America
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In a nation established by peoples of differing languages, ethnicities, and religions, Americans find unity in the democratic principles of the founding fathers; principles that united the thirteen colonies after the American Revolution and continue to unite Americans during such crises as the attacks of September 11th. Fundamental doctrines associated with the Constitution are familiar to average Americans even today, two hundred years after its ratification. For example, Americans widely believe that governmental “checks and balances” safeguard American democracy by equalizing powers between the three branches of government: legislative, executive, and judicial. While most Americans probably remember how the first three articles of the Constitution address this point, many have no knowledge of the single most important event that elevated the federal judiciary to equal footing with Congress and the president: the case of Marbury v. Madison. Without this landmark Supreme Court case, the highest federal court would not have the power to render decisions substantial enough to change the face of American History.
During John Adamss presidency (1797-1801), his Federalist party began losing its strength to the ever growing Republican party headed by Thomas Jefferson. As the election of 1800 came and went, the Federalists lost the presidency to Jefferson along with their congressional majority. Simultaneously, the Federalist lame-duck Congress passed the Judiciary Act of 1801 creating sixteen vacancies in federal judgeships and other judicial positions. Attempting to sustain the party, Adams appointed Federalists to these offices during his last day as president. These “midnight judges” never received their commissions because a new Republican Congress immediately repealed the Judiciary Act of 180l, destroying the positions. Jefferson therefore told Secretary of State James Madison not to deliver some commissions.
One “midnight judge,” William Marbury, whom Adams had appointed as a justice of the peace for Washington, D.C., sued for his commission using the Judiciary Act of 1789.
Marbury requested that the Supreme Court give him a writ of mandamus (a court order requiring a specific action) that would force Madison to hand over the commission. Chief Justice John Marshall, a newly appointed Federalist justice, dismissed the case but went one step farther when writing the courts opinion. He argued that the portion of the Judiciary Act that allowed the Supreme Court to issue such writs was unconstitutional since the Constitution did not grant the judicial branch such authority. Therefore, any law including such writs was invalid. This decision, while avoiding a confrontation with the presidency over the writs enforcement, set an important precedent for “judicial review,” the Supreme Courts power as the final judge of a federal laws constitutionality. This authority raised the judiciary to a level equal to that of the legislative and executive branches, one able to check and balance the other two branches power.
Americans need to remember the principle of checks and balances because without them, American democratic government would not survive. Checks and balances exist to ensure that one branch of government does not become too powerful. For example, if nothing restricts presidential power, the chief executive could become a dictator, commanding the military, vetoing laws not to his liking, and assigning overwhelming authority to executive agencies. An unchecked legislature could degenerate into “majority rule” with the potential to create laws that trample individual liberties or the welfare of less populated regions. An all powerful judiciary could hand down cruel punishments that would be out of proportion to the crimes committed. To ensure that no government branch became too powerful, the founding fathers included explicit checks and balances in the Constitution so the legislative branch could restrain the executive branch and vice versa.
Article three governing the judicial branch, however, consists of only three small sections. The first describes the term of judicial appointments; the second, the cases it may accept; and the third, the terms of a treason case. Given these three sections, the judicial branch possessed little power over the other two branches. It therefore was considered the weakest branch of government. Before Marbury v. Madison, the Supreme Court had in fact never