The Marbury v. Madison case of 1803 was a key point in early United States judicial history.

It
showed the continuous feud between Thomas Jefferson and the Federalists. It was also the rise of Chief
Justice of the Supreme Court, John Marshall. Most importantly, it was the first of many times judicial
review would be used.
President John Adams, in an attempt to bolster Federalist occupancy of key positions in
government, made many midnight appointments of judges in his final hours as president. John
Marshall, then Secretary of State, did not deliver the Justice of the Peace appointment documents for
William Marbury, a Maryland-based Federalist, before the end of Adams' presidency. On march 4,
1801, at midnight, Adams' presidency ended and Thomas Jefferson became president of the United
States. John Marshall became Chief Justice of the Supreme Court and James Madison took the reigns
of Secretary of State. Jefferson, determined to remove Federalists from office and unconcerned with his
recent oath, directed Madison to withhold delivery of the appointment documents, preventing Marbury
from becoming Justice of the peace for the District of Columbia. Marbury then sued for a writ of
mandamus demanding Madison to do his job and deliver his commission.
This placed Marshall in a tough position. He had three options at this point. He could refuse to
issue the writ of mandamus, aiding Jefferson's abuse of power, greatly harming his judicial career and
showing the weakness of the court. His second option was to issue the writ of mandamus, however the
court had no authority to enforce this decision. His third and final option, the one he chose, was to
chastise Jefferson for breaking his oath and abusing his power, and to examine the case in greater
detail.
To better understand his situation, Marshall reviewed the Federal Judiciary Act of 1789, which
granted the Supreme Court original jurisdiction for writ of mandamus cases. Marshall determined this
Act to be unconstitutional because the Constitution gave the Supreme Court original jurisdiction, but
only for cases involving foreign ambassadors or states. This decision resolved Marshall's immediate
dilemma because he could now pass the case on to another court and remain impartial, however it did

nothing to appease Jefferson, who wrote "The opinion which gives to the judges the right to decide
what laws are constitutional, and what not, not only for themselves in their own sphere of action, but
also for the Legislature and Executive also, in their spheres, would make the judiciary a despotic
branch."
The most significant aspect of Marshall's decision was that it established the Court's right to
judicial review, whereby the court has the right to determine whether or not Congressional laws were
constitutional. In his own words, A Law repugnant to the Constitution is void. John Marshall had set
the court up as the final decision-makers when interpreting laws, a power they have used since then to
shut down over 1,200 laws.
Marbury v. Madison proved to be an extremely, if not the most, influential case for the Supreme
Court. It may have not settled any issues between the new president, Thomas Jefferson, and the
Federalist party. And it may have created new issues between Jefferson and Chief Justice John
Marshall, but it elevated the Supreme Court to levels on par with the Executive and Legislative
branches of government. It elevated John Marshall's status, making him, as some might say, the most
important judge in Supreme Court history. And, most importantly, it established judicial review, a right
of the Supreme Court that remains, too this day, very beneficial.