14–2 ★ JOHN MARSHALL AND JUDICIAL REVIEW
judicial review—the power of the Supreme Court to declare void all legislative acts contrary to the Constitution
Who shall interpret tthe Constitution and decide whether laws are in agreement with it?
Article VI
This Constitution and the laws
of the United States which shall
be made in pursuance thereof…
shall be the
SUPREME LAW OF THE LAND.…
THE PROBLEM:
FOR EXAMPLE:
The Constitution states that it is the supreme
law of the land; however, it does not state
who shall decide whether a law is in agreement
with the Constitution.
What happens if Congress or a state legislature
passes a law that seems contrary to the Constitution?
Who has the power to review this law and decide
whether it is constitutional?
1803—Chief Justice John Marshall claimed the power of judicial review for the Supreme Court.
Judicial review is the power of the Supreme Court to decide whether a law is constitutional.
JOHN MARSHALL, a Federalist from Virginia, was
appointed by John Adams in 1801 to be Chief Justice
of the Supreme Court. Marshall was the third Chief
Justice—following John Jay and Oliver Ellsworth—
and the first to strengthen the Supreme Court.
It is emphatically the province
and duty of the judicial
department to say what the
law is. [Marbury v. Madison]
One of the most outstanding Supreme Court
Chief Justices in American history, Marshall
dominated the Court during his 34-year term
(1801-1835). He wrote most of the opinions
himself—including that of Marbury v. Madison,
which established the principle of judicial review
and increased the power of the Court.
As Chief Justice, John Marshall strengthened
the new government by championing:
♦ NATIONAL SOVEREIGNTY over states’ rights
♦ THE CAPITALIST SYSTEM, which includes the
• right to private ownership of property
• right to free enterprise (to work as one chooses)
• right to make a profit.
Marshall championed national sovereignty and capitalism with
Supreme Court decisions that established these principles:
♦
♦
♦
♦
♦
Broad construction of the Constitution (implied powers)
Broad interpretation of the commerce clause.
Supremacy of federal power over the states and state courts
Freedom of American business from government restraint
Supremacy of capitalism as America’s economic system.
His most important decisions include: Marbury v. Madison,
McCulloch v. Maryland, and Gibbons v. Ogden.
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14–3 ★ MARBURY v. MADISON, 1803—JUDICIAL REVIEW
JOHN ADAMS’ “MIDNIGHT APPOINTMENTS”
UNDELIVERED MAIL
In 1800 President John Adams, leader of the Federalist
party, lost his reelection bid to Thomas Jefferson, leader
of the Democratic Republican party.
Adams failed to have all of these commissions delivered
before Thomas Jefferson was sworn in as the new
president on March 4, 1801.
President Jefferson, angry about what he called Adams’
“midnight appointments,” told his secretary of state,
James Madison, to withhold delivery.
Just before leaving office, Adams hurridly appointed
several Federalist judges to the courts to ensure his
party’s influence. (Federalists, unlike Republicans,
favored national over state power.)
William Marbury, an Adams appointee, complained
about not receiving his commission for justice of the
peace of the District of Columbia. But Secretary of
State James Madison, whose duty it was to deliver it,
ignored the complaint.
So William Marbury sued for a writ of mandamus
(a court order forcing a government official to perform
the duty of his office), requesting that the Supreme
Court order Secretary of State Madison to deliver
Marbury’s commission.
In 1803 Supreme Court Chief Justice
John Marshall dismissed the case.
A Federalist President Adams appointed
shortly before leaving office,
Marshall scolded Madison but
ruled against Marbury—for a surprising reason:
Marshall ruled that Section 13 of the Judiciary Act
of 1789 increasing the Supreme Court’s original
jurisdiction was unconstitutional because it granted
the Court powers not in the Constitution.
JUDICIAL REVIEW
The case Marbury v. Madison set forth
one of the most important doctrines
in our Constitution’s history:
JUDICIAL REVIEW–the Supreme Court’s
power to rule on the constitutionality
of laws passed by Congress.
This was the first time the Supreme Court declared
a law of Congress unconstitutional. It did not do so
again until the Dred Scott decision in 1857.
Earlier, in the 1798 Kentucky Resolutions,
Thomas Jefferson had argued that the power of
judicial review belonged to the states.
Now Marshall’s ruling made the Supreme Court
the final authority in interpreting the Constitution.
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