Which Supreme Court case established judicial review for the courts to strike down unconstitutional laws?

• A. Marbury v. Madison
• B. Miller v. California
• C. Dred Scott v. Sanford
• D. Citizens United v. FEC

Answer: (A)

Judicial review is the power of courts to interpret the Constitution and strike down laws or actions that conflict with it. In Marbury v. Madison, the Supreme Court established that authority for itself to review congressional acts and presidential actions and declare them unconstitutional. The case arose when William Marbury petitioned for a writ of mandamus to compel James Madison to deliver his commission as a justice of the peace, part of Adams’s last-minute appointments. The Court found that Marbury had a right to the commission, but the specific remedy he sought could not be granted because the provision of the Judiciary Act of 1789 enabling it exceeded the Constitution. This decision set the precedent that the judiciary has the ultimate authority to interpret the Constitution and nullify laws that conflict with it. Other prominent cases addressed separate issues—obscenity, slavery and citizenship, or campaign financing—and did not establish this power.