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Marbury v Madison case essay
Marbury v Madison case essay
In the case of Marbury v. Madison, the Supreme Court flashcards
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Judicial review is the most well known power of the judiciary branch, but as Federalist no. 81 puts it, “[T]here is not a syllable in the [constitution] which directly empowers the national courts to construe laws according to [its] spirit.” Judicial review is “the idea... that the actions of the executive and legislative branches of government are subject to review and possible invalidation by the judicial branch... [as] established in the classic case of Marbury v. Madison” (Legal Information Institute). In 1803, the first instance of judicial review appears. John Adams appointed 42 midnight judges, but he was unable to formalize all appointees before Thomas Jefferson, his predecessor, took the office. Jefferson and James Madison, his secretary …show more content…
of State, refused to formalize the remainder of the judges, one of which was William Marbury. Marbury went to the supreme court to ask for a writ of mandamus to obtain his job from Madison. Writ of Mandamus is “an order from a court to.. [a] government official ordering the government official to properly fulfill their official duties or correct an abuse of discretion” (Legal Information Institute). The supreme court ruled the Judiciary Act of 1789, which stated the court could issue a writ of mandamus, unconstitutional and established judicial review. The judiciary branch should have the power of judicial review to keep a check on in-place-laws, to follow original intent, the goal of the framers, and because it is a checked power. As of now, judicial review is the only way to challenge an unconstitutional law.
It is commonly understood that “No legislative act, therefore, contrary to the Constitution, can be valid” (Federalist No. 78, Doc C), or in other words, all laws must adhere to the constitution. “The courts were designed to be an intermediate body between the people and the legislature, in order, among other things, to keep the latter within limits assigned to their authority” (Federalist No. 78, Doc D). To challenge the constitutionality of law, the only route is appealing to the courts. The courts keep the laws, and the legislature, within the constitution, as stated in Federalist No. 78, or Doc D. Others may argue states can nullify laws as suggested in the Kentucky Resolution, but Osburn v. Bank of the United States. The opinion of the court states “that the agents of a State, alleging the authority of a law void in itself, because repugnant to the constitution, may arrest the execution of any law in the United States”(Osborn v. Bank of United States, 1824); therefore states cannot nullify federal laws. Though judicial review, laws can be nullified and kept within limits of the …show more content…
constitution. The framers of the constitution intended to give the courts the power of judicial review.
As stated in the majority opinion in Marbury v. Madison, “All those who have framed [the] written constitution contemplate them as forming... the theory [that] every such government must be, that an act of the legislature, repugnant to the constitution, is void” (Unanimous Majority Opinion, Marbury v. Madison, 1803, Doc J). Chief Justice John Marshall references the original intent of the framers to give the court the power of judicial review. The court must have the power of judicial review to stay true to the intent of the
framers. Judicial review can be checked by either the legislature or the executive because the judiciary has no enforcement powers. “[The judiciary] may be said to have neither force nor will, but merely judgement; and must ultimately depend upon the aid of the executive arm even for the efficacy of its judgements” (Federalist No. 78, Doc B). Because judicial review is used to check both legislative and executive actions, it can be added that either the executive or legislative arms may result in “the efficacy of its judgements.” The legislature can create new laws and control the budget; The executive has enforcement powers. The judiciary’s opinions must be backed by one, or both, of the other branches to have any effect. The power of judicial review is necessary to check laws already in place, to stay true to original intent, and because it is a checked power. Judicial review is the only way to nullify unconstitutional laws. It has been ruled that states cannot nullify laws and judicial review is now the only route to make unconstitutional laws void. The framers had an understanding that the judiciary may practice judicial review. The judiciary has no power without the executive, the sword, or the legislative, the purse, branches. By judicial review civil rights has been able to take steps towards equality, executive orders can be repealed, and abuse of power is checked. It is important to remember in times of political turmoil that no one branch is supremely powerful over another.
The judicial power, also known back then as The Weakest Branch, was created to achieve an effective collaboration of the powers, what we call now Check and Balances. One of the framers of the Judicial Power was John Marshall. Chief Justice John Marshall is one of the main figures in the history of the US Judicial System. He was the youngest Chief Justices in the history of the United States and was the developer of the most important power of the Supreme Court, The Judicial Review.
