https://tenthamendmentcenter.com/2025/03/24/lysander-spooners-case-against-judicial-supremacy/
Lysander Spooner’s Case Against Judicial Supremacy

By: Michael Boldin

“An unconstitutional judicial decision is no more binding than an unconstitutional legislative act.”

That was Lysander Spooner, utterly rejecting the doctrine of judicial supremacy – the dangerous notion that a judicial opinion becomes law simply because judges say so.

Spooner offered a series of powerful insights and warnings – many of which echoed the words of the Founders themselves. These principles once formed the bedrock of American constitutional understanding. But today, they’ve been almost entirely forgotten – or worse, ignored.

Ultimately, Spooner’s message was clear: judicial supremacy isn’t just unconstitutional – it’s tyranny.

WHAT IS JUDICIAL SUPREMACY?

Judicial supremacy is essentially the idea that the Constitution means whatever the courts – especially the Supreme Court – say it means, until they change their minds.

This places judicial opinions above Congress, the president, the states, the people – and even above the text of the Constitution itself. ......