One of the earliestof theSupreme Court'scases ended up being one of the most important.

Background:During the infancy of the Constitution, it was unclear exactly what the role of the Supreme Court was going to be.Did the mandate to interpret the laws also mean that the court could change or override the laws?And if not,wouldthe Judicial Branchbe as equally powerful as the other two branches?

The events that would help to answer these questions began after the Election Of 1800.Thomas Jefferson won the Presidency that year and his predecessor John Adams wasn't too happy about it.As he left office, Adams appointedjudges favorable to his political point of view.These judges could carry on Adams' philosophies beyond his time in office.Due to an unfortunate oversight, William Marbury, did not receive hisofficialappointment papers from the outgoingSecretary Of State.

When he complained to the new SecretaryOfState, James Madison, that he did not receive his papers;the new President, Thomas Jefferson, refused to order them to be delivered.Jefferson was trying to spite ex-president Adams and basicallysaid to Marbury, "What are you going to do about it?I'm the President, I can do whatever I want."

William Marbury calledJefferson'sbluff and suedSecretary Of State,James Madison,to get him to release the papers.Here's the key part:Because ofapreviouslypassed legislative act,The JudiciaryAct Of 1789, cases like Marbury's could bypass the lower courts and move immediately to the Supreme Court.

This act did not sit well with Chief Justice John Marshall.It bothered him that one branch of government could pass a law that determined the functioning of another branch of government.Since the Constitution divided the governmental power into three equal branches, he felt that the Congress had overstepped its authorityintrying to determine what cases could come before the Supreme Court.In essence, he thought the Act Of 1789 violated the spirit of the Constitution.

The Decision:The Marshall Court ultimately decided that Marbury's case should not have been brought before the Supreme Court without first travelling through the lower courts.And,even more importantly,they declared that the Judiciary Act of 1789 was unconstitutional.This decision established a majorprecedentfor the Supreme Court.If they could declare this act unconstitutional, moving forward, they could declare any act unconstitutional.This meant that theywould have the power to"check"and "balance" the work of the other two branches.Thus ensuring equality of the three branches.

This new power, that Justice Marshall was very aware he was creating, became known asJudicial Review.And it would become the cornerstone of the Supreme Court's influence over political and social policy to the present day.

Questions:

Summary;Confirm that youhaveread and understood the information provided, write a summary of the case and the decision below. Five sentences should suffice.

Opinion:What is your opinion of this decision?Is the result a good idea for the country?Explain.What groups are impacted the most by this decision?Can you foresee any difficulties that might arise from the decision?