[Publius]

Back in the mid-Sixties when the Supreme Court was remaking the country in Earl Warren’s image, an idea was floated in conservative circles that harkened back to Jefferson and Madison in the Virginia and Kentucky Resolutions. The idea was that the federal government should not have the final word on constitutionality. The proposal was to amend the Constitution to create a Court of Union above the Supreme Court. The Court of Union would consist of the Chief Justices of all the states, who would meet en banc to decide cases appealed from the Supreme Court.

If you have to amend the Constitution to allow it, it might make more sense to create the Court of Union as the new supreme court. Cases appealed from the federal appellate courts would be heard by the Court of Union where the states have the final word on constitutionality.

[boxlunch]

That is a really interesting idea! I had never heard of that. We would still need limits on that though, so it doesn’t creep back to where it is now with the Court of Union (or Supreme Court) basically making laws and encroaching on the state’s rights and responsibilities, and always marching downhill toward centralization.