By Richard Bammer

In Marbury v. Madison, Chief Justice John Marshall, writing in the 1803 case, stated, “A law repugnant to the Constitution is void.”

With those words, he established the Supreme Court’s role in America’s new and evolving government, and the high court, thus, was recognized as having the power to review all acts of Congress and to declare invalid those it found to be in conflict with the Constitution.

Of course, it was just one of many landmark cases in Supreme Court history, but Marbury v. Madison clearly established the notion of separation of powers in U.S. government.

This important doctrine is the topic of the 2015 Constitution Essay Contest open to all Solano County students, in public and private schools and those home-schooled, in grades 7 to 12. As in previous years, the essay has a 500-word limit. The deadline to enter is Oct. 16, and no entry fee is required.

via Annual Constitution essay contest underway in Solano schools.