(Second half) Now for Thomas Jefferson.
You know that case Marbury v. Madison? Did you realize that this case occurred at the beginning of the new administration of President Thomas Jefferson?
John Adams had appointed a number of Federal judges, including William Marbury whose appointment had already been approved by the Senate. Adams and Jefferson at this point were political opponents. Some of the appointment had not been delivered and Adams on his last day in office tried to make sure they did. Jefferson chose not to allow the undelivered appointments, and his Secretary of State James Madison did not send them out. Marbury sued to get a writ of mandamus from SCOTUS under the Judiciary Act of 1789, ordering the Secretary deliver his appointment.
Chief Justice John Marshall (also appointed by Adams) was presented with three issues and ruled as follows:
Did Marbury have a right to the commission? Yes, and it should have been delivered.
Do the laws of the country give Marbury a legal remedy? Yes, a writ of mandamus is appropriate.
Is asking the Supreme Court for a writ of mandamus the correct legal remedy?
No, because the SCOTUS does not have jurisdiction, as it is an appellate court not a court of first review. That the provision of the Judiciary Act of 1789 allowing SCOTUS to issue writs of mandamus was un-Constitutional under Article III of the Constitution.
The first two holdings "pissed" (to say the least) Jefferson off, while the third firmly established the rule of Judicial review.
Please notice ALL of your Jefferson quotes occur AFTER this SCOTUS decision. Let's just say Jefferson was not a very forgiving man.
Still, Jefferson had no hand in writing the Constitution as he was serving as ambassador to France. He was also small central government "Articles of Confederation" supporter.
If one looks at his draft for the Constitution of Virginia 1783 one notes that all Judicial appointments are made by joint ballot of the Assembly, and all levels of court are not term limited, but hold office are as long as they remain in good behavior. They can be removed by impeachment.
https://founders.archives.gov/documents/Jefferson/01-06-02-0255-0004
That just brings me back to the point that not all Founding Father's agreed on everything. Jefferson was also clearly upset about the Marbury decision. Yet where is the effort on Constitutional reform of this issue during his administration? (Crickets).
However, there is no real argument against his personal and political reasons for opposition to the increased power of ALL branches of the Federal government, including the Judiciary.
His views were clearly not shared by the majority of the Founders or we would still (if our nation didn't dissolve beforehand) be laboring under the Articles of Confederation.
As for the last citation, appeal to authority? So that is
that gentleman's position...big deal. :shrug: