“What makes us trust our judges? Their independence in office and their manner of appointment.” As John Marshall states, the judges of the Supreme Court should be independent and appointed in an honest manner. This is an interesting statement, as Marshall himself was a “midnight judge,” and therefore considered by Democratic-Republicans as a corrupt appointment. Even though Thomas Jefferson and his followers believed that, it didn’t stop Marshall. His influence in the court left a legacy that would form the basis of the Supreme Court for decades to come. By strengthening the federal government, limiting state powers, and keeping Federalist ideals alive during the Revolution of 1800, John Marshall’s significance to the Supreme Court is still …show more content…
Madison. This 1801 case was brought to the Supreme Court by William Marbury against then Secretary of State James Madison. Marbury was another midnight judge, who was refused his commission as justice of the peace in D.C. by Madison. In the unanimous decision made by the Supreme Court, Marshall sympathized with Marbury, but he could not give them their commissions according to the Judiciary Act of 1789. Along with this, however, Marshall said that that specific part of the act was unconstitutional. Although the short term limited judicial power, it gave the Supreme Court final say over deciding if laws were unconstitutional. Jefferson and his followers were furious, as Marshall had created judicial review, cementing the importance of the federal courts over the states. The case of Cohens v. Virginia is also an important development of the increase in judicial power during the Marshall Court. In the case, the Cohens were accused of illegally selling lottery tickets in Virginia. The case eventually worked its way into the Supreme Court, where the Cohens lost. While states’ rights activists were gleeful, Marshall also stated that the Supreme Court had the right to review any case that state supreme courts may encounter, if they dealt with federal government powers. This allowed the federal court to have power over those of the
Chief Justice John Marshall was an intelligent man who served in the United States Supreme Court from 1801 until the year 1835. During this time, Marshall heard over 1,000 cases and wrote 519 decisions (Fox). One of the cases he heard took place in 1824, and it’s known as Gibbons v. Ogden. This case is a rather simple one, but an important one nonetheless. A problem arose when two men, named Thomas Gibbons and Aaron Ogden, found out that they were both operating steamboat ferries along the same route. These men had both received permission to operate their steamboats from two different places. Gibbons received permission from the Federal Government, while Ogden had received his from a state government. When the case reached the Supreme Court,
In America’s time there have been many great men who have spent their lives creating this great country. Men such as George Washington, John Adams, and Thomas Jefferson fit these roles. They are deemed America’s “founding fathers” and laid the support for the most powerful country in history. However, one more man deserves his name to be etched into this list. His name was John Marshall, who decided case after case during his role as Chief Justice that has left an everlasting mark on today’s judiciary, and even society itself. Through Cases such as Marbury v. Madison (1803) and McCulloch v. Maryland (1819) he established the Judicial Branch as an independent power. One case in particular, named Gibbons v. Ogden (1824), displayed his intuitive ability to maintain a balance of power, suppress rising sectionalism, and unite the states under the Federal Government.
The purpose of this paper is to discuss how Chief Justice John Marshall affected the American Judicial System. The reader will therefore first find a brief biography of John Marshall. Then the paper will explain in detail the origins of the Judicial Power to subsequently...
In Federalist 78, Alexander Hamilton argued that the Judicial Branch is the “least dangerous to the political rights of the Constitution" and that it is “beyond comparison the weakest of the three departments of power” since it has “neither force nor will, but merely judgment.” [*] While it is true that Hamilton wrote the Federalist Papers as propaganda to garner support for the Constitution by convincing New Yorkers that it would not take away their rights and liberties, it is also true that Article III of the Constitution was deliberately vague about the powers of the Judicial Branch to allow future generations to decide what exactly those powers should be. In the 1803 case of Marbury v. Madison, the Supreme Court, led by Chief Justice John Marshall, established the Court’s power of judicial review. However, as Jill Lepore, Harvard professor of American History, argued, “This was such an astonishing thing to do that the Court didn’t declare another federal law unconstitutional for fifty-four years” after declaring the Judicial Act of 1789 unconstitutional in Marbury v. Madison. [*Jill Lepore] Alexander Hamilton was incorrect in his assertion that the Judicial Branch is the least dangerous to political rights and the weakest of the three government branches because judicial review has made the Supreme Court more powerful than he had anticipated. From 1803 to today, the controversial practice of judicial activism in the Supreme Court has grown—as exemplified by the differing decisions in Minor v. Happersett and United States v. Virginia—which, in effect, has increased the power of the Supreme Court to boundaries beyond those that Alexander Hamilton stated in Federalist 78.
