After William Marbury asked the Supreme Court to order Secretary of State James Madison to deliver his commission, the justices had to decide whether they could grant his request. At first, the dispute seemed to be about one government appointment. Instead, the Court's decision became one of the most important rulings in United States history because it defined the role of the judicial branch in the new nation's government.
Chief Justice John Marshall wrote the Court's opinion in 1803. Marshall first ruled that Marbury had been legally appointed. President John Adams signed Marbury's commission. The official government seal was added before he left office. Marshall also agreed that Madison should have delivered the commission. This meant Marbury had a legal right to the position.
However, Marshall also ruled that the Supreme Court could not order Madison to deliver the commission. Marbury had based his request on a law called the Judiciary Act of 1789. This law seemed to give the Supreme Court the power to issue a special court order called a writ of mandamus. The order would require Madison to deliver Marbury's commission.
Marshall said that part of the Judiciary Act gave the Supreme Court more power than the Constitution allowed. The Constitution lists the kinds of cases that can begin in the Supreme Court. Marbury's case was not one of them. Because the Constitution is the nation's supreme law, a law passed by Congress cannot grant the Court powers that the Constitution does not give it.
This decision established the principle of judicial review. Judicial review is the power of the courts to decide whether a law follows the Constitution. If a law conflicts with the Constitution, the courts can declare that law unconstitutional.
The decision also set an important precedent for future Supreme Court cases. Even though the Court did not actually use this power to strike down another law passed by Congress for over 50 years, the precedent was set. After Marbury v. Madison, the Supreme Court had a clear role in interpreting the Constitution. When a law was challenged, the Court could check it against the Constitution. Then, it would decide if the law was constitutional. Future courts continued to follow this precedent when deciding similar cases.
Judicial review also affected checks and balances. It gave the judicial branch the power to check Congress when a law conflicted with the Constitution. It also showed that the Court could limit actions of the executive branch when those actions violated legal rights. William Marbury never received his commission. However, the decision in Marbury v. Madison helped define the powers of the judicial branch and shaped the balance of power in the United States government.
