Why the Supreme Court Is Relevant | Marbury v. Madison

In episode 42 of Supreme Court Briefs, the Supreme Court becomes kind of a big deal by getting judicial review.
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Produced by Matt Beat. All images by Matt Beat, found in the public domain, or used under fair use guidelines. Music by Electric Needle Room (Mr. Beat's band).

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Sound credits:
Mike Koenig

Photo credits:
Quarax

The District of Columbia
March 2, 1801

President John Adams just has a couple days left in office, but he’s been pretty busy making last-minute appointments for his Federalist friends to important positions. It’s basically a mad rush to get them in before the new President, his arch enemy Thomas Jefferson, takes over.

He nominates 23 justices of the peace, basically judges in lower courts, in Washington county. One of those nominated was a dude named William Marbury. Like Adams, Marbury was a Federalist who talked a lot of trash about Jefferson when he ran against Adams before the election of 1800.

Even though Adams nominated Marbury and the other 22 folks, and even though the Senate approved their nomination on March 3, and even though later that day Adams signed the commissions, which were basically the final orders so they could get to work, several of them didn’t get the job.

Wait...what? Why? Well John Marshall (aka “Lil’ John”), the acting Secretary of State for President Adams, did not deliver those commissions on time.

At noon the next day, March 4, Thomas Jefferson officially took over as President. He instructed his Secretary of State, James Madison to only deliver those commissions to some of the nominees. You know, the ones he liked. One of the people who never got his commission was William Marbury. Yeah Jefferson didn’t like him.

Marbury was like “that’s messed up man, I was promised that job.” He wanted to force Madison to deliver that commission, so he petitioned the Supreme Court to hear the case and the Court actually said “sure, let’s do this.” They heard arguments on February 11, 1803. Oh, guess what? By this time, John Marshall was Chief Justice of the Supreme Court. Wait a second, isn’t that a conflict of interest? Shouldn’t Marshall recuse himself from making a decision for the c---nahhhh

4 of the 6 justices on the Court discussed three big questions for this case.
Should Marbury and the other Justice of the Peace nominees get the jobs they were promised?
Can they even sue in court to get their jobs?
Hold up, does the Supreme Court even have the authority to say they COULD have their jobs?
The Court announced their decision on February 24, 1803. All four sided with Marbury. They thought Marbury deserved that position and thought yeah, he should be able to sue to get it. However, hold up...Madison kind of won, too, because the law that enabled Marbury to sue to begin with, The Judiciary Act of 1789, was actually unconstitutional because it gave the Supreme Court more power than the Constitution allowed. Wait, so the Supreme Court decided to weaken their own power? Well, not exactly. You see, John Marshall knew what he was doing. He pretty much did this. He had the long term in mind, baby. While the Court gave up power by declaring the Judiciary Act unconstitutional, they also gave the Court a far greater power. The power of judicial review, meaning they could call out laws if they went against the Constitution. So if the Court could declare the Judiciary Act unconstitutional, they could declare ANY law Congress passed unconstitutional, you see? Lil’ John and the rest of the Court had made the Supreme Court kind of a big deal. Dare I say. DARE I SAY. This was the most important Supreme Court case in American history.

[iammrbeat]

My book about everything you need to know about the Supreme Court is now available!

[johndanielson]

The reason why Marbury v Madison is the most important Supreme Court case ever was because before it, the Court wasn’t taken seriously. But Marbury gave the Supreme Court the power of judicial review and made the Court a third coequal branch of government.

[tellthemborissentyou]

You forgot to include what happened to these dudes so I will finish it off for you. Marbury never became a Justice of the Peace so he followed his other love- basketball. He did well and spent a few years in the NBA playing for the Minnesota Timberwolves. James Madison, who incidentally was named after the avenue in New York where he was found, never amounted to much. He did go on to invent a kooky dance and a cycling event where you can slingshot your team mate by holding hands. He later became an angry old man who was disappointed they wrote a musical about his former friend Hamilton instead of him.

[ripred]

A lot of history content on YouTube ends up being pretty poorly researched and reductionist (ie copying the Wikipedia page). Thanks for making content that is both educational and entertaining.

[shirtless]

Jefferson and his supporters were fearful that the Supreme Court would order Jefferson to deliver the commission to Marbury. Jefferson took office on March 4, 1801. His supporters in Congress canceled the Supreme Court’s 1802 Term, and it was not able to decide the case until 1803.

As you point out, Marshall resolved the matter in a very clever way. First, he gave Jefferson a long-winded lecture declaring that Marbury was entitled to the commission, but then decided that the Supreme Court did not have jurisdiction to issue the writ of mandamus. Thus, he asserted the right and power of the Court to declare Acts of Congress unconstitutional, an idea that the Jeffersonians despised, but did it in a way that they could not complain about. The Court would not declare another federal statute unconstitutional until the Dred Scott decision in 1857.

[luminaryprism]

Ah I love Marbury v Madison! One of the simplest and most important Court Cases to study.

And one I’m very appreciative of- gotta love the Supreme Court!

[JackRackam]

Funny, YouTube just sent me a notification for this video. What a pleasant reminder 😃

[PUM_Productions]

The sad thing is that the court room in which this decision was made is now a storage room :(

[dswsgabv]

Was the Supreme Court not given the power of judicial review when it was established?

Article 3 Sec 2 - "The judicial power shall extend to all cases, in law and equity, arising under this Constitution, the laws of the United States, and treaties made, or which shall be made, under their authority;..."

Specifying that "the laws of the United States" are under judicial power implies judicial review of laws that congress passes, right? Why did it take Marbury v. Madison to confirm that the Judiciary has this power even though it's already specified in the Constitution? Something I've always wondered, thanks for another great video.

[carsonsmith]

Not even 1 minute into the video and I already know this will clear up every question I have about this case.

[ericveneto]

You're 100% CORRECT about Marbury v Madison!

[patrickjspoon]

This was a highly appropriate "all-star" type video for December's YouTube glut of this is awesome!" posting. I'm usually able to remember the details of McCullough v. Maryland (which would be in the top three structural decisions the Court has made as well), but this case always gives me the fuzzy memories. "It was about appointments and... umm..."

[excelisfun]

Thanks for the great video, Mr. Beat!!!! You videos rock : )

[hyun-shik]

Madison: that’s I’m not in the Constitution - I’d know, I wrote it.

Marshall: and that’s the point.

[ayobrey]

I had to watch this for homework and must I say thank you for actually holding my attention the entire time. it’s very rare for an educational video to keep my attention and allow me to learn everything. Lol thanks.

[briantarigan]

You know, as an Indonesian Law student, we actually learn this court decision as part of Constitutional Law subject especially in the History of the concept of Supreme Court itself, i've been binging your videos recently Mr Beat, and already subscribe, you are doing a great work for so many people

[michaelpisciarino]

0:08 Last minute appointments by John Adams
1:42 Marbury did not receive his commission
2:16 Theee Questions
4:00 Gif exchange
4:33 Redoing videos

[michaelcerbo]

Without marbury v. madison’s ruling of judicial review, the judicial branch would have never had been as powerful as the other two branches. Therefore, without a foot in the door against the legislative and executive branches, the triangle of checks and balances would’ve fallen apart. Besides that, without judicial review, civil rights and liberties would have never been furthered as far as they are today. So yeah! I 100% agree with you Mr. Beat, Marbury v. Madison is the most important case!

[zach]

A very good video of the decision of Marbury v. Madison. Much improved.

[iammrbeat]

What is the most important Supreme Court decision in American history? Eh?