The two parties involved were William Marbury against James

Madison

Before Adams presidency ended and went into Jefferson's term, he mad many federal appointments. One of these appointments was William Marbury as the justice of the

peace in the District of Columbia. When Adams term ended it came time for Jefferson's Secretary of State, James Madison, to approve the decision of Marbury for justice of peace. The offer was shot down by Madison, thus creating the court case of Marbury suing Madison. The Supreme court had taken the case and there

were multiple results to the end of this court case, sometimes creating the foundation of our Supreme Court today.

MarburyMarbury’s argument

was that it was not fair that the new

secretary of state, Madison, did not

approve of his new role as the justice of

peace. Marbury declared this as unconstitutional, and the supreme

court agreed.

Madison

Madison was the defense argument. His case was that he was

not guilty to the charges, and that his

decision of not approving the new role

for Marbury as the justice of peace was constitutional and

not based on his own bias opinion

• This case started the Supreme Court process of Judicial Review

• First time in Western court history that the Supreme Court declared something Unconstitutional

• Helped exemplify the US system of “Checks and Balances”