Marbury vs Madison was an ingenious decision. Marbury vs Madison was the first case of judicial review that voided the act of congress.
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Marbury vs. Madison
Marbury v. Madison, 5 US 137 (1803)Marbury v. Madison was heard by the six-member US Supreme Court lead by Chief Justice John Marshall. The unanimous decision was made by a quorum of four Justices (4-0); the other two Justices abstained because they missed the oral arguments due to illness.Chief JusticeJohn MarshallJoined by Associate JusticesWilliam PatersonSamuel ChaseBushrod WashingtonAbstaining JusticesWilliam CushingAlfred Moore* Cushing and Moore did not participate in the Marbury v. Madison case because they missed oral arguments due to illness.
It allowed the Supreme Court to overrule an unconstitutional law.
Marbury v. Madison, 5 US 137 (1803)Marbury vs Madison is activist in the way the court took action to say that the Constitution overrides laws passed by the congress (legislature). Therefore it turned down a request by Marbury to put him in as a Justice of the Peace because doing so would require the Courts to allow the Congress peremptory power over the Constitution. This was not allowed and is referred to as the start of judicial activism. However it is a complex case (Marbury vs Madison.)For more in-depth information on Marbury v. Madison, see Related Questions, below.
William Marbury, William Harper, Robert R. Hooe, and Dennis Ramsay were the plaintiffs (actually petitioners); US Secretary of State James Madison was the nominal respondent.William Marbury petitioned the US Supreme Court for a writ of mandamus (a judicial order commanding an official take, or refrain from taking, an action within his scope of responsibility) against US Secretary of State James Madison because Madison refused to deliver the justice of the peace commission former President John Adams granted Marbury. Marbury was unable to assume office without the sealed commission.Chief Justice John Marshall presided over the trial. Marshall, coincidentally, had been Secretary of State under President Adams, and was responsible for delivering Marbury's commission. Unfortunately, the administration changed before he had an opportunity to complete the assignment, and he assumed James Madison would complete the task for him.When the new President, Thomas Jefferson, discovered how John Adams had attempted to install 58 new judges immediately before leaving office, he decided to thwart as many of the appointments as possible. Marbury was one of a handful of men whose commissions were side-lined in this way.Case Citation:Marbury v. Madison, 5 US 137 (1803)For more information on Marbury v. Madison, see Related Links, below.