Notes

Judicial Review
Judicial review is the power to review and determine if laws or acts of governments are unconstitutional. If citizens challenge a law's consistency with the Constitution, the U.S. Supreme Court can hear the case. It will use its power of judicial review to make a ruling on the case.

In 1789, the Congress passed a law that gave the Supreme Court original jurisdiction over cases involving certain government officials. In 1803, William Marbury put this law into action by suing government official James Madison in the Supreme Court. The case, Marbury v. Madison, brought into question whether Congress had the right to expand the power granted to the Supreme Court in the Constitution through law. The Supreme Court ruled that the law Congress passed in 1789 that allowed Marbury to take his case directly to the Supreme Court was against the Constitution. Through the case, the justices established the court's power of judicial review. They determined that the U.S. Supreme Court has the power to decide whether acThe power of judicial review allows the Supreme Court to determine if laws violate the Constitution. Each case ruling sets a precedent for the future. When ruling on a new case, justices consider how courts have interpreted the law in the past. While we call the courts' past decisions "case law," the rulings are not actually laws. Case law helps justices to define the Constitution and determine which laws do and do not violate it.

Judicial review and case law also help define citizen rights under the Constitution. Citizens can seek assistance from the court system when they believe a law has violated their rights. A court will apply the Constitution and case law to determine if the law did violate their rights or is unconstitutional for another reason.ts of the legislative branch violate the Constitution. The case established the judicial branch as an equal partner with the legislative and executive branches. Review this video to learn more about this landmark case.n
Sometimes it can be confusing or unclear how a law applies to a certain situation. Sometimes there are laws that seem to contradict, or go against, one another. Chief Justice Marshall is saying that when this happens, it's the job of the federal courts to decide what the law means, or even if a law should be allowed to exist. That power belongs to no other branch of government but the judicial branch.

The Constitution does not specifically give the Supreme Court the right to judicial review. However, Chief Justice Marshall believed that the Supreme Court has this power. The Marbury case presented the opportunity to clearly establish and explain it. The Supreme Court became the final judge of laws and the Constitution. This strengthens the Court's role in the system of checks and balances. Rejecting a law is a check on the power of Congress and the president.
The case of Plessy v. Ferguson is one example of judicial review where citizens challenged a law through the courts. Remember the 13th Amendment ended slavery in the United States. The 14th Amendment established that formerly enslaved people were U.S. citizens. However, racial injustice did not end with those changes. Some states made laws that limited how African Americans lived and worked. Homer Plessy decided to test one of those laws to see if he could change it.

In 1896, Homer Plessy and his legal team lost their case in the U.S. Supreme Court. Plessy believed that a law in his state requiring black train passengers to ride in a separate section from white passengers was unconstitutional. When the court reviewed the state segregation law, it determined that the law was acceptable under the Constitution. It said such laws were acceptable as long as the accommodations were equal. This is the court case where the phrase "separate but equal" originated.

Because the Court upheld the law, segregation continued, and Americans experienced more than 60 additional years of legal segregation in their daily lives. Review this video to learn more about Homer Plessy's case.