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Article: The irrepressible myth of Marbury.
- Article from:
- Michigan Law Review
- Article date:
- August 1, 2003
- Author:
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 2003 Michigan Law Review Association. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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I. INTRODUCTION
Nearly all of American constitutional law today rests on a myth. The myth, presented as standard history both in junior high civics texts and in advanced law school courses on constitutional law, runs something like this: A long, long time ago--1803, if the storyteller is trying to be precise--in the famous case of Marbury v. Madison, (1) the Supreme Court of the United States created the doctrine of "judicial review." Judicial review is the power of the Supreme Court to decide the meaning of the Constitution and to strike down laws that the Court finds unconstitutional.
As befits the name of the court from which the doctrine emanates, ...