Marbury Vs Madison Case Brief

Marbury v. Madison is a court case that was decided by the United States Supreme Court in 1803 involving William Marbury as the Plaintiff and James Madison as the Defendant (History.com staff, 2009). As a result of this case, the United States Supreme Court was granted the power to perform judicial review (“Judicial Review”, n.d.). With the power of judicial review, the United States Supreme Court is now permitted to review laws from the legislature and executive orders from the President to determine their constitutionality.
In this case, William Marbury was appointed by President Adams to serve as a Justice of the Peace (History.com staff, 2009). However, Secretary of State James Madison chose to not send in his commission at all (History.com staff, 2009). Because Madison refused to send in William Marbury’s commission to become a Justice of the Peace, Marbury chose to petition the United States Supreme Court for a writ of mandamus to have Madison explain the reason why he chose not to deliver his commission (History.com staff, 2009). After the reviewing the case, the United States Supreme Court ruled that Marbury’s action was deemed unconstitutional since the court had no jurisdiction over this case under the United States Constitution (History.com staff, 2009).
Judicial review gives the United States Supreme Court the power to review the legality of certain laws that were passed by the legislative branch (“Judicial Review”, n.d.). Using judicial review, the United States Supreme Court can determine the constitutionality of the particular law that was passed by Congress. If the United States Supreme Court finds that a law is unconstitutional, then that law is ineffective and cannot be enforced on the