The Supreme Court was created by the founding fathers at the constitutional convention of 1789. It was conceived as a co-equal branch of the government; on the same level as the president and the Congress. But it wasn't—at least until the decision in Marbury v. Madison. This is not just the story of one legal case; it is the story of America at the beginning of the nineteenth century and how personalities, politics, and law all contributed to completing the dream the creators of the American constitution began. Marbury is rightly considered a national treasure, for it is a uniquely American icon that vividly stands for the rule of law. As John Marshall established for the ages in Marbury v. Madison, in the distinctive American system of checks and balances, "it is emphatically the province and duty" of the courts "to say what the law is."

—from The Great Decision