what is the Marbury vs Madison case about?

Question

I do not understand this case and I need a "dumb-down" explanation of it, just so I can understand it a little better.

Answer 1

Marbury v Madison (1803) gave formal sanction to the concept of "judicial review."  This means that the courts (in this case, the US Supreme Court) have the power to rule on the constitutionality of laws passed by Congress.  

 

The details of Marbury are probably not too important unless you are in an AP course or in law school.  The outcome, though, is extremely important, as it laid the foundation for probably the most important cases that the Supreme Court handles in the modern day.  Two controversial cases that you have probably heard of are Roe v Wade, which found that the outright banning of abortion was unconstitutional because it violated the patient's right of privacy.  More recently, the case known as Citizens United ruled that certain restrictions on campaign contributions were unconstitutional because they violated the First Amendment right of free speech.