With his declaration that "It is emphatically the province and duty of the Judicial Department to say what the law is," Chief Justice John Marshall established the doctrine of judicial review. The facts of Marbury v. Madison - a D.C. justice of the peace denied a commission by the incoming Jefferson Administration - are dwarfed by the case's lasting impact on the separation of powers in the federal government. Thanks to Marbury, the judiciary became the vigorous and independent third branch that we see today. 1803