What events led to the Marbury v. Madison case?

Answer 1

Marbury v. Madison, (1803), was the result of a political struggle between the Federalist party, represented by President John Adams, and the Democratic-Republican party, represented by Adams' successor, Thomas Jefferson.

Federalist John Adams was badly defeated in the 1800 Presidential election by Thomas Jefferson, a Democratic-Republican. The Vice-President, Aaron Burr, was also a Democratic-Republican, as were many new members of Congress. Adams recognized the Federalists were losing power to a party with radically different ideologies.

Congress passed two pieces of legislation in the waning days of Adams presidency: the Judiciary Act of 1801, and the District of Columbia Organic Act of 1801. The Judiciary Act was signed into law on February 13, 1801, just three weeks before the end of his administration. The Act expanded the federal court system, allowing Adams to quickly appoint 16 members of his political party to newly created judgeships, thus allowing the Federalists to retain some influence over the direction of government. The new legislation also reduced the number of Supreme Court justices by one (by attrition) to prevent Jefferson from gaining control over the head of the Judicial branch. Adams drew much criticism for "court packing," but was acting within his rights as President.

The District of Columbia Organic Act of 1801 was passed just days before Adams' term of office ended. In the Organic Act, Congress formally incorporated landed ceded to the federal government by Virginia and Maryland into the District of Columbia, dividing the territory into two "cities": Alexandria, which operated under Virginia law; and Georgetown, which operated under Maryland law. One of the provisions of the Act was that the President could appoint an unspecified number of justices of the peace, as he saw fit, to handle low-level legal business for the District. President Adams nominated 42 Federalists as justices of the peace on March 2, 1801, two days before he left office. Congress approved the commissions on March 3. These men later became known as the "Midnight Judges" for their last-minute appointments.

William Marbury was one of those selected to be a justice of the peace. John Marshall, who was Secretary of State under Adams (as well as the newly appointed Chief Justice of the Supreme Court), worked late into the night recording and sealing the commissions so they could be delivered the next day. He was forced to leave the delivery to his successor, James Madison.

Madison didn't arrive in Washington immediately. President Thomas Jefferson walked into Madison's vacant office, found the 42 commissions on Madison's desk, and decided the number was excessive. He eliminated 12 positions, reducing the total to 30, then reassigned five of the slots to members of the Democratic-Republican party. He allowed the remaining 25 to be delivered as intended.

William Marbury and three others were among those whose commissions were eliminated. In December of 1801, they filed a petition for a Writ of Mandamus with the US Supreme Court. A writ of mandamus is a court order commanding an official, business, or government agency to perform an act within its scope of responsibility. In this case, Marbury wanted to force the new Secretary of State, James Madison, to deliver his commission.

Case Citation:

Marbury v. Madison, 5 US 137 (1803)

For more information about Marbury v. Madison, see Related Questions, below.

Answer 2

Jefferson stopped the delivery of paperwork for new appointments to the supreme court made by Adams. Marbury didn't receive his paperwork and got angry, so he to his case to court.

Answer 3

The supreme court found that since it was a court of appeal and not the court to hear the case, this is judiciary act, unconstitutional.