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Judicial review in the United States
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Marbury v madison and judicial review essay
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Marbury v. Madison
This case established the power of judicial review in the U.S. Supreme Court. This power was later extended to all Federal Courts. This empowered Federal Courts to decide legal issues raised by state constitutions and common-law decisions that may violate the Constitution. They are to review laws that are enacted by The President and Congress, identify and invalidate those that violate the Constitution of the United States.
William Marbury was appointed Justice of the Peace in the District of Columbia. President Adams neglected to deliver the commissions (warrants) of several appointees. President Adams ordered Secretary of State James Madison to withhold Marbury’s commission. Marbury the petitioned the Supreme
John Adams, the previous Federalist president, lost the Election of 1800 to Thomas Jefferson, a Democratic-Republican. Before Jefferson took office, Adams decided to appoint as many Federalists into the Supreme court as he could, including William Marbury, all of whom needed to be commissioned in order to be officially sworn in. However, Jefferson took office before the commissions could be handed out, and he ordered his Secretary of State, James Madison, to not deliver the commissions. Marbury proceeded to ask Marshall for a writ of mandamus (found in Section 13 of the Judiciary Act), forcing Madison to issue the commissions. This dispute between Marbury and Madison sparks the famous case. The dilemma here is the differences in interpretation. Some viewed Section 13 as unconstitutional, as it added power to the Judicial Branch, disrupting checks and balances. Others saw that “Marbury had been duly appointed…[and] the writ of mandamus [was] to be an appropriate legal remedy for resolving Marbury’s dilemma”(Clinton 86). Marshall wanted to issue the...
In the case of U.S. v Jones, the judicial branch had to address the questionable topic of whether or not the Fourth Amendment was violated (). Since this case was not black and white and did bring up many questions as to what was constitutional, the judges had to use judicial review. Judicial review is the power that allows judges to interpret the meaning of laws (Class, March 13). Once a law is understood a certain way, the people must follow it (Class, __). The U.S. v Jones case deals with the Bill of Rights (United, 1). This is due to the circumstance that the Fourth Amendment is included in the Bill of Rights document stating that “searches and seizures” cannot be done without a warrant (Class,___). The case of U.S. v Jones was about the violation of Jones’s Fourth Amendment when a GPS device was placed on his jeep without his consent because he was suspected of drug possession (United, 1). Since judges have the power to informally amend the Constitution using judicial review (Class, ___), they must take into consideration many contributing elements when making a decision.
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.
Madison as he was in the Louisiana Purchase, he was still a key player in this episode that redefined the Judiciary branch of American government. Jefferson had just taken over the presidency from John Adams, a member of the rival Federalist Party, who, during his last days in office, had many of his fellow Federalists assigned offices in the Judiciary, including the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court, John Marshall (Goldfield 277). Jefferson and his Secretary of State, James Madison, resented this Federalist grab for power and refused to give one of the appointees his position. This appointee, William Marbury, used the Judiciary Act of 1789 to take the issue to court (277). However Marshall, did not rule that Marbury be given his appointment by Jefferson, who had been actively removing Federalist Judges and would likely choose not to acknowledge Marshall’s authority (277). Marshall took a different approach, instead of giving Marbury his appointment, he declared the Judiciary Act of 1789 unconstitutional because it gave the Supreme Court authority that was beyond what was outlined in the Constitution (277). By taking away some of his own authority, Marshall gave the Supreme Court the formidable ability to declare laws unconstitutional (277). Interestingly, it would never have happened if Jefferson and his administration had not have taken action (or in this case lack of action) against the appointment
At the end of President John Adam's term, his secretary of state, John Marshall, failed to deliver documents commissioning William Marbury as the new Justice of Peace. Thomas Jefferson claimed the commissions as invalid and denied Marbury the right of Justice of Peace. Marbury then sued Jefferson's Secretary of State, James Madison asking the supreme court to demand the delivery of the documents.
The Supreme Court exercised its interpretation of the Constitution and found that a violation of the First Amendment was apparent and therefore, also a violation of the fourteenth Amendment showing that due process of the law was not given.
1. The court stated that they did have power to hear this case: "Since the court has consistently exercised the power to construe and delineate claims arising under express powers, it must follow that the Court has authority to interpret claims with respect to powers alleged to derive from enumerated powers."
