The Chief Justice proceeded to detail the origin, purpose, and case law history of the separation of powers. Article Three of the United States Constitution establishes an independent judiciary with "distinct and inviolable authority." Such separation of powers "safeguards individual freedom." As Alexander Hamilton wrote in Federalist No. 78, quoting Montesquieu, "'there is no liberty if the power of judging be not separated from the legislative and executive powers.'" The separation of powers between the judiciary and legislative branches was examined in detail in Plaut v. Spendthrift Farm, Inc. (1995), in which the Supreme Court found unconstitutional a statute that reopened a case after a final judgment. At the time of the framing of the Constitution, judicial and legislative powers were often intermingled. The colonial legislatures often performed many of the functions of the judiciary, such as functioning as the court of last resort, granting new trials, and providing original review, appellate review, stays of judgments, and providing other types of relief "in an effort to do what is agreeable to Right and Justice."Bank Markazi, slip op. at 3 (Roberts, C.J., dissenting) (internal citations omitted) The colonial charters of Massachusetts, Connecticut, and Rhode Island gave the legislatures the authority of court of last resort. In New Hampshire, judicial appeals were directed to the governor and his council, but routinely referred to the legislature for discussion. And for over half a century, the colonial assembly of Virginia could review court judgments. The involvement of legislatures in judicial matters "intensified during the American Revolution," which "soon prompted a sense of a sharp necessity to separate the legislative from the judicial power."Bank Markazi, slip op. at 4 (Roberts, C.J., dissenting) (internal citations omitted) The interference of the legislatures in judicial matters "figur[ed] prominently in the Framers' decision to devise a system for securing liberty through the division of power." This resulted in Article Three of the United States Constitution, which forms the "central pillar of judicial independence" and places "'[t]he judicial Power of the United States' ... in 'one supreme Court', and in such 'inferior Courts'"Bank Markazi, slip op. at 6 (Roberts, C.J., dissenting) (quoting U.S. Const. art. III, §1) as Congress may establish. This judicial power extends "to all Cases, in Law and Equity, arising under this Constitution, the Laws of the United States, and Treaties made, or which shall be made, under their Authority."
