Marbury v. Madison

Marbury v. Madison was the first significant decision handed down by the U.S. Supreme Court after John Marshall was sworn in as its chief justice in 1801. In Marbury, for the first time, the Supreme Court declared an act of Congress unconstitutional; it would not do so again until Dred Scott v. Sandford struck down the Missouri Compromise in 1857. Marbury was not the Court's first exercise of judicial review—the power to determine the constitutionality of legislative and administrative acts—but by declaring the Court the final arbiter of constitutional questions, this seminal decision fully empowered the third branch of government, making the concept of federal checks and balances a reality.

Chief Justice William Rehnquist once described Marbury as “the most famous case ever decided by the United States Supreme Court” (Rehnquist, http://www.supremecourtus.gov/publicinfo/speeches/sp_05-08-01.html). It is not surprising that the late chief justice, who headed one of the most activist Courts in the nation's history—one that overturned a notably high number of federal statutes—should hold Marbury in such high regard. But Rehnquist is hardly alone in his admiration for this decision, which governments around the world consider a blueprint for drafting constitutions and formatting the role of judicial systems. With Marbury, the judiciary became something more than an institution—it became political.