Marbury v. Madison
The Marbury vs. Madison case resulted in the most important Supreme Court decision in history. The court's ruling established the power of judicial review, solidified the Constitutional system of checks and balances, strengthened the power of the federal government, and made the Judiciary an equal partner with the Legislative and Executive branches of government. In the Election, Thomas Jefferson and his anti-federalist Republican Party defeated the incumbent John Adams and the Federalist Party. The Republicans also won a majority in Congress. In an effort to keep at least one branch of the government under Federalist control before the Republicans took office, Congress passed the Judiciary Act of 1801 in a lame-duck session. The bill reformed a 1789 statute and created many new judgeships. Adams nominated judges and the Senate confirmed them. Adams then stayed up until long after midnight on March 3, 1801, his last full day in office, signing commissions that put fifty-nine loyal Federalists in office. These were the so-called "midnight judges." In the final weeks before Jefferson took office, John Marshall was Secretary of State and Chief Justice simultaneously. As Secretary of State, he had the task o
f delivering these commissions. In the press of business, before Adams left office he delivered all but seventeen. Marshall left these on his desk for the incoming Secretary, James Madison, to deliver. Outraged by Adams' appointments, Jefferson ordered Madison not to deliver the commissions. Four of the uncommissioned justices of the peace, including William Marbury, sought a writ of mandamus, or order directing Madison to deliver the commissions. Madison disregarded the preliminary order by Marshall to deliver the commissions. Next, Congress, using its authority under the Constitution to make "regulations" for the federal court, shut down the Supreme Court for a year. Today, the actual decision is unimportant. Even at the time that the case was decided, it was insignificant because Marbury's term as justice would have ended by the time the Court was ready to consider it. However, this did not prevent Marshall from using the case to suit his purposes. Marshall faced quite a dilemma with this decision. In the first place, Marshall's own failure to deliver the commissions had caused the situation. (At this point, there were no formal rules requiring judges to disqualify themselves in cases where they were personally involved.) If Marshall granted Marbury's request for a writ of mandamus, Jefferson and Madison could ignore the writ because the Court seemed so weak. If he denied the request, the Supreme Court would be left a "helpless victim of presidential or congressional whim". Marshall "disposed of the problem by a m
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Approximate Word count = 1028
Approximate Pages = 4 (250 words per page double spaced)
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