What we have seen over the long sweep of American history is a gradual, steady increase in the self esteem and power of lawyers. Marbury vs Madison is totally misrepresented. The fact is that Marshall was terrified of Jefferson, knew that the Jeffersonians would gladly wipe out the court. danced around. It's not revisited until Dred Scott. And Dred Scott's a disaster. And so you really have a long period here where judges didn't think they had the power to define for the country how the country should behave and what we're living through. (05:31–05:38)
CLAIM
Asserts that Chief Justice Marshall feared President Jefferson and his supporters would eliminate the Supreme Court.
This is an excerpt from a raw transcript. The assertions have not been audited or verified. Tap the video to view the source footage and understand the context.
