Marbury v. Madison

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1803 landmark U.S. Supreme Court case establishing judicial review

1803 United States Supreme Court case

Marbury v. Madison, 5 U.S. (1 Cranch) 137 (1803), is a landmark decision of the Supreme Court of the United States that established the principle of judicial review , meaning that American courts have the power to strike down laws and statutes they find to violate the Constitution of the United States . Decided in 1803, Marbury is regarded as the single most important decision in American constitutional law.[1] It established that the U.S. Constitution is actually law, not merely a statement of political principles and ideals. It also helped define the boundary between the constitutionally separate executive and judicial branches of the federal government .

The case originated in early 1801 and stemmed from the rivalry between outgoing president John Adams and incoming president Thomas Jefferson .[2] Adams, a member of the Federalist Party , had lost the U.S. presidential election of 1800 to Jefferson, who led the Democratic-Republican Party . In March 1801, just two days before his term as president ended, Adams appointed several dozen Federalist Party supporters to new circuit judge and justice of the peace positions in an attempt to frustrate Jefferson and the Democratic-Republicans.[3] The outgoing U.S. Senate quickly confirmed Adams's appointments, but outgoing secretary of state John Marshall was unable to deliver all of the new judges' commissions before Adams's departure and Jefferson's inauguration.[3] Jefferson believed the undelivered commissions were void and instructed his secretary of state, James Madison , not to deliver them.[4] One of the undelivered commissions belonged to William Marbury , a Maryland businessman who had been a strong supporter of Adams and the Federalists. In late 1801, after Madison had repeatedly refused to deliver his commission, Marbury filed a lawsuit in the Supreme Court asking the court to issue a writ of mandamus forcing Madison to deliver his commission.[5]

In an opinion written by Marshall, who by then had been appointed Chief Justice of the United States , the Supreme Court held that Madison's refusal to deliver Marbury's commission was illegal. The court also held that it was normally proper in such situations for a court to order the government official in question to deliver the commission.[6] In Marbury's case, however, the court did not order Madison to comply. Examining the law Congress had passed to define Supreme Court jurisdiction over types of cases like Marbury's—section 13 of the Judiciary Act of 1789 —the court found that the Act had expanded the definition of the Supreme Court's jurisdiction beyond what was originally set forth in the U.S. Constitution.[7] The court then struck down section 13 of the act, announcing that American courts have the power to invalidate laws that they find to violate the Constitution—a power now known as judicial review.[8] Because striking down the law removed any jurisdiction the court might have had over the case, the court could not issue the writ that Marbury had requested.

Background

President John Adams , who appointed Marbury just before his presidential term ended.

Thomas Jefferson , who succeeded Adams and believed Marbury's undelivered commission was void.

William Marbury , whose commission Madison refused to deliver.

James Madison , Jefferson's Secretary of State, who withheld Marbury's commission.

In the fiercely contested U.S. presidential election of 1800, the three main candidates were Thomas Jefferson, Aaron Burr , and the incumbent president, John Adams.[9] Adams espoused the pro-business and pro-national-government politics of the Federalist Party and its leader, Alexander Hamilton . Jefferson and Burr were leaders of the opposition Democratic-Republican Party, which favored rural agriculture and decentralization. American public opinion had gradually turned against the Federalists in the months leading up to the election. The shift was mainly due to the Federalists' use of the controversial Alien and Sedition Acts , but also due to growing tensions with Great Britain , with whom the Federalists favored close ties.[10] Jefferson easily won the election's popular vote but only narrowly defeated Adams in the Electoral College .[11]

After the results of the election became clear, Adams and the Federalists became determined to exercise their remaining influence before Jefferson took office, and they did everything they could to fill federal offices with "anti-Jeffersonians" who were loyal to the Federalists.[12] On March 2, 1801, just two days before his presidential term ended,[a] Adams nominated nearly 60 Federalist supporters to new circuit judge and justice of the peace positions the Federalist-controlled Congress had recently created. These last-minute nominees—whom Jefferson's supporters derisively called the "Midnight Judges "—included William Marbury, a prosperous businessman from Maryland .[13] An ardent Federalist, Marbury was active in Maryland politics and had been a vigorous supporter of the Adams presidency.[14]

The following day, March 3, the Senate approved Adams's nominations en masse. The appointees' commissions were immediately written out on parchment , then signed by Adams and sealed by Secretary of State John Marshall, who had been named the new chief justice of the Supreme Court in January but agreed to continue serving as Secretary of State for the remaining weeks of Adams's presidency.[15] Marshall then dispatched his younger brother James Markham Marshall to deliver the commissions to the appointees.[5] With only one day left before Jefferson's inauguration, James Marshall was able to deliver most of the commissions, but a few—including Marbury's—were not delivered.[16]

The day after, March 4, 1801, Jefferson was sworn in and became the third president of the United States. Jefferson instructed his new secretary of state, James Madison, to withhold the undelivered commissions.[16] In Jefferson's opinion, the commissions were void because they had not been delivered before Adams left office.[4] Without their commissions, the appointees were unable to assume their new offices and dutie

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