Who Said That?

"The [judicial branch of government] from the nature of its functions, will always be the least dangerous to the political rights of the Constitution; because it will be least in a capacity to annoy or injure them."

OK, who said that?  Leave your guess in the comments section below.  Please, no google searches or cheating.  The whole point is to guess!

Update on Friday, December 10, 2010 at 10:42AM by Kim Riddlebarger

As a number of you guessed, this is from Alexander Hamilton in the Federalist Papers:  http://www.constitution.org/fed/federa78.htm

This Hamilton's lame defense against the anti-federalist accusation that under the US Constitution, judges will end-up legislating from the bench.  Hamilton sure got this one wrong.

Comments

[Merlin]

I have to play given the timeliness of this quote with the other thread. I hope it isn't John Jay or Hamilton, but it might be.

[Paul L.]

Alexander Hamilton. I believe this might be from the Federalist Papers.

Just goes to show that on the subject of the judiciary and judicial review, the founding fathers did not forsee the problems that were to come.

[Ryan Thompson]

Alexander Hamilton

[pb]

KR - Missing the answer entry for the previous puzzler?

[CVanDyke]

Hamilton - famous quote that lawyers learn to laugh at in Constitutional Law class. Poor Hamilton didn't foresee the federal courts adopting the "living Constitution" theory of interpretation by which they inject themselves into political policy making as if they were another coordinate political branch of government.

[David Cronkhite]

Hamilton. He also said there was no need for a bill of rights!

[Pepe]

John Marshall

[dlzr]

Sarah Palin, she couldn't get her daily 3 hour dose of Rush and had to think for herself.

[steve]

Unfortunately, the judiciary has decided not to stay within its "functions" - making them possibly the most dangerous. Hamilton was wrong.

[Aloysius]

It couldn't be Sarah Palin. It's too polysyllabic and grammatical.

[Richard J. Radcliffe]

Alexander Hamilton.

[David Cronkhite]

dlzr and Aloysius,

Re: Palin

Are you saying the people of Alaska are not intelligent? I wonder how her record stacks up to yours? It appears you don't even have the courage to state your name on a widely viewed blog.

PS Sorry, KR, for the sidebar.......