Marbury v. Madison On February 24, 1803 Chief Justice John Marshall and the rest of the Supreme Court decided on the seemingly insignificant case of Marbury v. Madison. While ruling the Judiciary Act of 1789 unconstitutional, Judicial Review was established. Granting the Supreme Court the power to rule acts of the Legislative and/or Executive Branch of government unconstitutional, hence serving as a landmark case that further legitimatized the Judicial Branch as a separate, but balanced branch of government. Marbury v. Madison has been used as a very important precedent throughout our history with 165 acts of Congress deemed unconstitutional as of 2010. In the Presidential election of 1800, the Democratic-Republic party of Thomas …show more content…

For the Supreme Court to issue a “Writ of Mandamus”, Marbury must first take legal action in a lower federal court before the Supreme Court can review the case. Hence, William Marbury’s application for a “Writ of Mandamus” to the Supreme Court was denied. Marbury did not receive his commission.
Most aspects of the constitution was open to interpretation. Especially Article III of the Constitution which established the federal court system along with its powers. The Constitution is the “Supreme Law of the Land” and the Supreme Court has the final say over the meaning of the Constitution. Judicial Review helps maintain the checks and balances that we have today. If the Supreme Court decides that acts of Congress are unconstitutional, those acts or actions are considered void until an amendment is added to the Constitution.
The Supreme Courts job is to interpret the law or explain the meaning of the constitution. In the case of the Judiciary Act of 1789, the Constitution was misinterpreted. So, has the Supreme Court ever gone beyond its Constitutional power? Not in my opinion because the Judiciary Act at the time was established from an interpretation of the Constitution. In 1803 the Judiciary Act was reviewed and decided to be unconstitutional by John Marshall.
Although in my opinion the Supreme Court has not gone beyond its constitutional power, the Supreme Court has however made very controversial decisions that we know today to be morally wrong. Such cases as Pace