Probably the most important supreme court decision was in which the court ruled
a)
mcculloch v. maryland : the power to tax is the power to destroy
b)
marbury v. madison : that it had the power to declare a law unconstitutional
c)
scott v sandford : slaves are still slaves even when taken into free territories
d)
fletcher v. peck : that the national government has the right to regulate interstate commerce

In the case of Marbury v. Madison the Supreme Court ruled that it had the power to declare a law unconstitutional. Most scholars agree that this is the most crucial power of the Supreme Court. Without it, the Supreme Court is virtually insignificant.

b) a state law could be declared illegal if it contradicted the constitution.

explanation:

the conflict of this case originated when james w. mcculloch, a cashier of the baltimore branch of the second bank of the united states that the congress had chartered in 1816, refused to pay a tax imposed by the maryland state.

in the case, the state of maryland appealed that the establishment of a second bank was unconstitutional since the constitution didn't say anything about granting that power to congress. however, the case determined that even if such right wasn't specifically stated in the constitution, it was part of the "implied powers" of the government enunciated in article i, section 8.

the case also eliminated maryland's legislation to impose taxes to a national bank, asserting that even though the states retained the power of taxation, the constitution's laws are supreme and can not be controlled by the states, therefore, if a state law contradicts the constitution, it should be declared illegal.

explanation:

affirmative action refers to the policies that take gender, race, or ethnicity into account in order to promote equal opportunity.

employers subject to title vii are prohibited from taking race or sex into account in any employment decisions. aa is a penalty for having any job group substantially statistically "underutilized" in any race or either sex. the employer must take steps to eliminate the underutilization, then stop, ending its aa efforts