altered, and minors can no longer be executed. The most important insight from the review of
these cases is the nature of how this Court is changing federalism. Pickerell
asserts that the Court
is not making the states more powerful, but instead is attempting to limit the power of
Congress.
157
Other authors agree with this interpretation of the trend in the Court’s rulings.
158
Taken from this light, with the exception of Roper v. Simmons, all of the cases discussed here are
a rational outcome of a consistent judicial logic. This foundation for the analyses of these cases
is less than satisfactory for students of federalism as the foundation posits that separation of
powers and limitations on branches are the motivating forces behind what was supposed to be a
federalism revolution. Pickerell finds some hope for advances in federalism:
...The Court is neither the end-all-be-all denier of national democratic preferences as
political safeguards advocates worry nor the savior of states as judicial safeguards
proponents claim. While the boundaries of federalism will be debated, established, and
re-established in the political process, the Court and states should both be important
actors in that process. The Court is not at the center of the federalism universe and
scholars should not treat it as such. The Court’s federalism jurisprudence will not be self
executing; it does, however, provide new context and leverage for state and local interests
in the national policymaking process if they choose to utilize and to not squander the
opportunity.
159
CONCLUSION
The absence of federalism as an issue in the 2004 presidential contest was not a matter of
“forgetfullness”
160
nor solely a matter of the centralization that often accompanies the response
to a national crisis or threat.
161
Instead, the disappearance of federalism as an important political
issue is more a product of political changes that have been occurring over the past decade, but
have accelerated during the first four years of Bush’s tenure. From 1968 to 2000, American
Convention