Marbury Vs. Madison: The Supreme Court Case Brief

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The issue in Marbury VS Madison originated when John Adams named forty-two justices before he left office. This was done to keep a check on the anti-federalist once Thomas Jefferson was elected. The ant-federalist were outrage, resulting in Thomas Jefferson deciding to not honor the commissions. The reasoning Jefferson gave was that “they had not been delivered by the end of Adam’s term.” This was a result of John Marshall failure to deliver them before Adams had left the presidency. Marbury decided to bring the case forward. Instead of going from the lower courts he went straight to the Supreme Court with a writ of mandamus, which, he had been granted the privilege in the Judiciary Act 1789. The issue that arose however cam from article III of the constitution and the judiciary act passed in 1789 were not consistent with each other. The judiciary act had said that he could bring writ of mandamus to get his commission, but the judiciary act contradicted this.(Marbury V Madison-Case Brief) …show more content…

The remedy given to Marbury stated that because the document had been sighed by an elected president and the signature had been confirmed he had a right to the justice position. The granting of this position did not violate the laws and the antifederalist could not keep Marbury from receiving the commission. More important this case set the precedent for judicial review the courts do have a right to issue a law unconstitutional. This precedent was made because the constitution is superior to any ordinary act of the legislature. Marbury V Madison-Case Brief) The constitution must govern law and laws passed by congress as a result cannot govern a case. The Supreme Court did not order the government to grant him the commission because he had already been granted it and the original ruling that he had a right to a commission was