Marbury V. Madison and Its Importance

In the Supreme Court case Marbury vs. Madison, Chief Justice John Marshall made a decision that would be a landmark case and have great significance in American History. William Marbury was appointed by President John Adams, as he was leaving office, to be the Justice of the Peace for the District of Colombia. Marbury's appoint however was part of the infamous "midnight judges" scandal and so his claim to the position as Justice of the Peace was disputed by the Jeffersonian administration as invalid. Most of the Midnight Judges never put up a fight but William Marbury wanted the title of Justice of the Peace and so he petitioned the Supreme Court to force Secretary of State John Madison to hand over his commission which Madison had refused to deliver. The Court, with presiding Chief Justice John Marshall denied his petition. In this case Marshall decreed that a law passed by Congress, upon which Marbury based his claim to his commission, the Judiciary Act of 1789, was unconstitutional and that Marbury's case was based on a law that was repugnant to the constitution could not be carried out.

This was the first time that the Supreme Court had declared a law "unconstitutional." From this decision came the concept that the Judicial Branch could nullify the actions of the other branches of government. From this concept sprung the notion of Judiciary Supremacy which instead of three equal branches of government would place the Judiciary in a position superior to the other branches of government and make them subservient. Marshall made this decision because he was taking a course of action that would not humiliate the Judicial Branch by being ignored by the Executive Branch. Jefferson did not agree with the ruling but he had been put in a position that he could not just ignore the Court and so accepted the decision

Most importantly we see in this decision that Chief Justice Marshall wanted to preserve the powers of the Judiciary. Scholars have since shown that Marshall had acted improperly by saying that the problem was out of his jurisdiction and despite the fact that a writ of mandamus could have been legally issued Marshal did not. This preservation was not supposed to make the Executive Branch subservient to the Judicial Branch; it was to simply establish their equality. Though this was Marshall's intention it did not matter, the die was cast and the seed was sown for Judicial Review, which is only authorized by a personal interpretation of the constitution, which is now a major part of the American legal community.

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Marbury v. Madison- Wikipedia the Free Encyclopedia
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