Constitutional Dbq Research Paper

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On account of the case of Marbury v. Madison, the Supreme Court decided that they lacked the ability to mandate President Jefferson to distribute the commissions that he had told Secretary of State James Madison to not distribute to the "midnight judges". The Supreme Court has the ability to issue writs of mandamus due to the Judiciary Act of 1789; however, in article III of the Constitution this is not permitted. By settling on this choice, the Supreme Court first showed its capability of judicial review. Some would debate that the power of judicial review gives the judicial branch too much power above the other branches, while others debate this power is important to keep the government stable and functioning. The Supreme Court should have …show more content…

The supreme law of the land, the United States, is the Constitution; all laws are meant to adhere to the supreme law of the land. Hamilton said that all laws should be based on the constitution, and if any laws go against the constitution then they must “give place to the Constitution” (Document E). In the history of the United States there have been laws passed that do not comply with the Constitution. Based on the fact that the Constitution is stated to be the “Supreme Law of the Land” (Document G) in the Constitution, any law that does not agree with it should be overruled. The legislative branch has created laws that are unconstitutional before; however, the Supreme Court has always declared these laws unconstitutional and, therefore, void. If not for the power of judicial review these laws would never have been made void; these laws would have been kept and would have stripped many constitutional rights from the people of the United States. The Supreme Court should have the power to overrule unconstitutional laws because if not for this power many constitutional rights would no longer

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