A long time ago in the early days of the republic, our U.S. Supreme Court issued an opinion authored by our chief justice in Marbury v. Madison, 5 U.S. 137 (1803). It concluded that the court had the authority to rule on the legality of acts of Congress. Both our elective branches agreed to live with the court having the last word on the acts of a coordinate and equal branch of the federal government. This became and is the bedrock of our judicial branch.