known standards that are uniformly and fairly applied.” 
3 Reichel identified a three-step process by which 
countries can achieve rule of law. 
4 The first step is that a country must identify core, fundamental values. 
The second step is for the values to be reduced to writing and written somewhere that people can point to 
them. The final step is to establish a process or mechanism whereby laws or governmental actions are tested 
to see if they are consistent with the fundamental values. When laws or actions embrace the fundamental 
values, they are considered valid, and when the laws or actions conflict with the fundamental values, they 
are invalid. 
Applying this three-step process to America’s approach to law one can see that Americans have 
recognized fundamental values, such as the right to freedom of speech, the right to privacy, and the 
right to assemble. Second, we have reduced these fundamental values to writing and, for the most part, 
have compiled them in our constitutions (both federal and state). Third, we have a mechanism, that of 
judicial review, by which we judge whether our laws and our government actions comply with or violate 
our fundamental values found within our constitutions. Judicial review is the authority of the courts to 
determine whether a law (a legislative action) or action (an executive or judicial action) conflicts with the 
Constitution.  Judicial review can be traced to the case of Marbury v. Madison, 5 U.S. 137 (1803), in which 
Chief Justice John Marshall wrote, “It is emphatically the province and duty of the judicial department to 
say what the law is. Those who apply the rule to particular cases, must of necessity expound and interpret 
that rule. If two laws conflict with each other, the courts must decide on the operation of each.” 
3. Feldmeier, J. P., & Schmalleger, F. (2012). Criminal Law and Procedure for Legal Professionals. Prenice Hall. 
4. Reichel, P. (2018) Comparative Criminal Justice Systems: A Topical Approach. New York, NY: Pearson. 
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