"… the Supreme Court of the United States as a constitutional court … is the most significant single contribution the United States has made to the art of government."

In 1787, our Founding Fathers drafted a constitution that divided the authority of the federal government among the three branches of government: the legislative, the executive, and the judiciary. Each branch was granted certain limited powers. But the Constitution also established an institution designed to enforce its terms—the Supreme Court of the United States. This idea of a constitutional court has been widely followed in some European countries, particularly since the Second World War, and in the countries that were previously part of the Soviet Union. But in 1787, it was unique to our country.

Our Constitution was ratified in 1789, and two years later, in 1791, the first 10 amendments were adopted. These amendments, known as the Bill of Rights, guarantee freedom of speech, freedom of the press, freedom of religion, and various rights such as that of jury trial to defendants in criminal cases. These guarantees are not uniquely American. Long before 1791, England had produced the Magna Carta, the Petition of Right, and the Declaration of Rights. And in 1789, the French had adopted the Declaration of the Rights of Man and of Citizens. But the idea that these rights would be enforced by judges who were independent of the executive was not found in any other system of government at that point in history.

I believe that the establishment of the Supreme Court of the United States as a constitutional court with the authority to enforce the provisions of the Constitution—including its guarantees of individual liberty—is the most significant single contribution the United States has made to the art of government.