RSS Feed
News
Doc of the Day: Marbury v. Madison
02/24/10
On February 24, 1803, the U.S. Supreme Court issued its landmark ruling in the case of Marbury v. Madison. Written by Chief Justice John Marshall, the decision confirmed the U.S. Constitution as the “fundamental and paramount law of the nation” and declared any act of Congress that conflicted with the Constitution to be void. Marshall’s strongly worded ruling is widely credited with establishing the authority of judicial review and creating the system of checks and balances that forms the backbone of the American government.
Marbury v. Madison originated with the hotly contested election of 1800, when Democrat-Republican candidate Thomas Jefferson defeated Federalist President John Adams. Shortly afterward, the lame-duck, Federalist-controlled Congress passed the Judiciary Act of 1801, which allowed Adams to appoint dozens of new federal judges before leaving office. Adams used this power to appoint an influential Federalist, William Marbury, as justice of the peace for the District of Columbia. Since the appointment was made in the last hours of Adams’s presidency, however, the paperwork was not finalized.
Upon taking office on March 4, 1801, Jefferson told his new Secretary of State, James Madison, not to deliver Marbury’s commission. Marbury filed a lawsuit saying he was legally entitled to the position and asking the U.S. Supreme Court to order Madison to honor his appointment. In response, the newly elected, Democrat-Republican Congress passed the Judiciary Act of 1802, which reorganized the federal court system and essentially reversed the earlier act. Although the Supreme Court decided that it did not have jurisdiction to order Madison to give Marbury his job, it also found the Judiciary Act of 1802 unconstitutional. This historic ruling marked the first time that the U.S. Supreme Court had thrown out an act of Congress because it conflicted with the Constitution.