What Is Judicial Review? (Marbury v. Madison)
Judicial review is the courts' power to strike down unconstitutional laws. Here's what it means and how Marbury v. Madison established it in 1803.
Updated June 2026
Quick answer
Judicial review is the power of the courts to examine laws and government actions and strike down any that violate the Constitution. It isn't spelled out in the Constitution — the Supreme Court established it in Marbury v. Madison (1803), when Chief Justice John Marshall declared it the judiciary's duty 'to say what the law is.'
What judicial review does
Judicial review makes the courts a real check on the other two branches. If Congress passes a law or the President takes an action that conflicts with the Constitution, a court can declare it unconstitutional and void. Without it, the Constitution would be a set of limits with no referee to enforce them.
How Marbury v. Madison established it
In the 1803 case, William Marbury sued to force delivery of a judicial commission. Chief Justice John Marshall ruled that while Marbury was entitled to it, the specific law he sued under exceeded what the Constitution allowed Congress to give the Court — so the Court couldn't act on it. In striking down that piece of law, Marshall asserted the principle that has anchored the judiciary ever since: it is 'emphatically the province and duty of the judicial department to say what the law is.'
Alexander Hamilton had argued for this role years earlier in Federalist No. 78, describing the courts' duty to treat the Constitution as fundamental law superior to any ordinary statute.
Common questions
What is judicial review in simple terms?
It's the courts' power to decide whether a law or government action is allowed by the Constitution — and to cancel it if it isn't. It makes the judiciary the branch that enforces constitutional limits.
Where does the Constitution mention judicial review?
It doesn't, explicitly. The Supreme Court established the power in Marbury v. Madison (1803), reasoning that it follows from the judiciary's duty to interpret the law and treat the Constitution as supreme. Hamilton had defended the idea earlier in Federalist No. 78.
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