“Everything can change at any moment, suddenly and forever” (“Paul”). American author Paul Auster expressed the famous idea of one moment shaping everything else in the future. On February 24, 1803, one mere Supreme Court case, Marbury v. Madison, changed the course of American history. From this ruling, the Supreme Court gained judicial review: the authority to give their opinions on the constitutionality of laws. This positively impacted America because it prohibited the government from abusing the Constitution. However, over the years, judicial review has spiraled into judicial supremacy and taken power away from the states. It has also led to the Supreme Court making laws, such as legalizing abortion and gay marriage, which is something
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Marbury v. Madison showed the limits of both Congress and the Supreme Court. Marshall intended this decision to positively influence America, and it has. If Congress passed a law banning newspapers from printing information about certain political matters, the Supreme Court would have the authority to say the law violated the First Amendment (Haas). Judicial review protects the interests and rights of Americans everywhere; however, the modern form of judicial review has had deleterious effects on America. Since Marbury v. Madison, judicial review has expanded and grown into judicial superiority or supremacy. While judicial review gives the Supreme Court a right to interpret the Constitution, judicial supremacy grants them the exclusive power and forces the other branches to yield to the court’s interpretation of the Constitution. Simple judicial review has a rightful place in a constitutional democracy, but judicial supremacy absolutely does not. Larry Kramer from the New York Times …show more content…
Furthermore, judicial supremacy has taken power away from the states. For example, the Tenth Amendment to the Constitution states, “The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the states, are reserved to the states respectively, or to the people (“Tenth”). Article III of the Constitution, in granting power to the judiciary, extends judicial power to various types of cases, but never gives them the right to strike down a legislative or executive action (Kramer). However, since the decision in Marbury v. Madison, the Supreme Court has claimed the final word on what the Constitution means, so state provisions that conflict must yield to those interpretations (Dennison). Instead of the legislative branch, which represents the people, constructing important American laws, the court now holds the
Marbury v. Madison showed the limits of both Congress and the Supreme Court. Marshall intended this decision to positively influence America, and it has. If Congress passed a law banning newspapers from printing information about certain political matters, the Supreme Court would have the authority to say the law violated the First Amendment (Haas). Judicial review protects the interests and rights of Americans everywhere; however, the modern form of judicial review has had deleterious effects on America. Since Marbury v. Madison, judicial review has expanded and grown into judicial superiority or supremacy. While judicial review gives the Supreme Court a right to interpret the Constitution, judicial supremacy grants them the exclusive power and forces the other branches to yield to the court’s interpretation of the Constitution. Simple judicial review has a rightful place in a constitutional democracy, but judicial supremacy absolutely does not. Larry Kramer from the New York Times …show more content…
Furthermore, judicial supremacy has taken power away from the states. For example, the Tenth Amendment to the Constitution states, “The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the states, are reserved to the states respectively, or to the people (“Tenth”). Article III of the Constitution, in granting power to the judiciary, extends judicial power to various types of cases, but never gives them the right to strike down a legislative or executive action (Kramer). However, since the decision in Marbury v. Madison, the Supreme Court has claimed the final word on what the Constitution means, so state provisions that conflict must yield to those interpretations (Dennison). Instead of the legislative branch, which represents the people, constructing important American laws, the court now holds the