Coequal branches: Truth, myth or lie?

There has been this prevalent idea for over a century that there are three co-equal branches in the federal government; is this the truth, a myth or another dastardly government lie? Let’s find out.

Coequal is defined as Equal with one another, as in rank or size.

A myth is defined as A popular belief or story that has become associated with a person, institution, or occurrence. Both definitions are from the American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

I keep hearing that the Constitution created three coequal branches. Let’s see.

Before we begin let me provide you with two sets of numbers: 2268, 1025, 344 and 17,6,0. These are the number of words contained in each of the first three articles of the Constitution which create and define the Legislative, Executive and Judicial branches respectively. The second set of numbers is the powers granted to each of those branches by the Constitution. There doesn’t seem to be a lot of hope for the idea of three coequal branches, but let’s proceed.

From the Supreme Court website, “Over the years Congress has passed various acts to change this number, fluctuating from a low of five to a high of ten. The Judiciary Act of 1869 fixed the number of Justices at nine and no subsequent change to the number of Justices has occurred.” That statement seems to indicate that the Legislative branch has authority over the courts, not exactly coequal.

From Article 3, Sec. 2 of the US Constitution, “...with such exceptions and under such regulations as the Congress shall make.” Oops, another strike against the coequal statement. At this point it’s beginning to look like a myth.

Here is some more evidence. The Federalist Papers were written to explain the Constitution to the people, like the farmers of upstate New York.

Federalist #51 says that the legislative authority necessarily predominates. Federalist #78 says that the judiciary is by far the weakest of the three branches.

Together, these two articles totally destroy the idea of coequal branches.

Conclusion: The idea of coequal branches of government is, well, yet another government lie. A lie easily passed off because of the civic ignorance of the people of this great nation. An ignorance the government pushed so they could more easily control us and do what they wanted to do and not just the little that the Constitution says they can do.

This is one of the reasons civic education; reading the Declaration of Independence, the Constitution and the Federalist Papers; is so important. We need to know the Constitution and how it PROTECTS us and CONTROLS the federal government.

“Every member of the State ought to diligently read and study the Constitution of their country, and teach the rising generation to be free. By knowing their rights, they will sooner perceive when they are violated and be the better prepared to defend and assert them.” – John Jay, first Chief Justice