Evan Bernick

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