What Was The Role Of The Courts In The 1800s

Madison is a landmark Supreme Court case. Marbury v. Madison is one of the most influential and groundbreaking legal proceeding in the history of the United States. The Marbury v. Madison case was the first of its kind. Prior to Marbury vs. Madison, it was unclear whether the U.S. Supreme Court had the power to determine the constitutionality of laws or what should happen when the Constitution and a law were in conflict. “Consequently the theory of every such government must be that an act of the Legislature repugnant to the Constitution is void.” With these words written by Chief Justice Marshall, this case is significant because for the first time, the Supreme Court declared an act of Congress unconstitutional because it was contrary to the Constitution. This decision was the foundation for the Supreme Court's power of "judicial review," the power by which the Court could determine the constitutionality of laws passed by Congress. Marshall stated in the majority opinion “Court must either decide that case conformably to the law, disregarding the Constitution, or conformably to the Constitution, disregarding the law, the Court must determine which of these conflicting rules governs the case. This is of the very essence of judicial duty.” Marshall is saying that the Judicial has the decision on the two opposing laws and thus creating Judicial Review. Nothing in the Constitution gave the Court this specific power. Marshall, however, believed that the

Marbury v. Madison (1803), was a case that created a principle of the American Constitution. Secretary of State James Madison was ordered by Thomas Jefferson to not deliver commissions that were previously supposed to be delivered. Madison was sued by the plaintiffs who did not receive their commission. Suing in the Supreme Court, the plaintiffs argued Madison was neglecting his constitutional duty by refusing to deliver the commissions.

The overall influence of the Supreme Court under John Marshall can be understood through the five main court cases over which he presided; Marbury v. Madison (1803), Fletcher v. Peck (1810), Dartmouth College v. Woodward (1819), McCulloch v. Maryland (1819), and Gibbons v. Ogden (1824). The first significant case Marshall was faced with was Marbury v. Madison in 1803. In the last few days of his presidency, John Adams appointed members of the Federalist Party to the new offices he created within the judicial branch. When Thomas Jefferson took office he told James Madison, his secretary of state, not to deliver the unsent commissions to some of the “midnight appointments”, one of who was William Marbury. He appealed to the Supreme Court, asking for a court order that would require Madison to send out the commission, which was part of his job. The Judiciary Act of 1789 supported Marbury’s demands because it authorized the Supreme Court to order

The Constitution pays a massive role in court decisions both in the federal and state cases. If the State Supreme Court cannot come to a decision on a case, the case will be turned over to the Supreme Court who has the final authority in interpreting the meaning of the Constitution in any case. The courts also have the power of judicial review—to declare a law unconstitutional. Due to the decision of Chief Justice John Marshall the Supreme Court has this power from the case of Marbury v. Madison in 1801. The case Marbury v. Madison took place during the election of 1800 when Thomas Jefferson defeated President John Adams, but the new administration did not take office until March of 1801. When the new administration took office James Madison (Secretary of State) discovered that some commissions were not delivered. One of the people whose commission had not been received

There was a long lame duck period between the November election and the inauguration of a new president, and the Congress that met in December 1800 was the old Congress. The Federalist controlled Congress passed the Judiciary Act of 1801, which created circuit courts of appeal, and relieved the justices of the Supreme Court of their obligation to travel around the country to hear cases. It also increased the jurisdiction of the federal courts. Adams immediately appointed several new judges and the Senate confirmed the 16 new judges to these courts, all Federalists. James Madison was one of the 42 Justices of the Peace that were also created with the Judiciary Act of 1801. These Justices served the Washington and Virginia areas. It is also important to know that all of these Justices were also Federalists. Adams was trying to stack the Judiciary with the outgoing Federalist Party members. Many of these Justices were qualified to hold these jobs however.

Marshall complained that the Constitution is the “supreme law of the land” and that the Supreme Court ultimately has the final say so when it comes to evaluating the meaning of the Constitution. Marshall states, “ lt is emphatically the province and duty of the judicial department to say what the law is.” To present Marshall’s initial plea at hand, Marshall argues that the Judiciary Act of 1789 was unconstitutional. In Marshall 's perspective, Congress could not present the Supreme Court with the power to issue an order granting Marbury his commission. Only the Constitution could do so, and the document said nothing about the Supreme Court having the power to issue such an order. Thus, the Supreme Court could not force Jefferson and Madison to appoint Marbury, because it did not have the power to do so.

