Fourth Chief Justice of the United States, serving from 1801 to 1835, the longest tenure of any Chief Justice in American history. His opinion in Marbury v. Madison (1803) established judicial review, the federal courts' power to hold an Act of Congress unconstitutional, as a settled feature of American constitutional law. His tenure also settled the supremacy of federal law and the scope of the Commerce Clause in cases such as McCulloch v. Maryland and Gibbons v. Ogden.
Facts
RoleJudge (Chief Justice of the United States) 1 Nationality / JurisdictionUnited States; federal common law system 1 BirthplaceGermantown (near Midland), Virginia, then British America 1 Place of DeathPhiladelphia, Pennsylvania, United States 1 Classification
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Role (category) Role (category) John Marshall
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Chief Justice Marshall articulated the doctrine in McCulloch v. Maryland (1819), reading the Necessary and Proper Clause to permit means reasonably adapted to a legitimate end. McCulloch v. Maryland is not yet a live entity in this atlas; filed as a mint candidate.
Marbury v. Madison (1803), already recorded on this atlas as established-by Judicial Review, is Marshall's own opinion; this edge names the person, the case edge names the case.
Source The Oyez Project
In Legal System
Source Encyclopaedia Britannica
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Source John Marshall (Wikipedia)
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1. Encyclopaedia Britannica
Encyclopaedia Britannica, Inc.https://www.britannica.com/biography/John-Marshall
His most influential case, Marbury v. Madison (1803), affirmed the Court's authority to interpret the Constitution through judicial review, allowing it to declare laws unconstitutional. This solidified the Court as a coequal branch of government.
- In Legal System: Common Law
View the Source Wikidata: John Marshall
Wikidata Q310829 self-citation (QID resolved for a previously unsourced jurist)Quote, Wikidata Q310829 self-citation (QID resolved for a previously unsourced jurist)
P31 (instance of): human; QID resolved and verified for this jurist (John Marshall)
The Oyez Project
- Works Attributed: Marbury v Madison
- Formulated: Judicial Review
John Marshall (Wikipedia)
Member Of: United States Supreme Court, lead states served as associate justice of the Supreme Court of the United StatesView the Source Frequently Asked Questions
What did John Marshall decide in Marbury v. Madison?
The Court held Marbury was entitled to his commission but struck down part of the Judiciary Act of 1789, establishing judicial review without confronting Jefferson's administration.
Marshall had failed as Secretary of State to deliver commissions to 42 justices of the peace before the end of Adams's term, and William Marbury sued James Madison to obtain his. On February 24, 1803, the Court held that Madison was legally bound to deliver the commission and that Marbury had the right to sue, but that it could not order delivery because the Judiciary Act of 1789 had unconstitutionally expanded the Court's original jurisdiction to include writs of mandamus. It was the first case in which the Supreme Court struck down a federal law as unconstitutional, establishing judicial review. By doing so in a holding that required nothing of the Jefferson administration, the Court avoided a direct conflict with a hostile executive branch.
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