Marbury v. Madison, which established the power of judicial review for the Supreme Court, changed the course of American history. This power to review legislation that congress has passed and possibly deem it unconstitutional has had a profound impact on American society. This power provides a check on the Legislative branch, but it also lends itself to an important debate over when the Court can and should use this power. Should the court use this power to increase the power of the national government, something many call judicial activism? Or should this power be used to curtail national legislative power and increase the liberties given to individuals? During the period around the Great Depression, the court dealt with many economic cases regarding these questions, and at first glance, it appears that they did not seem to favor either the government or the individual. Looking closer, however, one sees that the cases that side with the individual struck down legislation that interfered with the commerce clause or police power. When legislation invoking either of the aforementioned clauses was provided, the Supreme Court tended to side with the Government over the individual, as seen in the cases Munn v. Illinois, National Relations Board v. Jones, and Wickard v. Filburn. When the legislation provided had no business with the commerce clause or police power, such as in Adkins v. Children’s Hospital, the court had no choice but to side with the individual.
The case of Marbury v. Madison centers on a case brought before the Supreme Court by William Marbury. Shortly after Thomas Jefferson defeated John Adams in the election of 1800, Congress increased the number of circuit courts. Adams sought to fill these new vacancies with people who had Federalist backgrounds. To accomplish this, he used the powers granted under the Organic Act to issue appointments to 42 justices of the peace and 16 circuit court justices for the District of Columbia. Adams signed the appointments on his last day in office and they were subsequently sealed by Secretary of State John Marshall. However, many of the appointments were not delivered before Adams left office and Jefferson ordered the deliveries stopped when he took charge. Marbury was one of Adams’ appointees for justice of the peace. Marbury brought a case before the Supreme Court seeking a writ of mandamus compelling the new Secretary of State James Madison to deliver the appointment.
There were commissions that Thomas Jefferson had not delivered and ordered his Secretary of State James Madison not to deliver them. On the other hand, William Marbury petitioned the Supreme Court for a legal order for Madison to show-case why he should not receive commission. In resolving the case, Chief Justice Marshall answered some questions based on Marbury having...
The first section of the finding was that Marbury had been “duly appointed… and that the secretary of state did not have the privilege to later withhold it” (Clinton 15-16). Referring to the writ of mandamus, Marshall also ruled that the writ constituted as “appropriate legal remedy for resolution” (Clinton 16). The second section of the decision dealt with the power of the Court to issue the writ, ruling that the “Court’s answer is negative” (Clinton 16). What this means, in terms of the verdict, was Marbury was entitled to his commission and has applied for an appropriate legal remedy, but was in the wrong court. Clinton uses this to show the significance of the first Supreme Court usage of judicial review. By ruling on this, Marshall did indeed establish the notion of judicial review, but, ironically, the Chief Justice, by coining this term, decreased the power of the Supreme Court and the Judiciary. This, however, lead to what Clinton calls a state decisis, or a doctrine of precedence that becomes “the very essence of judicial duty” (Clinton 30).
Maryland (1819), the state of Maryland had passed an act to set a tax on all banks not chartered by the legislature. The bank that McCulloch worked at had that tax imposed on it but McCulloch refused to pay the tax. So the state of Maryland sued him. “…involved the question of whether Congress had the power to charter a national bank-an explicit grant of power nowhere to be found in Article I, Section 8. Chief Justice John Marshall answered that this power could be “implied” from other powers that were expressly delegated to Congress, such as the “powers to lay and collect taxes; to borrow money; to regulate commerce; and to declare and conduct a war.” Marshall’s decision rested on “the necessary and proper clause” of Article I, Section 8, which gave Congress the power to enact laws “necessary and proper” for executing its substantive powers.”(We The People, p.
The Supreme Court case of Marbury v. Madison occurred in 1803. During President John Adams last few hours as President, he appointed Marbury and a few other people as Supreme Court Justices. The Senate confirmed his nominations, and the commissions were signed. John Marshall, President Adams' secretary of state did not physically deliver the commissions before his presidency ended because he simply ran out of time. Thomas Jefferson became President after Adams and did not to allow his Secretary of State, James Madison, to deliver the commission to Marbury. The plaintiff, in this case Marbury, sued Madison in the Supreme Court and argued that in refusing to deliver the commission, Madison was neglecting his Constitutional duty.
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.
Arguably the most important case of the United States Judicial Branch, Marbury v. Madison lead the way for many inferences on how the court system of the United States works. First, it was the first Supreme Court case to apply the principal of judicial review; this allowing federal courts the right to void acts of Congress that are in conflict with the Constitution (McBride, 2006). The history of this commanding case starts with the election of 1800; President Adams was running for reelection, however, his rivaling hopeful was Thomas Jefferson. Jefferson won the election, and in his last moments in office Adams appointed numerous people the role of Justices of Peace for the District of Columbia, including William Marbury. When Jefferson took office in early March of 1801, he told his Secretary of State, James Madison, to not issue these newly appointed Justices of Peace