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Within these limits, the power vested in American courts of justice, of pronouncing a… — Alexis de Tocqueville

Political literature

Within these limits, the power vested in American courts of justice, of pronouncing a statute to be unconstitutional, forms one of the most powerful barriers that has ever been devised against the tyranny of political assemblies.

In the original French

Resserré dans ses limites, le pouvoir accordé aux tribunaux américains de prononcer sur l'inconstitutionnalité des lois, forme encore une des plus puissantes barrières qu'on ait jamais élevées contre la tyrannie des assemblées politiques.

Alexis de Tocqueville
Democracy in America · 1835
★ 3.7
Provenance
Current citation
Tocqueville, Alexis De. Democracy in America: The Complete and Unabridged Volumes I and II, translated by Henry Reeve. Bantam Classics, 2000, vol. 1, ch. 6.
Original citation
Tocqueville, Alexis De. De La Democratie en Amerique [Democracy in America]. Vol. 1, London: Saunders and Otley, 1835, ch. 6.

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