Madison as he was in the Louisiana Purchase, he was still a key player in this episode that redefined the Judiciary branch of American government. Jefferson had just taken over the presidency from John Adams, a member of the rival Federalist Party, who, during his last days in office, had many of his fellow Federalists assigned offices in the Judiciary, including the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court, John Marshall (Goldfield 277). Jefferson and his Secretary of State, James Madison, resented this Federalist grab for power and refused to give one of the appointees his position. This appointee, William Marbury, used the Judiciary Act of 1789 to take the issue to court (277). However Marshall, did not rule that Marbury be given his appointment by Jefferson, who had been actively removing Federalist Judges and would likely choose not to acknowledge Marshall’s authority (277). Marshall took a different approach, instead of giving Marbury his appointment, he declared the Judiciary Act of 1789 unconstitutional because it gave the Supreme Court authority that was beyond what was outlined in the Constitution (277). By taking away some of his own authority, Marshall gave the Supreme Court the formidable ability to declare laws unconstitutional (277). Interestingly, it would never have happened if Jefferson and his administration had not have taken action (or in this case lack of action) against the appointment
Accordingly, Chief Justice Marshall ruled that Marbury and the others received appointments via the appropriate procedures governed by law, thus had the justification to a writ, as well as, the fact that the law needed to accord a solution to the dilemma. Furthermore, Marshall maintained the courts were responsible to ensure individual rights even if they were contrary to presidential design. As to the Supreme Courts authority to issue such a writ per the Constitution, Marshall ruled that the Constitution addresses this issue in Section 13 of the Judiciary Act of 1789, which grants the right to do so, but this one was unconstitutional because it did not involve a case of original jurisdiction, thus would be invalid (LAWNIX, n.d.). Hence, the Supreme Court could not issue a writ of mandamus; therefore, Marbury received a denial for his commission. Because of this decision, even though Marbury did not obtain his commission, the long- term effect of this monumental decision magnified the power of the Court to mandate via judicial review what a law proclaims, thus establishing the court as the final arbitrator of the
John Marshall, Supreme Court Justice, created legal precedence in the historical case, Marbury v. Madison in 1803. Throughout history he is portrayed as the fountainhead of judicial review. Marshall asserted the right of the judicial branch of government to void legislation it deemed unconstitutional, (Lemieux, 2003). In this essay, I will describe the factual circumstances and the Supreme Court holdings explaining the reasoning behind Chief Justice Marshall’s conclusions in the case, Marbury v. Madison. Furthermore, I will evaluate whether the doctrine of judicial review is consistent with the Constitution and analysis the positive effects of the doctrine in American politics.
Thurgood Marshall was one of the famous Supreme Court judges who had a huge impact on the justice department regarding the civil rights and the society in general. One of the notable quotes by Justice Marshall was that "power, not reason is the currency of this court decision making." This quote has a lot of implication regarding the civil rights, during the time Marshall had observed a change in the judicial system regarding composition to the judges (Vile, and Joseph 14). There was a transformation in the courts where senior judges had retired paving a way for younger justices. These changes also affected the perception and views of the justice, regarding civil rights. The shift from analysis
The case of Marbury v. Madison centers on a case brought before the Supreme Court by William Marbury. Shortly after Thomas Jefferson defeated John Adams in the election of 1800, Congress increased the number of circuit courts. Adams sought to fill these new vacancies with people who had Federalist backgrounds. To accomplish this, he used the powers granted under the Organic Act to issue appointments to 42 justices of the peace and 16 circuit court justices for the District of Columbia. Adams signed the appointments on his last day in office and they were subsequently sealed by Secretary of State John Marshall. However, many of the appointments were not delivered before Adams left office and Jefferson ordered the deliveries stopped when he took charge. Marbury was one of Adams’ appointees for justice of the peace. Marbury brought a case before the Supreme Court seeking a writ of mandamus compelling the new Secretary of State James Madison to deliver the appointment.
