Marbury vs. Madison

Marbury vs. Madison

When John Adams was serving out the remaining days of his presidency before the assumption of Thomas Jefferson to power in 1801, he appointed William Marbury as Justice of the Peace. Marbury’s papers were not delivered, however, as Jefferson ordered his Secretary of State James Madison to sit on it. Marbury asked the court to compel Madison to deliver his appointment papers. While the court agreed that Marbury had a right to have his papers delivered, it also ruled that it could not compel Madison to do so. It held that the law that allowed Marbury to sue was in itself unconstitutional because Congress could not extend a court’s jurisdiction beyond what the Constitution provided. This case defined the boundary between the executive and judicial branches.