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Lesson 21: How Does the U.S. Supreme Court Use the Power of Judicial Review?
Lesson Purpose
Even in our nation's earliest years, people such as Alexander Hamilton and Thomas Jefferson disagreed about exactly what the words in the Constitution meant. Who should decide which reading of the Constitution is correct? The Constitution gives the U.S. Supreme Court the final say about the meaning of the Constitution. This lesson explains how the Supreme Court established its power to decide whether acts by other branches of the federal government or by state and local governments violate the Constitution. This power of the Court is called the power of judicial review. This power is not mentioned in the Constitution.
Lesson Objectives
When you finish this lesson, you should be able to explain what is meant by judicial review, explain how the U.S. Supreme Court established its power of judicial review in one of the most important cases in our nation's history.
Lesson Terms
judicial review
The power of the courts to declare laws and actions of the local, state, or national government invalid if they contradict the Constitution.
Marbury v. Madison (1803)
null and void
opinion of the Court
