Question

Analyze the exercise of judicial review. What is judicial review, what are its origins, and why has it remained an unquestioned power of the courts for so long? Provide some examples of notable uses of judicial review in Supreme Court history.

Answer 1

Judicial review is the power of the courts to overturn laws or other actions based on their constitutionality. It has been an unquestioned power of the courts since Marbury v. Madison. Notable uses of judicial review include cases such as Brown v. Board of Education and Roe v. Wade.

Step-by-step explanation:

Judicial review is the power of the courts to overturn laws or other actions of Congress and the Executive Branch based on their constitutionality. This principle allows courts to establish quasi-legislation (legislation created from the bench) which often leads to accusations of 'judicial activism.'

Although the Constitution is silent on the subject of judicial review, the Supreme Court gave itself and lower courts the power of judicial review in the case of Marbury v. Madison. Since then, the power of judicial review has expanded, allowing the Court to declare acts of Congress, the president, and even state and local actions as unconstitutional.

Notable examples of judicial review in Supreme Court history include Marbury v. Madison (1803), where the Court first exercised judicial review to declare an act of Congress unconstitutional; Brown v. Board of Education (1954), which declared school segregation unconstitutional; and Roe v. Wade (1973), which established a woman's right to have an abortion as protected by the Constitution.