Constitutional Opinion No. 2026-0754
Case Information
- Content Scored
- Cooper v. Telfair, 4 U.S. 14 (1800)
- Source
- Supreme Court of the United States, U.S. Reports Vol. 4 (4 Dallas)
- Author
- Justices Washington, Chase, Paterson, Cushing (seriatim); Ellsworth recused
- Publication Date
- 1800-02-01
- Content Type
- Judicial Opinion / Legal-Normative Text
- Opinion Issued
- 2026-07-20
- AFCS Version
- 1.0
Holding
This case sets the Standard's method against its substance. The method is aligned: upholding Georgia's 1782 attainder act, the Court articulated pre-Marbury judicial review with restraint — Paterson: "to authorize this court to pronounce any law void, it must be a clear and unequivocal breach of the constitution, not a doubtful and argumentative application"; Washington: "the presumption... must always be in favor of the validity of laws." Chase declined to measure a pre-constitutional revolutionary statute against later norms. That is judicial review with restraint and originalist discipline (Article XVII), resting on robust reserved state sovereignty (Article XII), with a self-preservation thread — the power to banish/confiscate one who "joined the enemy" as inherent in the social compact (Article XVI). But the substance blessed is a bill of attainder: a legislature named a man, pronounced him guilty of treason, banished him, and confiscated his whole estate — without indictment, trial, or jury. That is the arbitrary legislative punishment the federal Constitution forbids (Article XVIII, against) and confiscation of property by fiat (Article IX, against). The Standard does not let the man's treason erase the principle. Mitigations are real — pre-constitutional act, an actual enemy combatant who fled, no ordinary forum for treason outside a county — so the substance is a serious tension, not a disqualifying one. Scored as Legal/Normative text (85/15). Tier 1 nets to 61; the result is 65 — Mostly America First, low edge. Method credited, outcome marked. Principle scored, not result.
It is the judgment of this Court that Opinion No. 2026-0754 is hereby entered into the record, in accordance with the America First Constitutional Standard. The score stands. The reasoning is published. The record is public.