Thompson's Error?

...and not the other way around. Being on the wrong side of every controversey is a matter of opinion. States sold thier soul to greater and greater Federal goverment. The Feds never give back what they take. It is no surprise that those who favor an activist court that legislates from the bench also favor massive centralized goverment. Civil Rights are only one facet of our national history. Abortion is another, and the federal goverment's purloining of this medical procedure from the states (via Grunwald v Conn) has resulted in nearly 50 million innocent deaths.

John Marshall's view of the matter differs from your own. He- and all early Federalists- viewed the Constitution as a compact between the nation and the people. There is ample evidence that you are right and Marshall et. al., wrong. The tenth amendment, for example, or Patrick Henry's admonitions to Marshall's own state legislature. Still, though, viewed in its totality, i.e., in the context of the failed Articles of Confederation and in light of the Federalist Papers, that the Constitution meant to create a viable National government and a supreme law, which it was the duty of the Supreme Court to declare, is a position worth considering.