Michael Hanratty ’24 of Barkhamsted, Conn. is the 2024 recipient of the Brian Horey ’82 Civic Freedom Award. Hanratty is the Class of 2024 valedictorian, graduating summa cum laude, Phi Beta Kappa, majoring in economics and political science and receiving high honors in political science. As a 2023 James Madison Fellow his research project was titled “The Development of the Supreme Court’s Power of Judicial Review” and Stanley Brubaker, professor of political science, was his faculty sponsor.
Prof. Brubaker: As a James Madison Fellow, Michael explored the use of judicial review in the early years of our republic, with a close analysis of the first two instances in which federal law was found unconstitutional, the remarkably opposed examples of Marbury v. Madison (1803) and Dred Scott (1857), the one solidifying our constitution, the other nearly destroying it. For his senior thesis, he continued his study of the Court, this time focusing on its recently formulated “major questions doctrine.” Under this doctrine, the Court has ruled that when administrative agencies make rulings of deep economic and political significance, marking a change from previous public policy, they must have clear authorization from Congress.
Though the doctrine is controversial, Michael defends it as one of the Court’s “passive virtues,” a set of tools the Court can draw upon to avoid imposing direct answers to controversial questions while drawing the polity into a deeper reflection on the subject or the constitutional principles involved.
The Brian Horey ’82 Civic Freedom Award is an award and scholarship given annually to the student or students who make the greatest contribution to promoting the ideals of freedom and Western civilization. Read more about past award recipients here.