United States Supreme Court: Fletcher v.
Throughout the history of the United States America, many court cases between citizens, state government and federal government, and businesses have been brought to the Supreme Court. These cases usually involve some aspect of the constitution being debated. Many of the cases the Supreme Court has dealt with are similar in constitutional issues, historical context, and rights. This applies to the court cases Fletcher v. Peck and Marbury v. Madison. They both dealt with the interpretation of law and judicial review.
In the court case, Marbury v. Madison the defendant was Marbury and the plaintiff was Madison. Towards the end of President John Adams term Congress passed the Judiciary Act of 1801. This decreased the number of Supreme Court Justice positions and increased the number of federal judge positions. Because of this, many justices had to leave and many federal judges were needed. During last few movements in office he made midnight appointments. Midnight appointments are the last minute filling of government posts. John Adams filled the posts all with Federalists in order to maintain a "balance" of power which actually would give the Federalists an advantage on a national level. One of these appointments was given to William Marbury. Thomas Jefferson took over as president, but the commissions were not delivered. Jefferson then instructed Secretary of State James Madison not to deliver Marbury's commision for political reasons. Marbury then sued Madison and the Supreme Court to get the appointment. He requested that the Supreme Court issue a writ of mandamus that required Madison to deliver the appointment. The Judiciary Act passed by Congress in 1789 stood in his way. This act made it unconstitutional to for the Supreme Court to issue such a writ. .
Chief Justice John Marshall ruled against Marbury, concluding that it was unconstitutional for the Supreme Court to give the order to the president to appoint Marbury.
