In 1801, in the newly founded United States of America, the next presidential election was extremely competitive, and the then president, John F. Kennedy, was very competitive. Adams wanted to seek re-election, but the tide had gone and had to give way to then-Vice President Thomas Jefferson. Jefferson. Just a few weeks before the president stepped down, the president appointed a group of Federalists as judges, who came to be known as "midnight judges." The day before leaving office, Adams signed their letter of appointment, which was eventually sent by the secretary of state to the appointee. However, before the letters of appointment could be sent out, Adams stepped down, and the newly appointed president, Jefferson, was a Republican, and he did not want the Federalist Party to expand, so he told Secretary of State Madison not to issue these letters of appointment, and the letters of appointment were seized.
Thomas. Jefferson
As a result, this matter was made known to a wealthy businessman named Marbury among the midnight judges, who, in a fit of rage, took Madison to court. This made Marshall, the Justice of the Supreme Court at that time, difficult, because if he forced the president to issue these letters of appointment, and the president did not issue them, it would be equivalent to saying that the court had no real power, which would make the court lose face. If he did not accept Marbury's case, which was a reasonable demand, Marshall was in a dilemma.
As a result, Marshall came up with a brilliant solution, first telling Marbury that the matter had to be filed from the district court level up to the Supreme Court. This kind of notice has a long time period, a cumbersome process, and is very laborious. But Marbury's lawyer was not a vegetarian, and he initially brought Marbury's complaint to the Supreme Court, invoking section 13 of the Judiciary Ordinance of 1789 to the effect that the Supreme Court had the power to enforce the president. As a result, our Judge Marshall seems to have to ask the President to issue these letters of appointment, but Marshall went on to declare that rule 13 was unconstitutional, because when it gave the Supreme Court the power to issue enforcement orders to government officials, it effectively expanded the jurisdiction of the Supreme Court as expressly provided for in the Constitution. The Constitution is the fundamental law of the country, and this rule was repealed because it was unconstitutional. In this way, Marbury saw that being a magistrate was so arduous that even the letter of appointment signed by the president and stamped by the State Council became a white stripe, and if he wanted to file a lawsuit one level up, he did not know that he had to wait until the Year of the Monkey, Ma Yue, so he had to withdraw the lawsuit, and later he went back to become the president of a large bank, which was much more affordable than the magistrate.
Judge Marshall's move was stunning, and on the surface, he did not let the president issue a letter of appointment, did not help Marbury get the position he deserved, and should have lost. But in fact, first of all, he upheld the legitimacy of the Marbury lawsuit and guaranteed the fairness of the court. He then demonstrated by declaring that the rules of the law had been repealed as unconstitutional, showing that the Supreme Court had the power to check whether a law was in conformity with the provisions of the Constitution and that it had the power to amend the law and the final interpretation of the Constitution, so that the power of the courts was guaranteed, which also became the root of the later judicial review system. In the end, he limits the power of the Supreme Court itself, and the president can't find any reason to live with him.
The reason why the Marbury v. Madison case can become the most important case in the history of the United States is not only because judge Marshall showed superb skills in this case, making this case the most cited case in the world, but also because it established the judicial review system in the United States since then, the history is far-reaching, as the weakest judicial force in the separation of powers at that time, Judge Marshall's judgment helped the Supreme Court gain real power, and posterity praised: "If George. Washington created the United States, John. Marshall defined the American system."
The Marbury v. Madison case and the judicial review system it established still have great reference and reference significance for Today's China, which has comprehensively promoted the rule of law.
U.S. Supreme Court