In Federalist 78, Alexander Hamilton argued that the Judicial Branch is the “least dangerous to the political rights of the Constitution" and that it is “beyond comparison the weakest of the three departments of power” since it has “neither force nor will, but merely judgment.” [*] While it is true that Hamilton wrote the Federalist Papers as propaganda to garner support for the Constitution by convincing New Yorkers that it would not take away their rights and liberties, it is also true that Article III of the Constitution was deliberately vague about the powers of the Judicial Branch to allow future generations to decide what exactly those powers should be. In the 1803 case of Marbury v. Madison, the Supreme Court, led by Chief Justice John Marshall, established the Court’s power of judicial review. However, as Jill Lepore, Harvard professor of American History, argued, “This was such an astonishing thing to do that the Court didn’t declare another federal law unconstitutional for fifty-four years” after declaring the Judicial Act of 1789 unconstitutional in Marbury v. Madison. [*Jill Lepore] Alexander Hamilton was incorrect in his assertion that the Judicial Branch is the least dangerous to political rights and the weakest of the three government branches because judicial review has made the Supreme Court more powerful than he had anticipated. From 1803 to today, the controversial practice of judicial activism in the Supreme Court has grown—as exemplified by the differing decisions in Minor v. Happersett and United States v. Virginia—which, in effect, has increased the power of the Supreme Court to boundaries beyond those that Alexander Hamilton stated in Federalist 78.
One of the Judicial Branch’s many powers is the power of judicial review. Judicial review allows the Supreme Court to decide whether or not the other branches of governments’ actions are constitutional or not. This power is very important because it is usually the last hope of justice for many cases. This also allows the court to overturn lower courts’ rulings. Cases like Miranda v. Arizona gave Miranda justice for having his rules as a citizen violated. The court evalutes whether any law was broken then makes their ruling. Also, the Weeks v. United States case had to be reviewed by the court because unlawful searches and siezures were conducted by officers. One of the most famous cases involving judicial review was the Plessey v. Ferguson
Accordingly, Chief Justice Marshall ruled that Marbury and the others received appointments via the appropriate procedures governed by law, thus had the justification to a writ, as well as, the fact that the law needed to accord a solution to the dilemma. Furthermore, Marshall maintained the courts were responsible to ensure individual rights even if they were contrary to presidential design. As to the Supreme Courts authority to issue such a writ per the Constitution, Marshall ruled that the Constitution addresses this issue in Section 13 of the Judiciary Act of 1789, which grants the right to do so, but this one was unconstitutional because it did not involve a case of original jurisdiction, thus would be invalid (LAWNIX, n.d.). Hence, the Supreme Court could not issue a writ of mandamus; therefore, Marbury received a denial for his commission. Because of this decision, even though Marbury did not obtain his commission, the long- term effect of this monumental decision magnified the power of the Court to mandate via judicial review what a law proclaims, thus establishing the court as the final arbitrator of the
The Constitution confers judicial power on the Supreme Court and on inferior courts as created by Congress (Hames & Ekern, 2013). Judicial review is the power of the court to interpret the Constitution and invalidate conflicting laws.
The Judiciary Branch offers checks and balances to the other branches of government. To both the Legislative and Executive branches, the Judicial Branch holds the power of judicial review. The Judicial branch can also declare existing laws as unconstitutional.
In the early years of the Constitution the legislative and executive branches held the power to establish and enforce any laws. This was prevalent up until the Marbury v. Madison case in 1803. John Marshall, as the Chief Justice during the case, declared that the Judicial Act of 1801, appointing numerous federalist “midnight judges” to judicial positions in the government, was unconstitutional. By overruling a law passed by Congress itself, Marshall was able to prove the Supreme Court as a center of power that can even have precedence over Congress, the President, and all other courts if it is necessary to determine constitutionality. Also known as Judicial Review, this power was the base on which John Marshall build up the Supreme Court to be respected and equal to the other branches. The power of the Supreme Court and federal law was continued into the next major case, Fletcher v. Peck. When Georgia wanted the land they gave to the Yazoo Company back after elections, their government brought it to court. John Marshall and the Supreme Court declared that land grant contracts cannot be repealed and made contracts “sacred”. Marshall utilized the power of the Supreme Court to overrule the decision made by Georgia. The establishment of Judicial Review is prevalent in the outcome of Fletcher v. Peck in that the federal judiciary
Jefferson’s first act as president was to tell Secretary of State James Madison to withhold the midnight appointment of William Marbury to the office of Justice of the Peace of the District of Columbia. Marbury sued for the appointment President Adams had given him and Chief Justice John Marshall ruled in his favor. The case Marbury vs. Madison set the precedent of the courts right to judicial review of the other branches of government.
