I dont understand the Marbury v. Madison 1803 case?

Question

i dont understand the Marbury v. Madison 1803 case.

i looked it up on google and click ona few website but the thing i read is SO confusing and each website make the case seems different , what is this case about? please help, can you summerize it? please and thank-you ^-^

Answer 1

SIGNIFICANCE:

The Marbury decision provided the constitutional basis for the Supreme Court's power of judicial review of the actions and laws of the federal government. This decision asserted the Court's power to declare invalid those federal laws it finds in conflict with the Constitution. The Court's decision laid the foundation on which the Supreme Court eventually developed into an important branch of the federal government.

Full acceptance of judicial review would not happen until after the Civil War. Regardless, this case established the principle that the courts and government should not enforce unconstitutional federal laws.

THE CASE:

This case resulted from a petition to the Supreme Court by William Marbury, who had been appointed as Justice of the Peace in the District of Columbia by President John Adams shortly before leaving office, but whose commission was not delivered as required by John Marshall, Adams' Secretary of State. When Thomas Jefferson assumed office, he ordered the new Secretary of State, James Madison, to withhold Marbury's and several other men's commissions. Being unable to assume the appointed offices without the commission documents, Marbury and three others petitioned the Court to force Madison to deliver the commission to Marbury. The Supreme Court denied Marbury's petition, holding that the statute upon which he based his claim was unconstitutional.

Answer 2

It formed judicial review.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marbury_v._...

Answer 3

Why it's important:  

Marbury v. Madison was important because it was the first real test of the checks and balances system written into the Constitution.    The powers of the congress and the president were already established and tested, but NOT the judicial branch, namely the Supreme Court.    You need to keep in mind that the Constitution of the US was just ratified in 1790, only 13 years before this case was heard.  

What it was about:

There was this guy Marbury.  He was appointed to a position in the government by President John Adams, in the last days of the Presidency.  Back then there were two parties like there are today, but one was called "Federalists" and the others were the "Democratic Republicans."    Adams, the second President of the US was like his predessor Washington, a Federalist.   Jefferson, his successor was a Democratic Republican.   Adams and Jefferson had very different views and ideas about how the newly formed US government should function.    

Adams who wanted his influence to remain as much as possible into Jefferson's term.   So Adams created all sorts of new judges and judiciary districts in government under the executive branch that were approved and funded by congress, which were controlled by the Federalist party.  Adams then appointed people he felt would carry out Federalist viewpoints through their terms as federal judges.  

There was a trick though.  The appointments --- or letters to the people that Adams selected had to be delivered and accepted by the people that Adams selected or appointees.  Everything was done except for a few appointees who did not recieve their letters BEFORE the finish of Adams term as President.  

When Jefferson came into office in March 1801, he voided or nullified the apointments of Adams that were not delivered in time.   No letter before Adams left office....  no job as a judge.

This was VERY controversial.  

Finally, in 1803 the Supreme Court heard the case.  William Marbury was one of the people who did not receive his letter from Adams.   James Madison, who wrote the Constitution was the Secretary of State for Thomas Jefferson.  So the case was named Marbury v. Madison.  

The congress during Adams terms were Federalists.  They passed a law creating all sorts of new judiciary....   THEN  when Jefferson took office in 1801, there were, of course elections for congress too.   The power shifted and congress became controlled by Democratic Republicans or Republicans for short (same party as now -- that's why it's called the Grand Old Party or GOP).  The new Congress voted for another law that voided the law by the Federalist Congress, and basically said that the judiciary should reflect the original one in the Constitution.

NOW FOR THE CASE:

Marbury sued the government asking for his letter to be delivered and to place him into his new job, because the Congress and the President said he should be in that new job.  

The Supreme Court met and called the law passed by the Federalist Congress to be unconstitutional.    So no job for Marbury and friends.

The Chief Justice of the Supreme Court, ironically was the former Secretary of State under Adams, John Marshall, who helped create all these new positions.

This was the first time that the Supreme Court held a law passed by Congress as unconstitutional, and the first time that the Supreme Court had to decide between two contradicting laws passed by Congress.  

Marbury v. Madison proved that the Judicial Branch of government had the power to keep Congress and the President at bay.  

It's complicated.   I hope this helped.

Answer 4

The specifics of the case are:

Marbury was appointed to a government position by John Adams.  Adams did this as he was on his way out the door.  He had lost the Presidential election to Jefferson.  The orders appointing Marbury to the government job didn't make it to Marbury while Adams was President.  When Jefferson came in he, through Madison his Sec State, intentionally did not deliver the orders to Marbury.  Marbury sued Madison to get the orders delivered.  Marbury loses.

The specifics aren't really important.  What matters is that the case established the idea of judicial review, that is, the Supreme Court is the final say on applying/interpreting the Constitution in order to decide cases.

Answer 5

Easy. (this is just a net shell). The president was running down in his term. He hired a bunch of judges (know as the midnight judges). Marbury was promised on of these positions by the new president. All the judges though were in place and can not be changed. He sued and i think lost. Dont go on my summary though it sucks.

Answer 6

It affirmed the principle of judicial review. That is, a judiciary committee held power.

Answer 7

The most important legacy of Marbury v. Madison was the concept of judicial review.

Although in the short term, this case was about demanding the removal of the justices such as Marbury from the Supreme Court. These justices were appointed before Jefferson's presidential era by the previous president John Adams. However, Jefferson wanted to remove them because of their federalist profile, and so he went to the Supreme Court to remove their appointments. He lost as the Supreme Court ruled his decision to remove the appointments as unconstitutional. This case establishes the importance of the Supreme Court in the many affairs of the government and even in other aspects of America as this concept has been true throughout history.

Thanks to Marbury v. Madison, civil rights activists many years later could challenge the constitutionality of the unequal segregation of races. So, Marbury v. Madison has been a very important case for America.