Marbury v. Madison refers to the election of 1800 when the Democrat-Republicans with Thomas Jefferson beat the Federalists and a current President John Adams. In an attempt to retain power, Adams decided to appoint a considerable number of new judges in the last several months of his presidency to carry on his legacy. He passed a law called the Midnight Judges Act, nominated people, and prepared commissions for new judges but ran out of time (Soomo Publishing, 2013). When Jefferson took the office and saw undelivered commissions he ordered James Madison, his secretary of state, to not deliver them as Jefferson did not want Federalists as judges.
However, one of these judges, William Marbury, wanted to ask the Supreme Court to issue a writ of mandamus, a mandate, meaning that something that happened in case of his appointment would not be delivered to him. As a result, John Marshall, the Supreme Court Chief Justice, found himself in an awkward situation – on the one hand, he was responsible for the appointment’s delivery and wanted Marbury to be a judge (Soomo Publishing, 2013). On the other hand, he did not want to complicate the relationship of the Supreme Court with a new administration. In addition, Congress served notice that the ignorance of the president’s orders would directly lead to negative consequences for the Supreme Court.
Marshall addressed the Judiciary Act of 1789 and discovered that a writ of mandamus had been an expansion of the Court’s power under the Constitution. As a result, he stated that the part of this act was unconstitutional and should be null and void as it conflicted with the Constitution, and the Supreme Court did not have the power to issue a mandate (Soomo Publishing, 2013). Thus, he established a precedent for judicial review that means that the Supreme Court has a unique power to say what the Constitution is, examine laws, and compare them with the highest law of the country to decide whether they are valid or should be null and void.
Reference
Soomo Publishing. (2013). Supreme Court stories: Marbury v. Madison [Video]. YouTube.