Marbury V Madison

Marbury v. Madison (1803)

Marbury v. Madison has been hailed as one of the most significant cases that the Supreme Court has ruled upon. In this paper, I will explain the origins and background in the case, discuss the major Constitutional issues it raised, and outline the major points of the courts decision. I will also explain the significance of this key decision.

Origins and background of the case

In the late 1700's, John Adams was President. Adams was a member of the Federalist Party. The Federalists were in control of the Congress. Adams and other Federalists were Pro-British and the Republican Party was Pro-French. Thomas Jefferson led the Republicans. Federalists were worried that the influx of French into the country could become a powerful voting block. The Alien and Sedition Acts were passed by the Federalist controlled Congress to deal with this problem. The first of the laws was the Naturalization Act. This act required that aliens be residents for 14 years instead of 5 years before they became eligible for U.S. citizenship. Congress then passed the Alien Act, authorizing the President to deport aliens "dangerous to the peace and safety of the United States" during peacetime. The third law, the Alien Enemies Act, allowed the wartime arrest, imprisonment and deportation of any alien subject to an enemy power.

The last of the laws, the Sedition Act, declared that any treasonable activity, including the publication of "any false, scandalous and malicious writing," was a high misdemeanor, punishable by fine and imprisonment. The public was outraged and felt that this was a violation of their rights and that the government was becoming too overbearing.

The Alien and Sedition Acts were a major reason that John Adams was not re-elected in the election of 1800. The people were very unhappy with the Federalist controlled government and this propelled the Republicans under Thomas Jefferson to win the election. There was a long lame duck period between the November election and the inauguration of a new president, and the Congress that met in December 1800 was the old Congress. The Federalist controlled Congress passed the Judiciary Act of 1801, which created circuit courts of appeal, and relieved the justices of the Supreme Court of their obligation to travel around the country to hear cases. It also increased the jurisdiction of the federal courts. Adams immediately appointed several new judges and the Senate confirmed the 16 new judges to these courts, all Federalists. James Madison was one of the 42 Justices of the Peace that were also created with the Judiciary Act of 1801. These Justices served the Washington and Virginia areas. It is also important to know that all of these Justices were also Federalists. Adams was trying to stack the Judiciary with the outgoing Federalist Party members. Many of these Justices were qualified to hold these jobs however.

John Marshall was the Secretary of State for President Adams. It was his job to deliver these commissions to the new appointees. Many of them were delivered, but some were not, including, William Marbury's. When the new President, Thomas Jefferson, was sworn in, he told the new Secretary of State, James Madison, to not deliver the commissions to the other judge appointees. Marbury and several others brought a lawsuit to make Madison deliver their commissions. They asked the Supreme Court, in its original jurisdiction, to issue a writ of "mandamus", a court order directing Madison (but really President Jefferson) to carry out his duty to deliver the commissions. We now have the case of William Marbury, v. James Madison in front of the Supreme Court, with ex-Secretary of State John Marshall as Chief Justice.

Constitutional Issues raised

1. Did Marbury have a right to the appointment?

2. Do the laws of the country give Marbury a legal remedy?

3. Is asking the Supreme Court for a writ of mandamus the correct legal remedy?

There is also some argument if this case is one of Original Jurisdiction. The Supreme Court can hear two types of cases, Appellate cases and ones of Original Jurisdiction. This case was accepted as one of Original Jurisdiction. Original Jurisdiction cases are mentioned in Article III of the Constitution; "In all Cases affecting Ambassadors, other public Ministers and Consuls, and those in which a State shall be a Party, the supreme Court shall have original Jurisdiction. In all the other Cases [within the judicial power of the United States], the supreme Court shall have appellate Jurisdiction, both as to Law and Fact, with such Exceptions, and under such Regulations as the Congress shall make."

Main Points of the Courts Decision

Chief Justice John Marshall was in a difficult place. He knew that if he ordered President Jefferson to do the appointment that he would refuse and thus the court would be weakened. Marshall wrote in his opinion that Marbury was in fact entitled to the commission, but could the court actually order this? Marshall finds that the failure to deliver the commission was "violative of a vested legal right." Marshall looked at the Judiciary Act of 1787. This Act gave