...institutions. Abraham Lincoln posed the question most poignantly: "If the policy of the government, upon the vital questions affecting the whole people, is to be irrevocably fixed by the decisions of the Supreme Court the moment they are made, as in ordinary cases between parties in...

...congressional legislation. Abraham Lincoln warned of this in his first inaugural address when he said: "ITIhe candid citizen must confess that if the policy of...fixed by decisions of the Supreme Court * * * the people have ceased to be their own rulers, having, to that extent, practically resigned their government...

...position assumed by some that constitutional questions are to be decided by the Supreme Court. ... At the same time, the candid citizen must confess...Government upon vital questions affecting the whole of the people is to be irrevocably fixed by decisions of the Supreme Court . . . the people will have...

...since. Abraham Lincoln posed the question most poignantly: "If the policy of the government, upon the vital questions affecting the whole people, is to be irrevocably fixed by the decisions of the Supreme Court the moment they are made, as in ordinary cases between parties in...

...extension to other contexts. As Abraham Lincoln, discussing the Dredd Scott decision, put it: iT)he candid citizen must confess that if the policy of...fixed by decisions of the Supreme Court, the instant that they are made, in ordinary litigation between parties in personal actions, the people will have...

...on March 4, 1861, the circumstances were undeniably both constitutionally and morally extraordinary: "[I]f the policy of the government upon vital questions...fixed by decisions of the Supreme Court . . . the people will have ceased to be their own rulers, having to that extent practically resigned their Government...

...a different practice." But, Lincoln continued, "the people will have ceased to be their own rulers" if "the policy of the government, upon vital questions...in ordinary litigation between parties in personal actions."8 Lincoln was an incredibly subtle constitutionalist, and his statements contain nearly everything...

...on March 4, 1861, the circumstances were undeniably both constitutionally and morally extraordinary: "[I]f the policy of the government upon vital questions...fixed by decisions of the Supreme Court . . . the people will have ceased to be their own rulers, having to that extent practically resigned their Government...

...states as the "essence of anarchy" because they would not acquiesce to majority rule, and he argued that "if the policy of the government, upon vital...irrevocably fixed by decisions of the Supreme Court," then "the people will have ceased, to be their own rulers." Lincoln said, in effect, he would be responsible...

...position assumed by some that constitutional questions are to be decided by the Supreme Court. ... At the same time, the candid citizen must confess...the Government upon vital questions affecting the L whole of the people is to be irrevocably fixed by decisions of the Supreme Court . . . the people...