cracked:Article III establishes the Supreme Court, but it doesn’t grant it the power to review
cracked:Article III establishes the Supreme Court, but it doesn’t grant it the power to review the actions of the other two branches to determine how well they jibe with the Constitution. No, the Supreme Court granted that power to itself.It gets a bit convoluted here, but it all came about during the 1803 case of Marbury v. Madison. William Marbury had been appointed as a justice of the peace by President John Adams, but James Madison – the new secretary of state under Adams’ successor, Jefferson – refused to deliver his commission. The Supreme Court agreed that was illegal as shit, but said they couldn’t do anything about it because the law he was breaking was itself unconstitutional. With that single word, the concept of judicial review was born. As Chief Justice John Marshall put it, “It is emphatically the province and duty of the Judicial Department to say what the law is.”While that frankly sounds a bit too Judge Dredd for our liking – and Thomas Jefferson agreed, calling judicial review a “dangerous doctrine” that could transform even the most honest judge into a despot – it’s hard to argue the overall result hasn’t been a net positive, especially for civil rights. Even if poor Marbury never did get that commission.6 Things You Assume Are In The US Constitution (But Aren’t) -- source link