Abstract
Marbury plays an important role in the debate over the legitimacy of judicial review in the American constitutional system. Thus, this article aims to analyze critical theses to the rhetorical use of the case, with the main objective of deconstructing Marbury myth, which ensures that the case became the main source of the claim of judicial supremacy. Therefore, it analyzes revisionist contributions in order to identify the current and real cause of decision-making. Its focus is to show how Marbury’s Supreme Court citation is not only to justify judicial review in controversial cases, but also primarily to assert judicial superiority or exclusivity in constitutional interpretation. In the end, the historical analysis of the political aspects of the case will allow a contextualized reading, making clear that Marshall’s decision moved away from the doctrine of judicial supremacy to embrace a consistent position with the premises of popular constitutionalism.
Keywords:
Marbury v. Madison; judicial supremacy; judicial review; popular constitucionalism; departmentalism