Marbury v. madison which amendment

Have a question? Need assistance? Use our online form to ask a librarian for help. The U. Supreme Court case Marbury v. Madison established the principle of judicial review—the power of the federal courts to declare legislative and executive acts unconstitutional. The unanimous opinion was written by Chief Justice John Marshall. President John Adams named William Marbury as one of forty-two justices of the peace on March 2, Second, did the laws of the United States allow the courts to grant Marbury such a writ?

Third, if they did, could the Supreme Court issue such a writ? With regard to the first question, Marshall ruled that Marbury had been properly appointed in accordance with procedures established by law, and that he therefore had a right to the writ.

Secondly, because Marbury had a legal right to his commission, the law must afford him a remedy. The Chief Justice went on to say that it was the particular responsibility of the courts to protect the rights of individuals -- even against the president of the United States.

At the time, Marshall's thinly disguised lecture to President Jefferson about the rule of law was much more controversial than his statement about judicial review which doctrine was widely accepted. It was in answering the third question -- whether a writ of mandamus issuing from the Supreme Court was the proper remedy -- that Marshall addressed the question of judicial review. The Chief Justice ruled that the Court could not grant the writ because Section 13 of the Judiciary Act of , which granted it the right to do so, was unconstitutional insofar as it extended to cases of original jurisdiction.

Original jurisdiction -- the power to bring cases directly to the Supreme Court -- was the only jurisdictional matter dealt with by the Constitution itself. According to Article III, it applied only to cases "affecting ambassadors, other public ministers and consuls" and to cases "in which the state shall be party.

And when an act of Congress is in conflict with the Constitution, it is, Marshall said, the obligation of the Court to uphold the Constitution because, by Article VI, it is the "supreme law of the land.

Madison was the first time the U. Supreme Court declared an act of Congress to be unconstitutional. The case concerned a section of the Judiciary Act of The Supreme Court did not declare another act of Congress unconstitutional until it struck down the Missouri Compromise in Dred Scott v. Sanford The power of judicial review was used sparingly for the next several decades.

Beginning in the early 20th Century, however, the Court began striking down federal laws more often than ever before. Since then, as the powers of the national government have expanded and as more and more state laws became subject to federal review as a result of the Fourteenth Amendment and the incorporation of the protections of the Bill of Rights against the states , the Supreme Court has had frequent opportunities to exercise its power of judicial review.

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