has been accepted for inclusion in South Carolina Law Review by an authorized editor of Scholar Commons. For more information, please contact [email protected]. Bourguignon: The Federal Key to the Judiciary Act of 1789 The Federal Key to the Judiciary Act of 1789 Henry J. Bourguignon I. INTRODUCTION James Wilson, one of the most influential drafters of the Constitution in 1787, during the ratification debate coined a label for the type of government created by the new Constitution. He called it a federal republic.' During this debate James Winthrop, a strong opponent of the new Constitution, writing under the name Agrippa also called the ideal government a federal republic.' For Winthrop, however, this ideal government already existed under the Articles of Confederation. When President Thomas Jefferson spoke at his inauguration in 1801, he proclaimed, "We are all republicans-we are all federalists. "I Jefferson's blithe assertion strikes us today as the prototype of a political platitude, a call for national unity after a bitterly partisan campaign. Jefferson, however, seems naively to have believed that all his countrymen, even those federalists who had fought with such personal enmity against his election, would soon realize that they too were republicans.4 The language of Wilson and Winthrop suggests Jefferson's words would have rung true at the time of the debate over the ratification and founding of the new constitutional government.
    [Show full text]