ABSTRACT
The framers of the US Constitution formalized "checks and balances" because they feared the concentration of power in the hands of one governmental group or institution. Checks and balances, or the idea to provide each of the three national branches of government such as executive, legislative, judicial, with the powers to prevent the centralization of power in one branch, should be understood as related to but distinct from the separation of powers. Each of the three branches was empowered to limit the actions of the other two branches. The federal judiciary is generally seen as the protector of individual liberties from incursion by the elected branches, but this was not always the case. Apart from cases dealing with property rights, the early US Supreme Court rarely heard cases that dealt with individual liberties. The Supreme Court has protected individual liberties in several areas, with the Warren Court particularly active in criminal cases.
