Despite Marshall’s declaration that, “it is empirically the province and duty of the judicial department to say what the law is,” the judicial power has always been subject to limitations. Some of these limitations are constitutionally imposed, while others are imposed by the court itself.
In order for a case to be heard by the Fed courts, the ? must get past a series of procedural obstacles: (1) the case must not require the giving of an advisory opinion, (2) the ? must have standing, (3) the case must not be moot, (4) the case must be ripe for a decision, and (5) the case must not involve a non-justiciable political question.