Judicial Review



Judicial Review

Introduction

Judicial review is the power of courts to evaluate the acts of the other branches of government to determine their constitutionality. When legislative acts are found unconstitutional, the courts decline to enforce them. Constitutionally inappropriate decisions of lower courts are reversed, and unconstitutional actions by executive authorities are enjoined (Law, 2009).

Discussion

The model of judicial review was in Chief Justice John Marshall's decision in Marbury v. Madison (1803), but some scholars have claimed a long tradition of judicial review. Under the British system, any law passed by Parliament and given the royal assent is automatically constitutional. No court can overturn a parliamentary statute on any grounds whatsoever. In Dr. Bonham's Case (1610) Lord Coke attempted to establish a kind of judicial review, but the case produced no judicial progeny and was later cited in Coke's removal from the bench (Franke, 2004).

The Judicial Committee of Privy Council repeatedly invalidated colonial legislation held antithetical to the laws of England, invasive of the royal prerogative, or contrary to natural justice. Some of these decisions were judicial, primarily appeals from cases heard in colonial courts, although the bulk appear political in nature. Various colonial court cases, such as Giddings v. Brown (Massachusetts, 1657), Frost v. Leighton (Massachusetts, 1739), and Robbin v. Hardaway (Virginia, 1772), may be precedents for judicial review, but none could be called an unquestionable instance of it. During the period of the Articles of Confederation, a number of decisions by state courts tended toward judicial review, including the Case of Josiah Philips (Virginia, 1778), Holmes v. Walton (New Jersey, 1780), Commonwealth v. Caton (Virginia, 1782), Rutgers v. Waddington (New Jersey, 1784), Trevett v. Weeden (Rhode Island, 1786), Symsbury Case (Connecticut, 1785), and Bayard v. Singleton (North Carolina, 1787) (Franke, 2004).

In a real sense the first U.S. Supreme Court case involving ...