SJ15 resolves that “the belief that the court has exclusive authority to interpret the constitution and that its decisions are binding on the other two branches is a myth based on a faulty understanding” of the U.S. Supreme Court’s opinion in Marbury v. Madison.
The House failed to pass SJ15 on April 12, 2023, by a vote of 44 to 55. We have assigned pluses to the yeas because judges are not the sole interpreters of the law or the ultimate authorities on constitutional questions. Article VI, Clause 3, of the U.S. Constitution notably requires that all federal and state officials be duty-bound by oath to support the Constitution. This is part of the Constitution’s elaborate system of checks and balances, which provides for both federalism and a separation of powers. Each mutually independent branch of government at every level, therefore, has a co-equal role in maintaining fidelity to the Constitution, including opposing any violations by the others.