feb 24, 1803 - Marbury v Madison

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Marbury v Madison is a landmark court case that established judicial review. Judicial Review is “the power of the federal courts to declare legislative acts and executive acts unconstitutional”. On John Adams last day in the presidency, he appointed as many Federal judges as he could in an attempt to preserve his Federalist ideals (Jefferson, the next president, had very different ideas). He sent out the letters, but by the next day some of the judges had not received their letters. Jefferson ordered James Madison, his Secretary of State, from delivering the rest of the letters. William Marbury, one of the men denied his letter, sued. Overall, it was ruled that Marbury had the right to ask for the writ of mandamus, but he could not get the job due to conflicts with the Constitution.

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