[Note: I'll be away from my computer for the rest of this week. In the meantime, here is one of my more popular posts from the past.]
Reading the drift of the comments here, I feel compelled to link to a brief summary of the case Marbury vs. Madison. So go read it if you must. It's short and sweet.
Now...Wince:
Earlier in the other comment-thread you said, "Supreme Court Justices have a tendancy to think that the Constitution means whatever they say it means. That's overstepping their bounds and it is tyranny."
I think you are looking at this in a shallow way. The entire fabric of our judicial system is rooted in the Judeo-Christian ethic of making difficult judgements based on ambiguous fine points of law. A judge, being only human, listens to both sides, considering the pro's and con's of the opposing arguments and then decides what wins and what loses. It's a "judgement call" in the truest, most profound sense.
And long ago, we the people agreed to invest a selected group of our peers with that authority and with that responsibility.
You can always appeal. But the appeals have to stop somewhere here on Earth. And that is why the Supreme Court is called the highest court. Gosh! even the name is a tipoff.
Some would say God's Law is most high. Perhaps it is, as defined (for example) in the Bible. But we are not a nation that is governed by the church or the temple. Even if we were, all you have to do is look at the Talmud to understand that there is always more than one opinion about everything.
No, we are not a government ruled by the church. We are a government of the people, for the people and by the people. We follow a document that WE wrote.
Some would hope that God guided us in that ongoing endeavor. But if that is the case, it is also certainly true that God helps those who helps themselves.
It's hard to make your way through the difficult questions Wince, I know. But we all agreed, long ago, that this was a job for the people to do. We don't wait for God to judge these difficult cases for us.
Unfortunately we all think we know best. I know better than you, and vice versa. And don't get me started about the lawyers. But in order for there to be progress, we have to have a system of laws and someone needs to judge who is right and who is wrong. Preferably someone here on Earth.
Unfortunately, we're only human. We're all fallible, especially Supreme Court Justices. Maybe that's why they begin each session with a prayer for guidance. They need all the help they can get. Goodness -- it isn't just enough to read the text of the Constitution; you have to be ready to listen to people debate what it means. That alone is a huge job, given that everybody has an opinion and by the time it reaches the Supremes, you've got some high-powered legal minds leaning on you. But if that weren't enough, when the debate is over, you still have to decide who the winners are and who the losers are.
Once you've spoken, it's over.
Sorry. Would that it was more simple, but that's how it goes.
So it takes a special person to do this. It isn't something that you or I can do, unless you or I were to be vested in robes of ultimate, infinite authority and infallibility. But that isn't what this nation is all about.
We're a nation of people who have our own ideas and opinions about what's best for all of us. And we have an earthly mission to work it out in a reasoned way. That's why our government has three branches and that's why each one is checked and balanced against the others.
It's a big job being a Supreme Court judge (there's that word again). And before someone is qualified to judge the law as measured against the Constitution, they must attain a lifetime full of experience. They must show evidence of excellence. Yeah, there have been some real losers on the bench. But that's the occasional price we pay to live in the best nation God ever put on the Earth.
I'd say it was worth it, Wince. Wouldn't you?
Sorry this was so long. I didn't have time to make it shorter.
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Mardi Gras is just around the corner and 
Delivered on the steps at the Lincoln Memorial in Washington D.C. on August 28, 1963. 
Over at 
It is for this reason that I’m writing you today, to formally request that this alternative theory be taught in your schools, along with the other two theories. In fact, I will go so far as to say, if you do not agree to do this, we will be forced to proceed with legal action. I’m sure you see where we are coming from. 
