Courses

Evan Bernick

Assistant Director, Center for Judicial Engagement

Institute for Justice

Evan Bernick is the Assistant Director of the Center for Judicial Engagement at the Institute for Justice, the national law firm for liberty. He works to educate the public and persuade judges about the need to enforce all of the Constitution’s limits on government in every case.

Blog Posts

Was Marbury v. Madison a judicial power grab?

February 28, 2017
|
Role of Government

On February 24, 1803, the Supreme Court handed down one of its best known and most consequential decisions in Marbury v. Madison. It is often described as the case in which the Court created “judicial review”: the duty of courts to test the constitutionality of government actions and to strike them down when they fail. The decision is also profoundly misunderstood, shrouded by a myth that has confused generations of law students: the myth of judicial usurpation. Although judicial review is generally regarded as valid today, the notion that it was invented in Marbury has long been used to cast