Marbury Vs. Madison: The Most Important Supreme Court Cases

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Marbury versus Madison is considered the most important cases in the history of the Supreme Court. The case took place around from 1789 and lasted until 1803. The constitution called for three branches of the government: legislative, executive, and judiciary. Articles I and II covered legislative and executive. Article III covered judiciary. With everything else almost finished in the Constitution, the meaning for Article III was left open for interpretation. In 1789, Congress passed the Judiciary Act, which established the federal court system, but did not specify the number of justices. Although the early chief justices didn’t have a huge impact in the direction
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Justice Marshall wrote the unanimous decision that stated Marbury had the right to sue. The Judiciary act of 1789 was considered unconstitutional4. The Supreme Court cannot mandate something happen. The Writ of Mandamus expanded the power that the court has under the constitution. The judiciary act of 1789 directly conflicted with the U.S Constitution. The president was put under judicial review and the Supreme Court is the only one that has the right interpret the constitution2. This case was considered one of the most controversial cases in the history of the United States Supreme Court.

The Supreme Court ruling in Marbury v. Madison established an important precedent for today. Justice Marshall's ruling interpreted the Constitution to mean that the Supreme Court had the power of judicial review. The Court had the right to review acts of Congress and the actions of the President. If a law was found unconstitutional, the court could overrule it. Marshall wrote, “It is emphatically the province and duty of the judicial department to say what the law is.” He argued the constitution is the Supreme law of the land and it has the final say over the meaning of the

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