Checks And Balances In The Supreme Court Case Of John Marshall

Since the days of Chief Justice John Marshall, The Supreme Court has been the arbiter of constitutionality among the three branches of government. Through this judicial review, The
Supreme Court has become the bastion of The Constitution. In the current case of Zivotofsky v. Kerry, the very checks and balances that hold the triarchy of American government stable are bearing inspection. Fomented in a small passage of the Foreign Relations Authorization Act in 2002 with, “for purposes of the registration of birth, certification of nationality, or issuance of a passport of a United States citizen born in the city of Jerusalem, the Secretary shall, upon the request of the citizen or the citizen’s legal guardian, record the place of birth as Israel”
During the Latin American Civil War, after then Secretary of State John Quincy Adams initiated negotiations with Spain about the outcome of Florida, Clay introduced a motion in the House to recognize an independent Buenos Aires. Already the executive and the legislative body are pitted against each other in opinion, much like the current case in modern day with Israel. Although Clay’s motion was defeated, it was defeated because representatives believed it was Clay’s politically unscrupulous ambition that drove him to introduce the motion, rather than a qualm over constitutionality. Clay continued to introduce these motions as the scene in Latin America developed, but was continually denied even by those that believed congress had power over foreign recognition because of his partisan motives. However, once Spain was acquired and the states formalized, President Monroe told congress that the provinces that had declared independence “ought to be recognized” (Monroe 116, 118). Following this announcement, Monroe added that, “Should Congress concur in the view herein presented, they will doubtless see the propriety of making the necessary appropriations for carrying it into effect.” Congress then created an act appropriating one hundred thousand dollars for missions to the independent nations on the American continent, as the President saw fit. This first example of the legislative and executive powers coming together was not the last. Indeed, Congress was given ultimate control over the recognition of Haiti and Liberia, with another joint resolution for Cuba with President McKinley. In fact, on discussing the recognition of Texas, President Jackson yielded the entire initiative to Congress. Although much of history supports the executive power having control over recognizing foreign states, by the examples provided, there is certainly not an exclusive right. Because of