The men who drafted the Constitution did not design a streamlined political structure. Madison and the others had been once burned by a government, and they were twice shy. They created a political structure in which the federal government was to be internally self-governed by three separate but balanced powers, and the several states were to retain their original sovereignty in order to act as a counterpoise to the central authority. This entire political equilibrium was balanced on the sovereign individual; the only excuse for government was to secure him in his rights. The Founding Fathers knew that a free government implies an unfree people, so in the interests of personal liberty they pinned down their government to strictly limited and delegated functions.
Since the early days of the Republic there has been a dying back of the will to liberty; we have gradually made our adjustment to major losses of liberty in important segments of our life, and the loss is causing us little pain. And the Constitution, which admirably implemented the will to liberty, can be and has been pressed into the service of those who have lost the will to liberty and therefore want to use the Constitution to serve ends its authors never intended. The document can be used for this purpose, for it is composed of words; and words are inert things until they are interpreted or misinterpreted by men. The Constitution is not an apt instrument for those who seek to increase the power of the State at the expense of society, but the Constitution is venerated by the people so it is easier to subvert its intent under the cover of its form than to replace it with a 1958 statist model. Dubious judicial interpretation could then be a means of social engineering.
The Runaway Court is a 5,000-word pamphlet, comprised of an editorial series which recently ran in the courageous Midwest newspaper, The Indianapolis Star, and which provoked a widespread response among lawyers and other students of American history. “Something has gone wrong at the roots of America‘s government,” reads the opening sentence. “The three-way balance of constitutional authority is tipping crazily.” The pamphlet then goes on to a hard-hitting analysis of recent Supreme Court decisions and the philosophy of government which is implicit in these decisions.
