Lawrence High School - Lawrencian Yearbook (Falmouth, MA)

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10 The Lawrencian of the Constitution were entirely free from personal opinions and were influenced only by the words con- tained in the Document. In the simplicity and clarity of his inter- pretations he convinced the Amer- ican people of the correctness of his deductions. He described the im- plications of the Constitution so completely and so forcefully that even today when lawyers desire to quote Constitutional law more often than not they will use the same w T ords that John Marshall used over one hundred and thirty years ago. The faith that many of us still have in the Constitution is perhaps made possible by these early interpreta- tions of Marshall. For the first eleven years after Marshall was ap- pointed Chief Justice his decisions were adopted by the Court in every important case. In those days the bench was composed, without ex- ception, of men with unquestioned ability, men with minds of their own, men who made their decisions and stuck by them. This acceptance of Marshall’s decisions was in itself a tribute to his great ability as an interpreter of the Constitution. The case of Dartmouth College against Woodward is typical of the way these first decisions of the Court built up around the Constitu- tion the code which is still followed today. Dartmouth College was foun- ded in 1739 under a charter givsn to its trustees by the King of England, but the people of the State of New Hampshire gave little thought to the college until after the Revolutionary War, when they realized that under the college charter, the State neither received taxes from the college nor did it have any control over the board of trustees. So, using its new legislative powers the State of New Hampshire passed a statute whereby the original charter of the college was revoked and a new board of trustees created by the State to take over the business of the college. However, in 1819 the members of the old board of trustees filed suit against Woodward, chairman of the new board, for the possession of the books and the papers of the school. After the case had been re- viewed by the lower courts, it was carried to the Supreme Court. When the Supreme Court passed down a decision favoring Dartmouth Col- lege, another step establishing the supremacy of the Constitution had been taken. The decision in this case did not, of course, come directly from the Constitution. It was based on that clause which has to do with contracts, stating that the violation of the sanctity of contracts is un- constitutional. The Constitution does not say definitely that a State Gov- ernment may not revoke a college charter, but it does say quite defin- itely that no State may violate the sanctity of contracts. Here it was up to the judges of the Supreme Court to interpret the Constitution. This case is but one of many in which situations not specifically mentioned in the Constitution have been inter- preted by the Supreme Court. Today, as in its infancy, the suc- cess of the Constitution depends more on the Judiciary than on either of the other two branches of our Government. The choosing of a new judge for the Supreme Court bench is still an extremely important step, for in the hands of these judges rests the very life of the Constitu- tion. If we are t o assure the fur- ther success of the Constitution, we must make sure that the Supreme Court has the best judges the United States has to offer. Phyllis Wood.

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Lawrence High School 9 be twenty-one, be a resident in the state, and in that particular part of it where he intends to vote. Some states require that a voter pay a certain tax, or be able to read and write, or both. These are sometimes considered unjust, but there are some cases in which the right to make them is very plain; for instance, convicted criminals cannot vote, nor can persons who are insane. Another great privilege is the right of a trial by jury. According to this law, no person may be judged guilty of a crime, except in minor cases, until a body of men or women who are not in any way prejudiced have concluded that facts show him to be guilty. The advantages and justice of this law are very clear. For instance, a man of low position cannot be ac- cused by someone high in author- ity, secretly tried by prejudiced per- sons, and unjustly condemned. On the other hand, an official cannot be tried by those under him, who perhaps hate him and want to get rid of him. People in the United States have the right to be secure in their per- sons, houses, property, and effects against unreasonable searches and seizures. That is to say, “every man’s house is his castle,” and no one may interfere with him in it. Should a man use this right as a cover for violating the law, officers, armed with a proper warrant, may enter a suspected house, search for, and arrest a criminal or seize stolen or contraband goods hidden there. The Constitution specifically pro- vides that “the citizens of each State shall be entitled to all privi- leges and immunities of citizens in the several States.” This means that a citizen of one State may go to another State and there enjoy the same civil rights that citizens of the latter State enjoy, and like- wise be subject to the same restric- tions. The topic of Constitutional rights covers a vast and complete field. In this short essay I have brought out only a few of the more import- ant rights which we as American citizens are fortunate enough to en- joy. Stephen Papp. THE INFLUENCE OF THE SUPREME COURT ON THE CONSTITUTION In the beginning of its career the Supreme Court was fortunate in having on its bench a group of not- ably brilliant judges, whose fore- sight has had much to do with the present success of the Constitution. Constitutional law, as we know it today, is strongly flavored by the early decisions of the Supreme Court. All in all, it is generally agreed that John Marshall headed the bench during the most critical years the Constitution has yet witnessed. Under his jurisdiction came many of the most important cases in the history of the Court. When Marshall succeeded John Jay as Chief Justice he changed the procedure of the Court and did away with much of the formality copied by John Jay from the court of England. At this time Marshall became spokesman for the Court. His interpretations

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Lawrence High School 11 THE UNITED STATES LEGISLATURE IN COMPARISON WITH THE FRENCH AND GERMAN LEGISLATURES I am going to compare the United States legislature with the legisla- tive, or law making, bodies of France and Germany to show why we should maintain our present democracy. The most important legislative feature of our democracy is the Congress, which is composed of two houses, the Senate and the House of Representatives, both of which are elected by the people. The Sen- ate consists of two men from each state. As there are forty-eight states, there are ninety-six Sen- ators. The House of Representa- tives is the more numerous body of Congress. The Constitution di- rects Congress to reapportion the membership after each census, each state being entitled to at least one member. The Senate represents the Federal principle, because its mem- bers represent the states; and the House represents the National principle, because its members re- present the people. The President of the United States, also elected by the people, has only an advisory power over Congress. He may make any suggestion he wishes, but Con- gress acts as it decides itself. Upon turning to France, we find that France has patterned its legis- lature closely after ours. The French Assembly is its most important legislative feature. The Assembly consists of a Senate and a Chamber of Deputies. The Senate has three hundred members, and the Cham- ber of Deputies has about six hun- dred. The Senators are chosen in- directly by a small assembly of local government authorities, and the Deputies are chosen directly by the voters. The President of France is elected by the Assembly. He has much less power than our Presi- dent, as the real head of the gov- ernment is the prime minister. Next we turn to Germany. We find an altogether different situa- tion. The head of the legislature, as well as the other government bodies, is a dictator. He is aided by a Council, which is made up of the most able men that can be found in the empire. These men are not elected by the people but are appointed by the dictator. The man who acts as the dictator’s “right-hand” man is known as the minister of propaganda. The rea- son he is so important is that it is his duty to keep the minds of the German people in harmony with the dictator’s ideas and practices. He must also keep all matter that would prove to be harmful to the dictator’s policies out of Germany. The dictator’s method of ruling is based on three principles: (1) the people must think alike, (2) they must not disagree, and (3) they must do as they are told. This, the dictator believes, results in a peace- ful, strong government. When we compare the efficiency of these three governments, we see that the United States legislature is superior. The Assembly of France is woven together loosely, and its personnel changes frequent- ly. France is faced with many per- plexities. The people do not co- operate to make a compact govern- ment, they hold frequent strikes, and they can’t decide on their for-