SCOTUS: Why the Supreme Court Matters (Marbury v. Madison)

The Supreme Court of the United States is the highest and most important court of the U.S. It has the power of judicial review and sets precedents for all other court cases in its decisions via common law. However, the power of judicial review, meaning the power to strike down laws, statues, executive orders, etc. that the court finds to be unconstitutional, was not given to the courts in the Constitution. Why, then, does the court have this power?

In the District of Columbia in the year 1801 (yes, we are really going back in time for this case), John Adams, a federalist, was about to finish his term. His arch-enemy and political opponent Thomas Jefferson, a member of the Democratic-Republican party, was about to take over on March 4. In a mad rush, Adams tried to appoint friendly pro-federalists to as many positions as possible before Jefferson took over.

On March 2, Adams nominated over 60 allies as circuit justices and justices of the peace. One of these people was William Marbury. Although the Senate approved all of these decisions the next day, there was not enough time for the new Chief Justice of the Supreme Court to deliver deliver all of these commissions. This included Marbury’s commission.

When Jefferson took over as president the very next day, he immediately had James Madison, his Secretary of State, halt the deliver of all remaining commissions, therefore not giving Marbury the job he had been promised. Jefferson believed these commissions to be void as they had not been delivered in time, and so all of these appointees could not assume the jobs they had been appointed to.

Marbury petitioned the Supreme Court to hear his case, which it did. However, all court hearings were delayed until 1803 because Jefferson, along with his Democratic-Republican allies in Congress, passed a bill that canceled the Supreme Court’s 1802 term in retaliation for Adams appointing the judges in such a mad rush. Anyhow, hearings for the case of Marbury v. Madison were heard on February 11, 1803. The justices considered three main questions:

• Did Marbury (and the other appointees) have a right to his commission?
• Can they even sue in court to get the jobs they were promised?
• Does the Supreme Court even have the right to decide such issues?

The court issued their opinion on February 24, 1803. They ruled 4-0 in a decision that was partially in favor of both sides. Firstly, the court ruled in favor of Marbury that yes, the appointees did, in fact, have their rights to their commissions. Even though they were not delivered in time, they were still valid. And yes, all of them could sue in court for their jobs.

However, with regards to the third question, Madison won here. The Supreme Court ruled that, the law that allowed Marbury to sue, the Judiciary Act of 1789, was actually unconstitutional! This was because it gave the court more power than the Constitution actually allowed. Although it may seem like the Supreme Court deliberately weakened their power here, this was actually a very wise decision.

Though the court gave up some of their power by declaring the act unconstitutional, they had actually granted themselves a far greater power in the process: the power of judicial review. This meant that they could declare laws, statutes, and executive orders illegal if it went against the Constitution. So if the court could declare the Judiciary Act of 1789 illegal, it meant that they had set a precedent that allowed them to declare any law that Congress passed unconstitutional!

In just one ruling, the Marshall Court had just made the Supreme Court relevant to American politics. As a result, Marbury v. Madison could be considered one of the most important cases in American history as, without it, the court would likely lack the power of judicial review, making it far weaker.

This ruling did mean that Marbury and the others never got their jobs.

We will be going more in-depth about how the U.S.’s court systems work in a future post. Follow the blog with your email so you never miss a post. And leave a comment down below.