Constructed for Liberty
Justice Clarence Thomas’s Understanding of Separation of Powers
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 13044327 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Adam M Carrington (corresponding author) |
| Year | 2016 |
| Volume | 5 |
| Issue | 4 |
| Pages | 658-685 |
| Publication date | 2016-09-01 |
| Open Access | No |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | American Political Thought (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 2161-1580 • E-ISSN: 2161-1599 |
| Publisher | University of Chicago Press (PUBLISHER • US) |
| DOI | 10.1086/688638 |
| OpenAlex | W2534195004 |
| Language | EN |
| References cited | 3 |
In his near quarter century on the Court, Justice Clarence Thomas has written extensively on significant issues such as equal protection, religion, and federalism. But in the Court’s spring 2015 term, Thomas for the first time wrote substantively on the constitutional separation of powers. For Thomas, the Constitution understood government to possess three distinct types of power—legislative, executive, and judicial—and then constructed the three branches to each exercise its vested power type. I consider how Thomas defined the three powers, as well as how he saw the Constitution creating each branch with the qualities needed to exercise the power given it. All along, I show how Thomas connected separation of powers to the Constitution’s larger goal: protecting individual liberty. I then conclude with limitations to Thomas’s view and how it, while not achieving total victory, may aid in increasing the Court’s fidelity to constitutional norms
Constitution · Constitutional law · Economic Justice · Enumerated powers · Federalism · Legislature · Political science · Politics · Power (physics · Separation of powers · Sociology · Victory · American Constitutional Law and Politics · Judicial and Constitutional Studies · Law · Legal and Constitutional Studies
| Highly cited | No |
|---|