Origins of Judicial Independence
505
Much of this was attributable to democratic excesses. The will of the
people in many instances was considered omnipotent, and the legislature was simply carrying out the popular will. Hence, a number of early
State legislatures did not hesitate to interfere with the traditional functions of the courts. During Shays’ Rebellion in 1786, people in Massachusetts prevented the courts from functioning and demanded that all inferior
courts be abolished. Similar notions were advanced in New Hampshire in
the early Republic. In Vermont, courthouses were set afire; and in New Jersey debtors nailed up the doors of courthouses and irate mobs attacked
lawyers and judges in the streets.
The Framers of the Federal Constitution, profoundly alarmed by these
developments, endeavored to provide the nation with a truly independent
judiciary at the Federal level. But we may ask: independent of whom? The
answer is not as easy as it might appear, for the independence of the Federal courts is not absolute. The Federal Judiciary, like Congress and the
President, is a part of our separation of powers and checks and balances
system. Congress and the President not only have certain powers to
‘‘check’’ the Judiciary, but also share with the Supreme Court the right
and the duty to interpret the Constitution. The arrangement carefully
constructed by the Framers is a complicated one, often misunderstood
and in need of careful examinat