ON THIS DAY IN 1803, the US Supreme Court delivered Marbury v Madison 5 US 137 (1803).
The Supreme Court of the United States held invalid legislation passed by Congress which purported to enlarge the original jurisdiction of the Supreme Court by authorising the issue of mandamus. The Court held that Congress had no power to give original jurisdiction to the Supreme Court in cases other than those described in Art III.
The decision is significant in that it sets the principle that the US Supreme Court has the ultimate power to review the validity of acts of Congress enacted in violation of the United States Constitution.
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