Marbury v. Madison (1803) & Judicial Review

"A Law [opposed] to the Constitution is void." With these words written by Chief Justice Marshall, the Supreme Court for the first time declared unconstitutional a law passed by Congress and signed by the President. Nothing in the Constitution gave the Court this specific power. Marshall, however, believed that the Supreme Court should have a role equal to those of the other two branches of government. When James Madison, Alexander Hamilton, and John Jay wrote a defense of the Constitution in The Federalist, they explained . . . "You must first enable government to control the governed; and in the next place oblige it to control itself." . . . The Constitution gave Congress the power to . . . remove officials, including judges or the President himself. The President was given the veto power to restrain Congress and the authority to appoint members of the Supreme Court. . . . [T]he role of the Supreme Court had not been defined. It therefore fell to a strong Chief Justice like Marshall to complete the triangular structure of checks and balances by establishing the principle of judicial review. Source: National Archives, 1995