Volume CLXXVI • No. 1

The Federal Ledger

Est. 1776 • Digital Archive of the Republic

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Essay • 1803

Marbury v. Madison

Chief Justice John Marshall
Marbury v. Madison
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Decided February 24, 1803, Chief Justice John Marshall's opinion in Marbury v. Madison established judicial review — the power of federal courts to strike down laws that conflict with the Constitution. Faced with a partisan trap, Marshall denied Marbury his commission while quietly handing the Court the most consequential power in American law.

The question, whether an act repugnant to the Constitution can become the law of the land, is a question deeply interesting to the United States; but, happily, not of an intricacy proportioned to its interest. It is emphatically the province and duty of the judicial department to say what the law is. Those who apply the rule to particular cases, must of necessity expound and interpret that rule. If two laws conflict with each other, the courts must decide on the operation of each. So if a law be in opposition to the constitution; if both the law and the constitution apply to a particular case… the court must determine which of these conflicting rules governs the case. This is of the very essence of judicial duty.
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