No branch of the federal government--not the Congress, not the President, not even the Supreme Court--can legitimately act in ways contrary to the words of the Constitution...Thus, the idea of a written constitution is closely tied to the idea of constitutional supremacy. In America, no branch of government is supreme...The Constitution is supreme....Departures from these limitations are unconstitutional.
In Marbury (p. 37), Chief Justice Marshall says "that the framers of the constitution contemplated that instrument as a rule for the government of the courts, as well as of the legislature."
It is the text of the Written Constitution that has been ratified by we the people in the states. Supreme Court decisions are only legitimate if they are faithful applications of the constitutional text.
Something to think about as we study Marbury.
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