Which decision established judicial review in the United States?

• A. McCulloch v. Maryland
• B. Marbury v. Madison
• C. Plessy v. Ferguson
• D. Gideon v. Wainwright

Answer: (B)

Judicial review is the power of courts to strike down laws or government actions that violate the Constitution. The decision that established this power in the United States is Marbury v. Madison (1803). In this ruling, the Supreme Court, led by Chief Justice John Marshall, asserted that the Constitution is the supreme law and that it is the court’s role to interpret it and nullify any act of Congress or executive action that conflicts with it. This gave the judiciary a formal check on both the legislative and executive branches, making it the guardian of constitutional limits and the mechanism by which unconstitutional laws are invalidated.

Other landmark cases contribute to constitutional law in different ways but do not establish judicial review. For example, one case reinforced the federal government’s supremacy over the states and Congress’s implied powers, another upheld racial segregation under a then-dominant doctrine later overturned, and another guaranteed the right to counsel in criminal trials. Each of these shapes constitutional interpretation in its own domain, but the authority for reviewing and overturning unconstitutional laws comes from Marbury v. Madison.