Judicial Review

Judicial review rests on a principle: the Constitution is the supreme law, and courts are the final interpreters of what it means. When Congress passes a law, a president issues an order, or any government official acts, courts have the power to examine whether that action aligns with the Constitution and declare it void if it doesn't.

The process works through litigation. A party with standing—showing concrete harm from the challenged action—brings a case to federal or state court. The court applies constitutional law to the facts, interprets the relevant constitutional provision, and if it finds a constitutional violation, strikes down the offending law or action. The Supreme Court has the final word: lower courts must follow its constitutional interpretations, though debate continues over particular decisions.

This power isn't explicitly written in the Constitution. The Supreme Court derived it from Article III's grant of judicial power and from the Supremacy Clause, which makes the Constitution the "supreme Law of the Land." Judicial review has transformed American law: it ended segregation in schools, recognized privacy rights, protected free speech, and has repeatedly shifted which side wins major constitutional battles, making Supreme Court vacancies fiercely contested because justices shape constitutional meaning for decades.