Marbury V Madison The Case Of The Missing Commissions Summary

The case of Marbury v. Madison serves as a profound example of the Supreme Court’s duty of Judicial Review. The writer of “The Case of the Missing Commissions” who describes the case states that around 1803, the Supreme Court had “none of the prestige and little of the accepted authority it now possesses.” The fact that the Judicial branch was deemed inferior to the other two sparked the ambition that Chief Justice, John Marshall, required to gain some supremacy for the Supreme Court. It’s also noted that John Marshall, a Federalist, despised the newly elected President, Thomas Jefferson, who stood against his political views as a Democratic-Republican. Marshall’s fight for power was also intended to “condemn the action[s] of the Executive”

Adams found the best solution to his worry was to appoint several new -- and Federalist -- men to the national judiciary right before his resignation. His purpose was to “make the judiciary a stronghold of Federalism” that the Executive -- and soon to be mostly Democratic Republican-- branch could not control. Among the commissions signed by President Adams, John Marshall was to be assigned the new Chief Justice while his term as Secretary of State was nearing its end. The author describes Marshall as headstrong, vigorous, intelligent and a “forceful opponent of Jeffersonian principles,” which all granted his and President Adams’ desire to strengthen the Judicial

Marshall did completely seal the documents, but amidst the hectic day, he only delivered most of them, and as a result, the commissions for the new justices of the peace for the District of Columbia were lost. Soon, Jefferson took office and was deeply offended by the Federalist Judiciary that former President Adams and Marshall had set up. When President Jefferson discovered the lost commissions for Adams’ selection of justices of peace, he refused to send them and instead, formed his own list. He appointed some new men and some men from the ones Adams had selected as the new justices of peace.

Jefferson continued to add fuel to the feud between the Executive and Judicial branches. He convinced Congress with jabs at the slow incoming of cases for the court to rule since the late 1700s to reduce the power of the courts with acts such as the Repeal Bill which “abolished the jobs of the new circuit judges.” The Supreme Court along with Marshall were infuriated and the mistreatment only deepened Marshall’s determination to diminish Jefferson’s authority. Marshall could never find an effective outlet to gain more control for the Supreme Court until the Marbury v. Madison