Marbury v. Madison, or, John Marshall was a sneaky, crafty genius

You may not know it, but much of the judicial branch's power comes from a very sly opinion that Chief Justice John Marshall made way back in 1803. In it, he established the power of judicial review, or the court's ability to determine if a law was constitional. The interesting thing about this case is that the court struck down a law where Congress tried to grant more power to the Court. The Court held that Congress cannot pass an unconstitutional law, and this law was unconstitutional because Congress could not control the power of the judiciary. So, in essence, in one ruling Marshall relinquished the small amount of power that Congress "granted" and instead took a huge swath of power for the Court moving forward--the power to review and strike down acts of Congress.

Pretty brilliant, indeed.


Jason Herbert
AMH 1041
TR 10:05-11:20