Judicial Review : The Supreme Court Essay example

Although the power of judicial review is not explicitly mentioned in the Constitution, the Supreme Court had acquired it through landmark cases and the founding fathers original intent. The landmark case that gave them the power of judicial review is the case Marbury v. Madison. In this case, President John Adams appointed William Marbury to be a justice of the peace along with forty-one others days before his presidency expired. The commissions were not sent out before the end of his presidency, so when Thomas Jefferson came into office, he did not honor the commissions. When Marbury found out he went to the Supreme Court for a writ of mandamus to get the secretary of state, James Madison, to deliver the commissions. The Supreme Court did not have the power to issue writs of mandamus, but their power to review government actions, known as judicial review, was established by this case and continued to grow with other cases. The next landmark case where the Supreme Court exercised their power of judicial review is Little v. Barreme. During this case, a vessel, The Flying Fish, was seized by the United States frigate named Boston, brought into the port of Boston, and said that the vessel had violated the non-intercourse law. This law gave the President the power to Instruct the Commanders of American ships to stop and seize ships bound for France. In the end, it was ruled that the non-intercourse law was not violated, because the vessel was going to America from France, and…