Jim Davies at Strike the Root makes the case that Marbury v Madison changed the face of America:
Here’s where the brain begins to bend. Marshall’s Court rejected Marbury’s suit, on the grounds that a mere act of Congress cannot delegate power to SCOTUS; that’s the right of the Constitution writers or amenders only (so far, so fair) and hence that Judiciary Act was unconstitutional and so Marbury was in the wrong jurisdiction. But then Marshall continued with the words quoted above: “It is emphatically the province and duty of the judicial department to say what the law is.” This is breathtaking; he was saying that Congress can not define the powers of the judicial branch, but that the judicial branch itself can! And he did so by declaring the act, which purported to give his court extra powers, to be void! Don’t know about you, but I think that’s one of the most cunning and hypocritical power-grabs in history.
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