judicial review
A court's authority to examine an executive or legislative act and to invalidate that act if it is contrary to constitutional principles. The power of courts of law to review the actions of the executive and legislative branches is called judicial review. Though judicial review is usually associated with the U.S. Supreme Court, which has ultimate judicial authority, it is a power possessed by most federal and state courts of law in the United States. The concept is an American invention. Prior to the early 1800s, no country in the world gave its judicial branch such authority.
The US Supreme Court case most often credited with affirming the doctrine of judicial review is Marbury v Madison, (1803) in which Chief Justice John Marshall declared Section 13 of the Judiciary Act of 1789 unconstitutional. First exercised judicial review 1796, in the case of Hylton v. United States, In Hylton, the legislation, a carriage tax, was upheld. Some better known examples of judicial review include Roe v. Wade, (1973), in which the Court overturned a Texas law prohibiting abortion; Brown v. Board of Education, (1954)
The US Supreme Court case most often credited with affirming the doctrine of judicial review is Marbury v Madison, (1803) in which Chief Justice John Marshall declared Section 13 of the Judiciary Act of 1789 unconstitutional. First exercised judicial review 1796, in the case of Hylton v. United States, In Hylton, the legislation, a carriage tax, was upheld. Some better known examples of judicial review include Roe v. Wade, (1973), in which the Court overturned a Texas law prohibiting abortion; Brown v. Board of Education, (1954)