Give a five-word sentence to explain historical impact of Marbury v. Madison.

The 1803 Supreme Court case, Marbury v. Madison, was an important event in the early history of the republic.  The Supreme Court at this time was led by Chief Justice John Marshall.  In this case, a precedent was set for the Supreme Court to have judicial review.  Judicial review is the principle that the court may invalidate laws that are unconstitutional.  This power turns out to be an important check and balance on the other two branches of government. With this case, the Supreme Court became the last stop to test whether a law is constitutional.  Today, it is hard to imagine the Supreme Court not being afforded this power.  Many of the cases that the Court hears today deal with the constitutionality of laws or acts of the president. Before this case, however, the Constitution had not been interpreted as giving the Supreme Court these powers.

Here are some examples of five-word sentences.

• Judicial review granted to court.


• Gave Supreme Court more power.