SUPREME COURT
OBJECTIVE
Marbury v. Madison
Students will describe the basis of Marbury’s
case, analyze Chief Justice Marshall’s opinion,
and explain the principle of judicial review.
FOCUS & MOTIVATE
(1803)
THE ISSUE Judicial Review
Ask students to review the chart on page 261
and identify which branch of government has
the final say on the constitutionality of the
actions of the other branches. How important
is it for one branch to have ultimate authority
in this process?
ORIGINS OF THE CASE In 1801, just before he left office, President John
Adams appointed dozens of Federalists as judges. Most of these “midnight
justices” took their posts before Thomas Jefferson, Adams’s DemocraticRepublican successor, took office. Jefferson ordered his secretary of state,
James Madison, to block the remaining appointees from taking their posts.
One of these appointees, William Marbury, asked the Supreme Court to
issue an order forcing Madison to recognize the appointments.
THE RULING The Court ruled that the law under which Marbury had asked
the Supreme Court to act was unconstitutional.
The Legal Arguments
MORE ABOUT . . .
Types of Jurisdiction
Jurisdiction is the power of a court to try a case
and decide it. The court in which a case is first
heard is said to have original jurisdiction, that is,
the power to hear a case before any other court.
Appellate jurisdiction is the authority of a court to
review the decisions of lower courts. Most federal
and state courts share the authority to hear certain
cases. This shared authority is called concurrent
jurisdiction.
U.S. CONSTITUTION/LEGISLATION
Article 3, Section 2 (1789)
“In all cases affecting ambassadors, other public ministers and
consuls, and those in which a
state shall be party, the
Supreme Court shall have original jurisdiction. In all the other
cases . . . the Supreme Court
shall have appellate jurisdiction.”
Judiciary Act, Section 13 (1789)
“The Supreme Court shall . . .
have power to issue . . . writs of
mandamus, in cases warranted by
the principles and usages of law.”
RELATED CASES
Fletcher v. Peck (1810)
For the first time, the Supreme
Court ruled a state law unconstitutional.
Cohens v. Virginia (1821)
For the first time, the Court
overturned a state court
decision.
Chief Justice John Marshall wrote the Court’s opinion, stating that
Marbury had every right to receive his appointment. Further, Marshall
noted, the Judiciary Act of 1789 gave Marbury the right to file his
claim directly with the Supreme Court. But Marshall questioned
whether the Court had the power to act. The answer, he argued, rested on the kinds of cases that could be argued directly in the Supreme
Court without first being heard by a lower court.
Article 3 of the Constitution clearly identified those cases that the
Court could hear directly. A case like Marbury’s was not one of them.
The Judiciary Act, therefore, was at odds with the Constitution. Which
one should be upheld? Marshall’s response was clear:
. . . [T]he particular phraseology of the Constitution of the United States
confirms and strengthens the principle . . . that a law repugnant to
the Constitution is void; and that courts . . . are bound by
that instrument.
Since Section 13 of the Judiciary Act violated the
Constitution, Marshall concluded, it could not be
enforced. The Court, therefore, could not issue
the order. With this decision, Marshall appeared
to limit the powers of the Supreme Court. In
fact, the decision increased the Court’s power
because it established the principle of judicial
review. This holds that the courts—most
notably the Supreme Court—have the power
to decide if laws are unconstitutional.
William Marbury received his appointment as
a reward for his loyal support of John Adams
in the 1800 presidential election.
900
ACTIVITY OPTIONS
INDIVIDUAL NEEDS
STUDENTS ACQUIRING ENGLISH/ESL
Learning Common Legal Terms List the following terms on the board:
case, justice, Supreme Court, lower court, ruling, unconstitutional, jurisdiction, act, hear, and power. Have the students add these words to their personal dictionaries. Have students work in pairs to locate these words in the
text and write definitions for these words from context or by using a dictionary. Stress that these are legal definitions. Students may add words to
the list if they have questions about them.
900 SUPREME COURT
Have the partners create flash cards with a legal term on one side of the
card and a simple sentence on the other side that includes that word but
leaving a blank where that word should go. Students should test each
other with the flash cards periodically.
Why Does It Matter Now?
The principle of judicial review had been set down
in earlier state and lower federal court decisions.
However, Marshall did not refer to those cases in
Marbury. Rather, he based his argument on logic.
For a written constitution to have any value,
Marshall stated, it is logical that any “legislative
act [that is] contrary to the Constitution is not
law.” Only then could the Constitution be—as
Article VI calls it—”the supreme law of the land.”
Who, then, decides that a law is invalid? Marshall
declared that this power rests only with the courts:
Over the years, judicial review has become a cornerstone of American government. The principle
plays a vital role in the system of checks and balances that limits the powers of each branch of the
federal government. For example, since 1803 the
Court has struck down more than 125 acts of
Congress as unconstitutional.
The Court has cited Marbury more than 250
times to justify its decisions. In Clinton v. Jones
(1997), for example, the Court found that presidents are not protected by the Constitution from
lawsuits involving actions in their private lives.
The Court supported this finding by pointing to its
power “to say what the law is.” More recently, in
United States v. Morrison (2000), the Court ruled
that Congress went beyond its constitutional
bounds by basing a federal law banning violence
against women on the Fourteenth Amendment
and the Commerce Clause of the
Constitution. The opinion pointed out that
“ever since Marbury this Court has
remained the ultimate [explainer] of
the constitutional text.”
It is, emphatically, the province and duty of the
judicial department to say what the law is. Those
who apply the rule to particular cases must of
necessity expound and interpret that rule. If [the
Constitution and a law] conflict with each
other, the courts must decide on the operation of each.
Not only did the courts have
this power, Marshall said, it
was “the very essence of
judicial duty” for them
to exercise it.
H ISTORIC D ECISIONS OF THE SUPREME COURT
Why Did It Matter Then?
MARBURY V. MADISON
INSTRUCT
• Why did Marbury sue Madison?
• How did the ruling in this case increase the
Supreme Court’s power?
• How did Chief Justice Marshall logically build
his argument?
• What role does judicial review play in the
system of checks and balances?
MAKING PERSONAL CONNECTIONS
Have students give examples of a group’s rules,
codes, and policies that affect them. The group
could be a family, school, club, or other organization. Ask them to describe or hypothesize a
situation where rules or demands of one group
could conflict with another and how a final
decision would be made. Does one group’s rules
always take priority over the rules of the other
groups?
John Marshall, a Federalist, was
practically a “midnight justice.”
John Adams appointed him chief
justice in January 1801, just two
months before Thomas Jefferson
took office.
CONNECT TO HISTORY
CONNECT TO TODAY
1. Making Decisions Marshall was a Federalist, and
many people expected him to act quickly on
Marbury’s case. What do you think might have been
the consequences if Marshall had found for
Marbury?
2. Researching Find a recent instance of a law or
administrative action that was ruled unconstitutional
by the Supreme Court. What were the Court’s reasons for the ruling, and what impact did the decision
have? Prepare a summary of your findings.
See Skillbuilder Handbook, page R14.
For more information on judicial review . . .
RESEARCH LINKS
CL ASSZONE .COM
901
CONNECT TO HISTORY
CONNECT TO TODAY
1. Making Decisions Possible Responses Some students might say that the Supreme Court would not
have the power to strike down unconstitutional laws
as it does today. Others might say that judicial review
might have been established later in another case.
2. Researching Students might use library sources or
the Internet to find a recent cases where the
Supreme Court found a law or government action
unconstitutional. Their summaries should use
standard grammar, spelling, sentence structure,
and punctuation.
Teacher’s Edition 901