The History of the Supreme Court

The History of the Supreme Court is very important in American history. Originally, the United States Supreme Court had very limited powers allotted to it by the Constitution. However, in 1801, John Marshall is appointed the Chief Justice, changing the Supreme Court and eventually, in 1803, began the practice of judicial review. Judicial review gave much more power to the judicial branch, furthering checks and balances of the other two branches of the government, the legislative and executive branch. The first case of Judicial Review was Marbury v. Madison, a case in which, on a very basic level, involved the Secretary of State refused to commission someone as a justice of the peace. Judicial review allows the Supreme Court to deem actions of the other branches unconstitutional, therefore nullifying those actions. 

Additionally, under the principle of certiorari, the Supreme Court can overrule the rulings of a lower court. The Supreme Court receives hundreds of certiorari requests each year. A main misconception is when the Supreme Court does not take a case is that they are upholding the lower court's decision, when it simply means they've just chosen not to take it. Although true, in my opinion, not taking a case is almost a de facto upholding of the lower court's decision.

I'll end this post with a quote to ponder on.

“The opinion which gives to the judges the right to decide what laws are constitutional and what not … would make the Judiciary a despotic branch.”
Thomas Jefferson's Response to Chief Justice Marshall's decision.

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