Marbury Vs Madison

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Arguably the most important case of the United States Judicial Branch, Marbury v. Madison lead the way for many inferences on how the court system of the United States works. First, it was the first Supreme Court case to apply the principal of judicial review; this allowing federal courts the right to void acts of Congress that are in conflict with the Constitution (McBride, 2006). The history of this commanding case starts with the election of 1800; President Adams was running for reelection, however, his rivaling hopeful was Thomas Jefferson. Jefferson won the election, and in his last moments in office Adams appointed numerous people the role of Justices of Peace for the District of Columbia, including William Marbury. When Jefferson took office in early March of 1801, he told his Secretary of State, James Madison, to not issue these newly appointed Justices of Peace …show more content…

Marbury had the right to petition, and the law did allow her the right to a writ; therefore the first two questions were answered. The answer to the third question, however, was the deciding factor determining that the writ was not able to be granted to Marbury. Section 13 of the Judiciary Act of 1789 stated that the writ was allowed to be approved, but the Act was inconsistent with the Constitution and therefore, it was considered unenforceable to issue the writ. Even though Section 13 of the Judiciary Act of 1789 would have allowed the Supreme Court to grant the writ, Article III of the Constitution, Section 2 states that writs of mandamus are granted to ambassadors, other public Minister and Consuls, or cases in which the United States, or an individual state, is one of the parties (U.S. Const. art. III, §

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