The decision in this Supreme Court Case established the right of the courts to determine the constitutionality of the actions of the other two branches of government. With his decision in Marbury v. Madison, Chief Justice John Marshall established the principle of judicial review, an important addition to the system of "checks and balances" created to prevent any one branch of the Federal Government from becoming too powerful. The document shown here bears the marks of the Capitol fire of 1898.
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