Marbury V. Madison Questions For Discussion

Chief Justice John Marshall stated in Marbury v. Madison (1803) that:

A) the Constitution is the superior and paramount law of the land.

Which of the following statements did Cheif Justice John Marshall not make in Marbury v. Madison (1803)?

D) It is not the province and duty of the courts to say what the law is.

Chief Justice Marshall recognized that all three branches of the government take oaths to uphold the Constitution. Why, then, did he feel that it is the responsibility of the courts to determine ultimately whether or not a law is unconstitutional when it is challenged in a case and controversy?

Marshall felt like it is the responisbility of the courts to determine if a law is constitutional or not because if the courts couldn't declare a law to be unconstitutional, it would be a violation of the oath that judges take promising to uphold the Constitution.

Why, according to Marshall, is the Constitution superior to any ordinary act of the legislature?

The Constitution is superior to any ordinary act because it is the supreme law of the land. Marshall writes, "Certainly all those who have framed written constitutions contemplate them as forming the fundamental and aparamount law of the nation, and, consequently, the theory of every such government must be, than an act of the legislature, repugnant to the constitution is void."

In Marbury v. Madison (1803), Chief Justice John Marshall proclaimed:

b) the Supreme Court's power to exercise judicial review over congressional laws