Democracy in America, take 2

In reading the second selection from Toqueville's Democracy in America, I found myself looking at many of his points about American Democracy and wondering what he would think of America today, because I do not think that we have necessarily lived up to his expectations as a nation. One point of his which particularly struck me was his of the judiciary.   He recognizes the power of the judicial branch of the federal government, stating that, "If anyone invokes in an American court a law which the judge considers contrary to the Constitution, he can refuse to apply it.  That is the only power peculiar to an American judge, but great political influence derives from it"(102).  I found his insight on this matter to be somewhat before his time, for it was not until later that the power of judicial review was used in some of American history's most controversial decisions, such as Schenck v. United States, Brandenburg v. Ohio, or Roe v. Wade.    In fact, I think that Toqueville would likely be surprised, if not worried over the power the Supreme Court has gained via judicial review.   Rather than simply being an intermediate body between the people and the legislature, the Supreme Court has truly come to have the last word on the law in the United States, and has come to change and alter ideas and customs that are contrary to the majority, such as Brown v. Board of Education or Loving v. Virginia, in which minority races' rights were upheld contrary to the majority views of society concerning segregated education and interracial marriage respectively.  It would be interesting to see how Toqueville would look at the changes and gains of power in the Supreme Court over the years.  Would he see the support of unlimited campaign contributions or the unconstitutionality of Guantanamo Bay as advancements for liberty, or dangerous steps towards bypassing the sovereignty of the people?  I am not sure myself, but that is part of what makes reading this book interesting: trying to fathom and compare the situation and views in America then, and America today.