What Is Judicial Passivism?

Judicial passivism: the approach that says courts should uphold all laws unless they are unconstitutional beyond a reasonable doubt -- has the virtue of insulating courts from difficult constitutional issues and giving great deference to the decisions of the democratically-elected branches of government.

What is judicial activism in simple words?

Judicial activism is the exercise of the power of judicial review to set aside government acts. Generally, the phrase is used to identify undesirable exercises of that power, but there is little agreement on which instances are undesirable.

What is an example of judicial activism?

Brown v. Board of Education (1954) is one of the most popular examples of judicial activism to come out of the Warren Court. ... For example, when a court strikes down a law, exercising the powers given to the court system through the separation of powers, the decision may be viewed as activist.