Re: seperation of church & state?

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> Impossible. If you use a literalist interpretation, then the 1st
> amend means nothing. "Congress shall make no law" doesn't
> prevent the making of laws, it arguably only redefines any law
> made to be not one respecting speech or religion. TECHNICALLY,
> the Marbury v. Madison decision permitting SCt review of
> legislative action wasn't a literalist interpretation, and it's
> the sole source of most constitutional law thereafter.

To this day in the UK an Act of Parliament is supreme. Not too
many countries allow the courts to override acts of the
legislature. South Africa adopted the principle of judicial review
going back to the establishment of its supreme court under Paul
Kruger, who was influenced by Theodore Roosevelt, and has continued
the principle under its new constitution, although it fell to the
temptation of court packing during the apartheid days. Canada has
tinkered with the notion but I don't know if any decree of the
Canadian Supreme Court has been enforced by M-16 rifle like in the
US.