Marbury v. Madison: Why It Still Matters

In the final days of President John Adams's administration, he appointed William Marbury as a justice of the peace. But the commission was never delivered before Thomas Jefferson took office. Jefferson's Secretary of State, James Madison, refused to deliver it. Marbury went directly to the Supreme Court asking for a writ of mandamus to compel delivery.

Chief Justice John Marshall faced a political dilemma. If he ordered Madison to deliver the commission, Jefferson would likely ignore it, humiliating the Court. If he ruled against Marbury, it would look like the Court was caving to political pressure. Marshall's solution was brilliant: he ruled that Marbury had a right to the commission, but that the Supreme Court lacked jurisdiction to hear the case because the relevant provision of the Judiciary Act of 1789 was unconstitutional.

By declaring a federal statute unconstitutional, Marshall established judicial review — the power of the courts to review laws and strike them down if they violate the Constitution. This principle, nowhere explicitly stated in the Constitution, has become the foundation of American constitutional law. Every Supreme Court case that strikes down a law traces its authority back to Marbury.

Marbury v. Madison is cited in virtually every major constitutional case. It establishes that the Constitution is supreme law, that courts have the authority to interpret it, and that no branch of government is above constitutional limits. Without judicial review, there would be no enforceable check on legislative or executive overreach — the Bill of Rights would be advisory, not binding.

Professors love to probe the logical foundations of Marshall's reasoning. Was judicial review inevitable, or could the Constitution work without it? Does the text of Article III actually support Marshall's conclusion? What about the counter-majoritarian difficulty — should unelected judges have the power to override democratic legislation? These are the questions that make Marbury one of the most discussed cases in law school.