A corporation is an artificial being, invisible, intangible, and existing only in contemplation of law.
John MarshallRead
The particular phraseology of the Constitution of the United States confirms and strengthens the principle, supposed to be essential to all written constitutions, that a law repugnant to the Constitution is void; and that courts, as well as other departments, are bound by that instrument.
Interpretation
What this quote means
The quote emphasizes the supremacy of the Constitution over conflicting laws, asserting that such laws are invalid.
John Marshall highlights the fundamental principle that any law that contradicts the Constitution is deemed void. This doctrine reinforces the authority of the Constitution as the highest law of the land, binding all branches of government, including the courts, to adhere to its principles. It underscores the importance of constitutional supremacy in protecting individual rights and maintaining the rule of law in a democratic society.
Themes
ConstitutionLawSupremacyGovernmentJudiciary
In practice
Example use cases
This quote can be used in a discussion about the role of the judiciary in upholding constitutional rights.
More from John Marshall
All quotes →If the agency of the mother in forming the character of her children is, in truth, so considerable, as I think it - if she does so much toward making her son what she would wish him to be - how essential is it that she should be fitted for the beneficial performance of these important duties.
John MarshallRead
The constitution controls any legislative act repugnant to it.
John MarshallRead
The constitution is either a superior paramount law, unchangeable by ordinary means, or it is on a level with ordinary legislative acts, alterable when the legislature shall please to alter it. It is emphatically the province and duty of the judicial department to say what the law is. This is the very essence of judicial duty.
John MarshallRead
The federal government is acknowledged by all to be one of enumerated powers. The principle, that it can exercise only the powers granted to it . . . is now universally admitted.
John MarshallRead
The government of the United States has been emphatically termed a government of laws, and not of men. It will certainly cease to deserve this high appellation, if the laws furnish no remedy for the violation of a vested legal right.
John MarshallRead
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