Marbury v Madison (1803)

• Marbury was appointed to a federal judge during the last few minutes of John Adam’s presidency but never received official letters confirming that he was.
• Marbury forces a writ of mandamus on Madison, which would require him to deliver the letters.
• 17 letters didn’t go to specific officials
• Marbury, a judge, believed that the writ of mandamus was unconstitutional because it doesn’t follow the rules of checks and balances. He believed it gave someone too much of the wrong power.
• This court case, led by Chief Justice John Marshall, confirmed the legal principle of judicial review.

Vocabulary

–  Judicial Review: the power from the court to review an action and deem a legislation as unconstitutional

-Writ of Mandamus:  court order issued by a judge compelling someone to execute a duty, therefore he is legally obligated to complete. (This would give them the power to remove the president)

-Chief Justice John Marshall: the longest-serving chief justice in Supreme Court and regarded as one of the most influential justices to ever sit on the Supreme Court.

-James Madison: the secretary of state,  American statesman and Founding Father.

-William Marbury:  American businessman and one of the “Midnight Judges” appointed by President John Adams the day before he left office.

 

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Baker v Carr (1962)

This court case decided that redistricting is justifiable and should be spoken about among the states.

• Tennessee had to provide population statistics to determine the boundaries on the map.
• Charles Baker said that Tennessee was not following the law because the towns were not providing population statistics to the state.
• Supreme Court said that this was not a political decision, therefore courts can make a judgment.

Results

• Supreme Court said that Tennessee was not following the law and this was a direct violation of the 14th Amendment because they weren’t treating everyone equally.
• A law was made to make sure that there was an equal legal process in the United States