24 feb 1803 anni - Marbury v. Madison

Descrizione:

Key Event: Marbury v. Madison is arguably the most important Supreme Court Case in American history, as it had developed the principle of judicial review and shaped our government to have the system of checks and balances.

Defined: Marbury, who is one of Adam’s midnight judges, had never received his papers from the Secretary of State. When Adam had finished his term, the task of delivering the papers was for the new Secretary of State, James Madison. However, he had refused to give Marbury his papers and commission because he did not want to see a Federalist judge in power. Marbury decides to sue Madison, where the court (including John Marshall) decides he should receive his commission but are unable to enforce it due to the Judiciary Act of 1789. Only the executive branch was able to secure Marbury’s payment from Madison.

Described: Thomas Jefferson’s Democratic-Republican party had defeated John Adam’s Federalist party in the election of 1800, creating panic amongst Federalist party members. They feared that their political influence would decrease, so in the final days of Adam’s presidency, he had delegated 39 new justices of peace for the District of Columbia.

Short Term: Through the establishment of “Judicial Review”, the power of the Supreme Court had grown tremendously, while instituting that the judicial branch is equal to the legislative and executive branches. Judicial Review granted the Supreme Court with the ability to determine what is constitutional, protecting the fundamental rights of the people. In the case, the Supreme Court ruled the Judiciary Act of 1789 was unconstitutional

Long Term: The Marbury v. Madison case assisted in the development of the system of checks and balances in the government, protecting our country’s democracy. The case also created a very important precedent for future cases; the Court had the right to reviews acts of Congress and actions of the President; the Court could overrule unconstitutional laws.

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