Summary
John Marshall is the Agamemnon of Supreme Court history. But there were great Justices before Marshall. One of those great Justices was James Iredell. By the time the Constitution was framed in 1787, Iredell was a proto-Federalist who believed in the need for a strong national government to deal with national issues. His public advocacy earned him a national reputation, and in 1789, Pres George Washington rewarded him with an appointment to the Supreme Court. From the postulate of the people's sovereignty, Iredell drew the corollary that the will of the people as expressed in a constitution is superior to any legislative enactment. Although Iredell saw the judiciary as a protector of individuals' rights under a written constitution, he was well aware of the possibility that the judges might abuse their power. Today, some two hundred years later, Iredell's thoughtful analysis has lost some of its original value. Today, the judiciary occasionally reviews the constitutionality of executive action.
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Extract
There Were Great Men Before Agamemnon
vixere fortes ante Agamemnona multi; sed omnes illacrimabiles urgentur ignotique longa node, carent quia vate sacro.
-HORACE, ODE TO LOLLIUS 4.9(1)I. INTRODUCTIONJohn Marshall is the Agamemnon2 of Supreme Court history. He is universally considered the Court's greatest Justice, and rightly so. But there were great Justices before Marshall.3 One of those great Justices was James Iredell. No Justice in the Court's history has provided a more detailed or sophisticated explanation and justification of the doctrine of judicial review. Iredell needs a bard, and this Essay is my ode to his memory.James Iredell was born and raised an Englishman.4 His father was a merchant in Bristol who had fallen on hard times, but young Iredell had influential relatives who secured an appointment for him as a customs officer in North Carolina. In 1768, he arrived in Edenton, North Carolina, as a lonely seventeen-year-old.5 His salary was paid to his parents while he subsisted on the nontax fees that he collected for incidental services. Fortunately, Iredell was befriended by Samuel Johnston,6 under whom he studied law. When the Revolution came fewer than ten years later, Iredell had to choose between his mother country and the rebelling colonies. On the eve of the Revolution, his wealthy bachelor uncle in Jamaica warned him to "keep yourself perfectly neut[ral] in those disputes" and implied that Iredell would be disinherited if he failed to follow this avuncular advice.7 Iredell, however, decided to forsake his prospective inheritance and to side with his new friends in North Carolina.8 As the Revolution progressed, he held a number of law-related offices. He served his state as a judge of the superior court and then as attorney general. Near the war's end, he entered private practice.9By the time the Constitution was framed in 1787, Iredell was a proto-Federalist who believed in the need for a strong national government to deal with national issues. During the ratification process, he wrote a series of newspaper essays in support of the Constitution and was the proposed Constitution's leading advocate at the North Carolina ratification convention.10 His public advocacy earned him a national reputation, and in 1789, President Washington rewarded him with an appointment ...See the full content of this document
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