The Marshall Court

The Supreme Court may never have become what it is today without the influence left behind by former Chief Justice John Marshall (1801-1835). The decisions made by Marshall played a major role in the strengthening of the Supreme Court. Marshall established the "supremacy of the federal judiciary" (Glennon, page 22), enacted Judicial Review, and assigned interpretational power of the constitution to the court. Marbury v. Madison is known as Marshall's landmark case. It is through the proceedings of this case that Marshall was able to change the way the Supreme Court was to be viewed and operated. A brief discussion of the Marbury v. Madison case will help highlight the key issues that forever changed the Supreme Court.

During the time Marshall served on the Supreme Court (years 1801 to 1835), it was known as the Marshall Court. Marshall's landmark decisions concerning Marbury v. Madison were made in the Marshall Court. This case had many individuals involved; including former President Adams, William Marbury, James Madison, and Chief Justice John Marshall. When President Adams was in the last hours of his Presidency when he "quickly named his appointees" to the Judicial Branch in multiple commissions; these commissions were to be immediately sent out (SCH; 2008). Were Adams views better matched with his "appointees"? President Adams was a federalist, enlisting the names of other federalists. The newly awaiting President Thomas Jefferson would deny many of these commissions.

In order for Adam's to complete the commissions he needed to pass the two following statutes; the "Circuit Court and the District of Columbia Acts" (Abraham, page 76). He was able to do this with the help of Congress. It is good to keep in mind that the majority of Congress, at the time, was filled mostly with federalists. Adams goal was to further increase the presence of federalists in Congress. The statutes that Adams had passed enabled him the power to nominate members for the Supreme Court and gave the Senate the right to affirm these nominations. Chief Justice John Marshall was in charge of the delivery of Adam's commissions. Marshall had sent out many of these commissions to the listed nominees and placed the remaining ones on the desk of James Madison.

Some of the commissions Marshal handed off to Madison were not delivered; one of them belonging to William Marbury. By this time, Thomas Jefferson had entered into his new Presidency and did approve with Adam's last minute nominees. Marbury would wait 18 months for an undelivered commission, which he felt entitled to. In return, Marbury demanded to know why the "Secretary of State, James Madison, should not be ordered to deliver the commissions" by filing a Writ of Mandamus to the Supreme Court (Glennon, page 24). Section 13 of the Judiciary Act of 1789 "gave the Supreme Court the authority to issue writs of mandamus" (Abraham, page 77) and it is this given authority that allowed William Marbury to file his complaint directly to the Supreme Court.

Chief Justice Marshall felt the need to re-evaluate the constitution during the Marbury v. Madison case and noticed a conflict between Section 13 of the Judiciary Act and Article III, Section 2 of the Constitution. Article III first states that the United States Supreme Court is given judicial power. In Section 2 of Article III it states "the judicial power shall extend to all cases, in Law and Equity, arising under this constitution". This includes citizens versus states. Marshall saw a conflict between these two Articles of the Constitution. He saw fit to announce that Section 13 of the Judiciary Act was unconstitutional and Marbury could not use his original claims based from Section 13.

When Marshall saw the conflict between the Judiciary Act and Article III of the constitution, he ruled Section 13 of the Act unconstitutional. This is when Marshall exercised the new power of Judicial Review. Judicial Review is when the "Court can invalidate laws that it believes are contrary to the Constitution" (Arcuri, page 72). Judicial review was and is allowed because it is the Justices who are assigned the power to interpret the constitution. This interpretational power has helped define the scope of the Supreme Court's power, as well as the scope of Marshall's impact on the future of the courts. Since Marbury was using the Judiciary Act to support his claim of forcing Madison to deliver the commission, Marshall was able to strike down the case based on the unconstitutionality of Marbury's claim.

Through the Marbury v. Madison case, Marshall was able to exercise the true power of the Supreme Court according to the United States Constitution. He enlisted Judicial Review because the case forced him to re-evaluate the meaning of the Constitution. Since Judicial Review was established, it made it much clearer as to the limits of the Supreme Court over different cases. This gave the court the power to deem certain claims unconstitutional because it also gave the Supreme Court Justices the power of interpretation. Marbury v. Madison was never really about what Marbury was trying to achieve. The case was about the unconstitutionality of Section 13 of the Judiciary Act.

It is possible that, before Marshall's time, Section 13 of the Judiciary Act could have been sufficient for the people of the United States. Time does move forward and so must the laws that govern the United States. Marshall understood this when he began his interpretation of the conflicts between Article III and The Judiciary Act of 1789. He understood that the constitution will have a different meaning when significant changes occur in the United States. Marshall also understood that conflicts in the Constitution may arise. He sought out to understand the power invested in the Supreme Court during the Marbury v. Madison case.

It was Marshall's concern for Nation-State relationships that pushed forward a new interpretation of the Constitution. Marbury wanted to force Madison to deliver the commission according to the Judiciary Act (Section 3). This act had enabled him the power to take the case directly to the Supreme Court, only to have Marshall find a major weakness in the case. Marshall's interpretation of the Constitution cleared a path of true constitutional understanding and assigned the Judicial Powers as they should be. The true power of the Judicial Branch was there for all to see; it only needed the right set of eyes to notice the conflicts and make change based on them.