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Summary: Marbury V. John Marshall

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Facts President John Adams appointed William Marbury and other men as justices of the peace in the District of Columbia within several weeks of the end of his term. Adams’ Secretary of State, John Marshall, did not deliver the commissions of Marbury and the other men before Thomas Jefferson began his presidency in March of 1801. James Madison, Jefferson’s secretary of state, refused to deliver the commissions of Marbury and three other men, claiming it was necessary to deliver the commissions to complete the appointments. Marbury and the three other men brought suit against Madison, seeking writs of mandamus from the Supreme Court to require Madison to deliver their commissions. Marbury and the other plaintiffs sought action under Section …show more content…
Marbury’s commission was signed by President Adams and the secretary of state sealed it, granting Marbury his position for five years. The second issue dealt with Marbury seeking a writ of mandamus from the Court. He filed his case directly to the Supreme Court, hence the Court needed original jurisdiction in order to make a judgement on the case. However, under Article III of the Constitution, issuing writs of mandamus was an appellate action and therefore, the Court did not have the power to issue the writ of mandamus because they did not possess the jurisdiction. The plaintiffs argued Section 13 of the Judiciary Act allowed the Supreme Court to issue writs of mandamus to federal officials under original jurisdiction, but Article III of the Constitution does not give the Court this power and the legislative branch does not have the power to assign the Court jurisdiction. Section 13 of the Judiciary Act enlarged the original jurisdiction of the Court and caused conflict between the statute and the Constitution. The Court could not apply a statute above the Constitution, as the Constitution is the superior law. Thus, Section 13 was void and Marbury would not receive his commission by a writ of mandamus from the Supreme

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