How Did John Adams Establish The Power Of The Judicial Branch

In the Presidential election of 1800 President John Adams lost his reelection bid to Vice President. Adams being a staunch Federalist opposed the political beliefs Jefferson, who was a Republican. With Jefferson becoming President, Adams feared that his Federalist party would lose ground in the in the government, and the Republican would give power to the states. To prevent this Adams and his Federalist Congress decided to increase the number of Judicial positions inside the inside the Judicial Branch. President Adams spent his last hours in officer appointing Federalist judge in all positions. Adams then tasked his Secretary of State John Marshall to deliver the appointments, all were delivered with the exception of a few. Marshall assumed that the new …show more content…
It established the power of judicial review in Marbury v. Madison (1803)” (Lenz & Holman, 98).
The significance of this case has since established a model of the Judicial Branch when reviewing or declaring unconstitutional actions by the Legislative and Executive Branches. This set the precedence that the Judicial Branch’s power equals its parallel branches, “an equal in power to the Congress and the president. Throughout its long history, when the Court needed to affirm its legitimacy, it has cited Marshall's opinion in Marbury v. Madison” (McBride).
This case answered the question that the Courts do have the authority to interpret the Constitution and declare acts by Congress and the President unconstitutional. When laws are in contrary to the Constitution, it is the duty of the Courts to review and resolve the issues and apply a decision correct to the law. Lastly, the case set a precedence and brought forward with emphasis that the Constitution is the law of the land and the Supreme Court decision is the final arbiter of the