Constitutional Longevity. Was Religiosity...

[thomas mertes]

Jefferson and Madison were responding to Adams's so-called "midnight
appointments" that were important for entrenching Federalists into the
judiciary. I would be a bit reluctant to call the action "spoils". While
Jefferson looked to destroy the Federalists, in part, through cooptation,
he was not particularly effective in eliminating the judicial appointments
that were made possible by the Judiciary Act of  1801 passed in response to
his election.


>Recall the facts of Marbury: Poor old Marbury had been given a government
>post under the Federalist Presidency of Adams, and was deniedf it by
>Jefferson. As per Jefferson's directions, Madison, the new Sec of State,
>refused to deliver Marbury's commission--this was the spoils systems.
>Marbury sued for relief, and the Federalist Marshall, appointed by Adams
>(and himseld the outgoing Sec of State) cleverly denied Marbury any relief
>and madea  sneaky power grab of establsihing judicial review, a highly
>nationalist, centralist, and anti-Jeffersonian notion.