Marbury v. Madison

Marbury v. Madison was an 1803 U.S. Supreme Court decision that established the Court’s authority to declare acts of Congress unconstitutional, a power known as judicial review.

Judicial review: The power of a court to assess whether government actions comply with a constitution. The decision established this power for the Supreme Court over acts of Congress.
Midnight Judges Act: A 1801 law that expanded the federal judiciary and created new circuit judgeships. It formed part of the outgoing Federalist administration’s effort to fill judicial offices before Jefferson took power.
Cooper v. Aaron: A 1958 Supreme Court decision holding that state officials are bound by the Court’s constitutional interpretations. It extended the institutional authority associated with judicial review to state resistance against desegregation.
Departmentalism: The view that each branch of government may independently interpret the Constitution within its own duties. It challenges the idea that Marbury made the Supreme Court the exclusive interpreter of the Constitution.
Judiciary Act of 1789: A federal statute that organized the lower federal courts and defined aspects of the Supreme Court’s jurisdiction. Marshall found its provision on mandamus jurisdiction incompatible with the Constitution.
John Adams: The second president of the United States, serving from 1797 to 1801. Adams appointed Marbury and other Federalists to offices near the end of his presidency.
United States v. Nixon: A 1974 Supreme Court decision requiring President Richard Nixon to comply with a subpoena for Watergate recordings. It illustrates the Court’s later use of constitutional adjudication to constrain presidential power.
Martin v. Hunter's Lessee: A 1816 Supreme Court decision affirming federal appellate review of state-court judgments on federal law. It extended federal judicial authority over constitutional questions beyond the setting of Marbury.
Article III of the United States Constitution: The constitutional article that establishes the federal judiciary and defines its jurisdiction. Its limits on the Supreme Court’s original jurisdiction underpinned the ruling.
Thomas Jefferson: The third president of the United States, serving from 1801 to 1809. Jefferson’s administration withheld commissions that Adams had signed but not delivered.

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