The Great Chief Justice: John Marshall and the Rule of Law by Charles F. Hobson examines the judicial career of John Marshall, as well as the legal culture that helped to shape his political beliefs and his major constitutional opinions. The author sources much of his information from the formal opinions that Marshall issued during his judicial career. From these writings, Hobson presents Marshall 's views on law and government and provides explanations for what in Marshall 's life influenced those beliefs.
After becoming Chief Justice Marshall was asked by the nephew of George Washington, Bush rod Washington, to write the official biography. This was a task that Marshall was unprepared to do, having no knowledge of the difficulties in researching and writing a biography, but he needed the financial return that was expected. The five volume biography took over four years to write and met with a very mixed and critical reception. It is hard to imagine what course the nation would have followed without the mind of Marshall at the helm. For it was his mind, his power of reason and understanding of the new form of government which his peers had created, that still stands the test of time by the adherence to precedents he set. His biographer, Jean Edward Smith, fully aware of the founding fathers he alluded to, states that Marshall "possessed the best-organized mind of his generation." Thomas Jefferson too, though often at odds with Marshall, conceded that "you must never give him an affirmative answer or you will be forced to grant his conclusion. Why, if he were to ask me if it were daylight or not, I'd reply, 'sir, I don't know, I can't tell."
Jefferson’s first act as president was to tell Secretary of State James Madison to withhold the midnight appointment of William Marbury to the office of Justice of the Peace of the District of Columbia. Marbury sued for the appointment President Adams had given him and Chief Justice John Marshall ruled in his favor. The case Marbury vs. Madison set the precedent of the courts right to judicial review of the other branches of government.
The life of every American citizen, whether they realize it or not, is influenced by one entity--the United States Supreme Court. This part of government ensures that the freedoms of the American people are protected by checking the laws that are passed by Congress and the actions taken by the President. While the judicial branch may have developed later than its counterparts, many of the powers the Supreme Court exercises required years of deliberation to perfect. In the early years of the Supreme Court, one man’s judgement influenced the powers of the court systems for years to come. John Marshall was the chief justice of the Supreme Court from 1801 to 1835, and as the only lasting Federalist influence in a newly Democratic-Republican government, he and his fellow justices sought to perpetuate their Federalist principles in the United States’ court system. In one of the most memorable court cases of all time--the case of Marbury v. Madison-- Marshall established the idea of judicial review and strengthened the power of the judicial branch in the government. Abiding by his Federalist ideals, Marshall decided cases that would explicitly limit the power of the state government and broaden the strengths of the national government. Lastly, the Marshall Court was infamous for determining the results of cases that dealt with the interpretation of the Constitution and the importance of contracts in American society. The Marshall Court, over the span of a mere three decades, managed to influence the life of every American citizen even to this day by impacting the development of the judicial branch, establishing a boundary between the state and national government, and making declarations on the sanctity of contracts ("The Marshall Court"...
The court case of Marbury v. Madison (1803) is credited and widely believed to be the creator of the “unprecedented” concept of Judicial Review. John Marshall, the Supreme Court Justice at the time, is lionized as a pioneer of Constitutional justice, but, in the past, was never really recognized as so. What needs to be clarified is that nothing in history is truly unprecedented, and Marbury v. Madison’s modern glorification is merely a product of years of disagreements on the validity of judicial review, fueled by court cases like Eakin v. Raub; John Marshall was also never really recognized in the past as the creator of judicial review, as shown in the case of Dred Scott v. Sanford.
President John Adams and the Federalist lost the election to Thomas Jefferson. The lame-duck Federalist of Congress enacted a Judiciary Act. The act created 58 new judgeships that Adams appointed. Forty two included justiceships of the peace. “Jefferson complained that the Federalist ‘have retired into the judiciary as a stronghold’” (Black, n.d.). Towards the end of Adams presidency, many people beside Marbury were appointed to government positions. Acting Secretary of the State John Marshall had affixed the official seal for the justices of the peace to the commissions. However they did not get delivered until the day after Adams left office. The day after Thomas Jefferson was inaugurated; James Madison was the new Secretary of State was directed to withhold delivery of the commissions which included William Marbury and 16 others. Murbury sued to have his commission handed over by Madison. Because of the Presidential seal of the United States, Marbury had the right to judicial review because the seal made it official. The Supreme Court was in charge of all cases that included public ministers, consuls and ambassadors. Having this case gave the Supreme Court the power of judicial review.