4. Major character
Election in 1800
Ex. president New president
John Adam Jefferson
Sec of state
John Marshall Medison
5. Appointment as Judges
John Marshall.
He was ex. sectary of president and after
retirement become new chief justice of united state
of America.
Marbury.
Marbury appointed as judge of Columbia.
8. Mandamus
A writ of mandamus or mandamus (which means "we
command" , or sometimes mandate, is the name of one of
the prerogative writs in the common law, and is "issued by a
superior court to compel a lower court or a government
officer to perform mandatory or purely ministerial duties
correctly."
Mandamus is a judicial remedy which is in the form of an
order from a superior court to any government subordinate
court, corporation or public authority to do or forbear from
doing some specific act which that body is obliged under
law to do or refrain from doing, as the case may be, and
which is in the nature of public duty and in certain cases of
a statutory duty.
11. Article III
In all Cases affecting Ambassadors, other public
Ministers and Consuls, and those in which a State shall
be a Party, the supreme Court shall have original
Jurisdiction. In all the other Cases before mentioned
[within the judicial power of the United States], the
supreme Court shall have appellate Jurisdiction, both
as to Law and Fact, with such Exceptions, and under
such Regulations as the Congress shall make.
—U.S. Constitution, Article III, Section 2, Clause 2
12. The Decision
On February 24, 1803, the Court rendered a unanimous (4–
0) decision, that Marbury had the right to his commission
but the court did not have the power to force Madison to
deliver the commission. Chief Justice Marshall wrote the
opinion of the court. Marshall presented the case as raising
three distinct questions:
Did Marbury have a right to the commission?
Do the laws of the country give Marbury a legal remedy?
Is asking the Supreme Court for a writ of mandamus the
correct legal remedy?[2
