Why are the courts allowed to overturn the will of the people?

Question

Shouldn't the majority be the ones who set the rules? If people don't like it maybe they should move instead trying to change what most of us want.

Answer 1

You make a good point, the system is corrupt

Answer 2

liberal judges are more concern with the liberal agenda...they have always believed that they are above the people and above the law...every problem this country has can be tracked right back to the courts...

Answer 3

If the majority of the people voted for slavery, would that make it right? The Supreme Ct of the State is overturning a vote that they think suppresses the rights of some of its citizens. At first I thought the same thing you did....but when you really think about it, they are in the right.

Answer 4

Because Liberal Judges think they know better then the people.

Answer 5

If people are bigots and ignorant why shouldn't laws be over turned?

What if "the people" decided to vote that everyone with your name is not allowed to get married wouldn't you want the court to over turn it.

Why do people get so mad when courts do the right thing, especially when the overturning of the law does not directly effect them AT ALL!

OH to all the people that are saying liberal judges.... most of those judges in California are REPUBLICAN and were appointed by a republican!

Answer 6

It's annoying as h**l. There have been many laws here in California that were passed by a majority of the voters only to be over turned by a Court that has oversteped it's authority.  Fortunately we get to remove these Supreme Court judges that are foolish enough to disregard the constitutional will of the people.

Answer 7

Ultimately part of the key role of the courts is to protect the rights of all the people, not just the majority.  Without this very important balance, there is little difference between true majority rule and anarchy.

Answer 8

They are not...in the end anyway.

Yes, they can strike down laws that violate the constitution, but we can always change the constitution to allow whatever they don't like.  

An extreme example.  If we voted to bring back slaves (would solve the Obama "problem" lol) the SC would strike it down.  At that point all we have to do is pass a constitutional amendment saying its ok, then the court couldn't say it was unconstitutional.  See?

Answer 9

Well..aparently they dont care about the will of the people, but sooner or later the people will have the last word.

Answer 10

Though many laws are not passed by the will of the people, I thought these people might explain better than I.

Thought that is silenced is always rebellious. Majorities, of course, are often mistaken. This is why the silencing of minorities is necessarily dangerous. Criticism and dissent are the indispensable antidote to major delusions. - Alan Barth

It is bad to be oppressed by a minority, but it is worse to be oppressed by a majority. - Lord Acton

the very definition of a republic is 'an empire of laws, and not of men.' - John Adams

There can be no assumption that today’s majority is “right” and the Amish or others like them are “wrong.” A way of life that is odd or even erratic but interferes with no right or interests of others is not to be condemned because it is different. - Justice Warren Burger

We are so concerned to flatter the majority that we lose sight of how very often it is necessary, in order to preserve freedom for the minority, let alone for the individual, to face that majority down. - William Buckley Jr.

The government of the absolute majority is but the government of the strongest interests; and when not effectively checked, is the most tyrannical and oppressive that can be devised... [To read the Constitution is to realize that] no free system was ever farther removed from the principle that the absolute majority, without check or limitation, ought to govern. - John Calhoun

Why are the courts allowed?  Because the majority has and likely will again vote to pass unconstitutional or illegal laws and because the majority is not always right.

Answer 11

They tend to vote their own conscious and they do not consider the majority...

Answer 12

You are S****y.

Answer 13

courts are required to rule on laws of the land.  the law of the us includes the constitution, federal law, state law, common law, etc. the us legal system is designed to protect the rights of people who are not necessarily in the majority.  it is something the founding fathers of the us valued highly, as evidenced throughout the bill of rights.  i like to think it is something we Americans, "the people" still value. i like to think we value it so highly that we are willing to protect that basic value even when its application results in a way the majority don't endorse. i think it is one of the most wonderful American values that we have--our willingness to protect the rights of all people, whether we agree with them or not.  i think the founding fathers recognized that protecting the rights of a sole dissenter, or a small group of people who chose to live in a different manner than the majority, is the only way to preserve the freedom we all treasure.  the legal system is ultimately only people, and subject to  all the human error and faults as all people. mistakes are made, bad people intrude into the process, and the us legal system is far from perfect. what would you propose in the alternative?

Answer 14

As in....?

Answer 15

There is this to consider which is not only are The Courts corrupt but the entire system of Government. If not corrupt it  does make a person wonder why only two parties have mention in The Media. Something does not seem right there.

There is also the issue of oil powered cars on which people appear to have spoken. The view seems to be while they want something done in the mean time there will be more use of oil. The headlines should not read Gov struggles with Oil Prices but Gov supplies subsidies for electric cars to citizens. Unless citizens could raise the money themselves and be sure it goes towards this purpose. If workers were able to raise money for the cars the B.S. might end.