"The interpretation of the laws is the proper and peculiar province of the courts. A constitution is, in fact, and must be regarded by the judges, as a fundamental law. It therefore belongs to them to ascertain its meaning, as well as the meaning of any particular act proceeding from the legislative body. If there should happen to be an irreconcilable variance between the two, that which has the superior obligation and validity ought, of course, to be preferred; or, in other words, the Constitution ought to be preferred to the statute, the intention of the people to the intention of their agents."
"Nor does this conclusion by any means suppose a superiority of the judicial to the legislative power. It only supposes that the power of the people is superior to both; and that where the will of the legislature, declared in its statutes, stands in opposition to that of the people, declared in the Constitution, the judges ought to be governed by the latter rather than the former." - Federalist #78
Sounds rather quaint today, does it not? Our Federal courts have progressed over time from impartial arbiters of legislative intent and textual meaning to upholding the fiat of unelected bureaucrats who claim the power to tell Americans how many grams of saturated fat they can have in their bran muffins.
Another reason it is revealing to frame our greater political conflict in terms of "the courts vs. the people" is because while we used to pride ourselves on being "a nation of laws rather than of men", our politicians no longer even think in those terms. Rather, they appear to assume the interchangeability of both, dependent upon electoral victory, eschewing fixed principles and limited powers wherever some human imperfection or difficulty arises.
This, of course, is the essence of modern Progressivism: the impulse to apply government power to constrain and direct human endeavor wherever the result of voluntary interaction is adjudged "unfair" or "inequitable", which increasingly reaches into every crevice of human life.
Also over time, those doing the "reaching" are Insiders - a permanent Elite class whose matriculating members graduate to sinecures from which they command and control the labor, capital, information, and ultimately: the fortunes of others. Furthermore, our Elites frequently assume a right to do so, owning to commonly-understood tokens of superior pedigree: family name, private school diplomas, club memberships, and suitably arranged internships. Among the members of this class are national politicians, academics, news media members, private resource funders, and various literati and culturati whose works essentially paper the walls of the Progressive sound chamber.
The "Outsiders" in our world are of three distinct sub-classes. One is the Producers - those of knowledge and ability who create things of value (products and services) for which others wish to exchange value. Among this group are small business owners, tradesmen, professional service providers and technical workers.
Another subgroup is the "Dependents" (formerly known as "the masses") - those upon who our legislative elite members lavish attention, borrowed money and also some of the fortunes appropriated from Producers in exchange for votes at election time, while keeping them permanently poor and unaccomplished.
Finally, there are the "Enablers" - essentially the ground troops for the elite class - composed of public sector union members, bureaucrats, and non-profit political issue groups, any of whom may be called upon to promote the electoral interests of the elite at any time, acting in a somewhat whimsical sense as the "muscle arm" of the Progressive Crime Family. "Nice biz-ness ya got dere. It would be a *shame* if anyt'ing were ta happen to it... get it, pal?"...
By “Court” he meant an urban elite, not the judicial branch.