Cohens v. Virginia

Cohens v. Virginia (1821) was a case that solidified the Supreme Court's power of judicial review. Washington, D.C., had a lottery that had been created by Congress. Virginia state law did not recognize the law that authorized the lottery. When Phillip and Mendes Cohen, who were brothers, were arrested, tried, and convicted in Virginia for selling lottery tickets, they appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court, arguing that national law was supreme and therefore their conviction was illegitimate. The Supreme Court heard the case, ...