Modern Age * Winter 2018 were three silos of government power. This is why Article III of the Constitution adopted life tenure for federal judges and prohibited the reduction in compensation for sitting judges. But the framers were very clear about the role of judges, granting them the power of judicial review (defended in Federalist No. 78) but explicitly denying them an expanded role in lawmaking. In particular, at the Constitutional Convention the framers specifically rejected the example of New York's Council of Revision, which made New York State courts part of the lawmaking process. In New York, all bills passed by the legislature were reviewed by the council (a majority of whose members were judges) "for their revisal and consideration" before they took effect. Madison's Virginia Plan contained this feature, which the convention ultimately rejected in lieu of presidential veto power over legislation. Judicial engagement would blur the lines between the legislature and the judiciary, constituting a modern-day Council of Revision and creating the very danger Hamilton warned against in Federalist No. 78. The myth of the perfect constitution Many constitutional theorists have fallen prey to the temptation of imagining that the Constitution, properly understood, creates an ideal society-and that judges are authorized to intervene as necessary to produce such ideal outcomes. Invariably, the "ideal" results dictated by the Constitution comport with the theorists' (or judges') own policy preferences. Professor Henry Monaghan termed this form of wishful thinking the pursuit of "our perfect Constitution." Judicial engagement is a manifestation of this wellintentioned delusion. 34 modernagejournal.comhttp://www.modernagejournal.com