Quote by Thomas Jefferson

At the establishment of our constitutions, the judiciary bodies were supposed to be the most helpless and harmless members of the government. Experience, however, soon showed in what way they were to become the most dangerous; that the insufficiency of the means provided for their removal gave them a freehold and irresponsibility in office; that their decisions, seeming to concern individual suitors only, pass silent and unheeded by the public at large; that these decisions, nevertheless, become law by precedent, sapping, by little and little, the foundations of the constitution, and working its change by construction, before any one has perceived that that invisible and helpless worm has been busily employed in consuming its substance. In truth, man is not made to be trusted for life, if secured against all liability to account.

At the establishment of our constitutions, the judiciary bod

Summary

This quote suggests that the judiciary, which was originally seen as the least threatening branch of government, has the potential to become the most dangerous. The lack of mechanisms for their removal allows them to have a secure and irresponsible position. Their decisions, although seemingly only affecting individual cases, establish legal precedents that can slowly erode the foundations of the constitution. The quote argues that without accountability, humans are not to be trusted with power for a lifetime.

By Thomas Jefferson

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