In 1803, the decision in Marbury v Madison held that the Supreme Court had the ability to exercise judicial review. With this ruling the Court gave itself the power to declare a law constitutional or unconstitutional. With this strengthened power, the Supreme Court made numerous landmark decisions throughout the 19th and first half of the 20th centuries. The Supreme Court's power of judicial review played a critical role in shaping postwar racial laws and attitudes. In the cases Plessey v. Ferguson and Brown v. The Board of Education, the Supreme Court has invoked judicial review to evaluate policies of racial segregation as they relate to the 14th Amendment. Both Plessey and Brown are emblematic cases because they reflected the social climate of their respective time periods, because both cases had an immediate impact on civil rights laws and everyday life in America, and because both cases influenced the interpretation of basis of the Constitution. The Plessey v. Ferguson case was heard before the Supreme Court of the United States of America. Homer Plessey, a black resident of the city of New Orleans, had argued that the Louisiana law requiring the racial segregation of rail cars violated the section of the 14th Amendment of the United States Constitution, which states: “No State shall make or compel any law abridging the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States." In issuing its opinion, the Supreme Court found that Louisiana's law was, in fact, constitutional. Justice Henry Brown Billingsley's writing for the majority stated: “While we hold that the forced separation of the races, as applied to the internal commerce of the state, does not reduce privileges or immunities... middle of paper.... .. Jurisprudence. Westlaw. Web.Newton, Jim. Justice for All: Earl Warren and the Nation He Created. New York: Riverhead, 2006. Print.Powe, L.A. Scott. The Warren Court and American politics. Cambridge, MA: Belknap of Harvard UP, 2000. Print.Warren, Earl. “Supreme Court Decision – Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka Et Al.” Jurisprudence. Westlaw, May 17, 1954. Web. November 7, 2010. Works Cited Billingsley, John B. "Plessy v. Ferguson." Jurisprudence. Westlaw. Web.Harlan, jurisprudence by John M. “Plessy v. Ferguson Dissent”. Westlaw. Web.Newton, Jim. Justice for All: Earl Warren and the Nation He Created. New York: Riverhead, 2006. Print.Powe, L.A. Scott. The Warren Court and American politics. Cambridge, MA: Belknap of Harvard UP, 2000. Print.Warren, Earl. “Supreme Court Decision – Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka Et Al.” Jurisprudence. Westlaw, May 17, 1954. Web. November 7. 2010.