On June 26, 2015, The U.S. Supreme Court ruled that same-sex marriage is a fundamental right in the decision on Obergefell et al. v. Hodges, Director, Ohio Department of Health, et al. This controversial decision overturned the law of more than 17 states. In the 5-4 decision, Justices Kennedy, Ginsburg, Breyer, Sotomayor and Kagan voted with the majority and Justices Roberts, Scalia, Thomas and Alito were dissenting. At the heart of the controversy is the philosophy of judicial restraint and judicial activism. Was the Obergefell decision an example of judicial activism? Certainly, because it declared state laws banning same-sex marriages as unconstitutional. The Court’s decision, which was based on precedent and interpretation of the Constitution, was just.
The Judicial Branch consists of the United States Supreme Court and the lower federal courts. Their role is to hear cases that challenges the legislation or are in need of interpretation of that legislation. (Phaedra Trethan, 2013) (Federal Government, 2003) (Sparknotes, LLC, 2011) (Independence Hall Association, 2008-2012)
Before the adoption of the United States Constitution, the U.S. was governed by the Articles of Confederation. These articles stated that almost every function of the government was chartered by the legislature known as Congress. There was no distinction between legislative or executive powers. This was a major shortcoming in how the United States was governed as many leaders became dissatisfied with how the government was structured by the Articles of Confederation. They felt that the government was too weak to effectively deal with the upcoming challenges. In 1787, an agreement was made by delegates at the Constitutional Convention that a national judiciary needed to be established. This agreement became known as The Constitution of the United States, which explicitly granted certain powers to each of the three branches of the federal government, while reserving other powers exclusively to the states or to the people as individuals. It is, in its own words, “the supreme Law of the Land” (Shmoop Editorial Team).
Judiciary as the Most Powerful Branch of Government In answering this question I will first paint a picture of the power that the court holds, and decide whether this is governmental power. Then I will outline the balances that the court must maintain in its decision making and therefore the checks on its actions as an institution that governs America. "Scarcely any political question arises that is not resolved sooner or later into a judicial question." (Alexis de Tocqueville Democracy in America) If we take Tocqueville on his word then the American Judiciary truly is in a powerful position.
The Founding Fathers limit the power of government in the Constitution utilizing many different tactics, many more than even the aforementioned. Their main intent was to make the nation less democratic and to keep the government small. The Constitution has accomplished the Founding Fathers' goal until now, and will hopefully continue doing so in the future.
The Constitution of the United States was ratified in 1787 and it established the powers of the federal government. Its intended purpose was to protect individual rights and liberties. It constructed the three branches of government that we know today: Executive, legislative and judicial. These branches created a separation of powers, in addition to check and balances. Originally, the judicial branch did not have much power when the constitution was written. It was not until the case of Marbury v Madison in 1803 that it actually established the judicial review. The judicial review is what gave the federal courts a great deal of power to void acts of Congress that they deemed violates the Constitution. After this case, the Supreme Court Justices
President John Adams and the Federalist lost the election to Thomas Jefferson. The lame-duck Federalist of Congress enacted a Judiciary Act. The act created 58 new judgeships that Adams appointed. Forty two included justiceships of the peace. “Jefferson complained that the Federalist ‘have retired into the judiciary as a stronghold’” (Black, n.d.). Towards the end of Adams presidency, many people beside Marbury were appointed to government positions. Acting Secretary of the State John Marshall had affixed the official seal for the justices of the peace to the commissions. However they did not get delivered until the day after Adams left office. The day after Thomas Jefferson was inaugurated; James Madison was the new Secretary of State was directed to withhold delivery of the commissions which included William Marbury and 16 others. Murbury sued to have his commission handed over by Madison. Because of the Presidential seal of the United States, Marbury had the right to judicial review because the seal made it official. The Supreme Court was in charge of all cases that included public ministers, consuls and ambassadors. Having this case gave the Supreme Court the power of judicial review.