The establishment of one of the most influential powers of the Supreme Court--the power of judicial review-- and the development of the judicial branch can be attributed to Marshall’s insightful interpretation of the Constitution ("The Marshall Court”).

Marbury, one of the “midnight judges” of 1801, was named a justice of peace for the District of Columbia, but he soon learned that his commission was being put off by James Madison. So, he sued. Marshall realized that the executive branch, completely controlled by Jeffersonians, could easily reject his ruling for his Federalist friend and lessen the power of the Judicial branch at the same time. He dismissed Marbury’s case, but also said that the basis of Marbury’s argument –the Judiciary Act of 1789 –was unconstitutional, thus establishing the establishing the principle of judiciary review, the principle by which courts can declare acts of either the executive branch or the legislative branch

Just one year after Jefferson was elected as President, the Judiciary Act of 1801, also known as Midnight Judges, was repealed. This act created six judicial circuits in order to increase

President John Adams had made many federal appointments. He did this at the very end of his term. One of the appointments was William Marbury. Thomas Jefferson, refused to recognize the appointment of Marbury. The normal practice of making such appointments was to deliver a "commission," or notice, of appointment. This was normally done by the Secretary of State. Jefferson's Secretary of State at the time was James Madison. Madison refused to deliver Marbury's commission. Marbury sued Madison. This led Supreme Court to take the case. Chief Justice John Marshall wrote that the Judiciary Act of 1789. This act spelled out the practice of delivering commissions for judges and justices of the peace. This was unconstitutional because it the gave

Established in 1789, the Supreme Court was created to interpret the meaning of the Constitution and to use that interpretation to declare any actions of the Legislative or Executive Branches unconstitutional. However, the Supreme Court was capable of also acquiring more functions as evidence of the landmark case of Marbury v. Madison (1803). The case dealt with President John Adams appointing sixteen new circuit court justices for the District of Colombia. Adams appointed these justices so that his political party would have more justices than the rival party. Problematically, the appointment letters were not delivered by the end of his term. By that basis, President Thomas Jefferson annulled the appointments because he retained the right to appoint the justices during his time of jurisdiction. Consequently, this aggravated the appointed justice and therefore one of the justices named William Marbury filed a case in the Supreme Court over the commissions that they were promised (Goldstone). The Court ruled that Marbury did have a right to commission and also with it made a statement that enacted the doctrine of Judicial Review. This meant that the court had the "right to review, and possibly nullify, laws and governmental acts that violate the constitution. Judicial Review is a means of assuring that politicians and various other leaders adhere to the constitution and do not use powers granted to them by

Chief Justice John Marshall had ruled, the original Judiciary Act of 1789 could be unconstitutional, it gave the Supreme Court merit to issue writs of mandamus. By this action the Supreme Court would force the executive branch to hand over the appointment. Now that the act was ruled unconstitutional by the Supreme Court, Marshall administered the 1801 act was violated, the Supreme Court would not have the authorization to coerse the government to certify Marbury's appointment.

Commissions were sent out to the last minute judges were delivered. When Jefferson became president he told Madison not to send the rest. One of the commissions was William Marbury’s. Marbury took his case to the Supreme Court to force the delivery of his commission. John Marshall, Chief of Justice, turned down Marbury’s claim. Marshall said that the Constitution did not give the Court jurisdiction to decide his decision.

In Marbury v. Madison president Adams made Marbury a justice of the peace during his " midnight appointments." Marbury's commission was not delivered by the secretary of state, James Madison, so Marbury sued him. Chief Justice John Marshall said that since Marbury was entitled to the commission, the statue that allowed Marbury's remedy was unconstitutional, as it granted the Supreme Court powers beyond what the Constitution permitted. This decision paved the way for judicial review which gave courts the power to declare statutes unconstitutional . This allowed the court to overturn unconstitutional state

The Judiciary Act of 1789 set up the "federal court system with limited power" (Oakes et al.,, 2015, p. 222). It set up the Supreme Court as the top, or head, of the three-teired Judicial branch. Further, it let the federal government set up laws based on the Constitution. The Constitution differed significantly from the British conventional laws and practices the colonies were so desperate to escape. The federal judiciary wasn't welcomed at first by some of the Founding Fathers. There was a fear that the federal government would become tyrannical, and would override the individual state powers, as well as individuals rights and freedoms. The colonies, after being treated the way they were under British law, wanted to make sure that nothing like that could happen under their new government.