John Marshall and the United States Supreme Court Judicial Review Court Decisions Federal Power

John Marshall and Supreme Court John Marshall, Chief Justice (1801-1835) Under Marshall, court favored a strong federal government and national economy Marshall gave the court weight and purpose as the third branch in the separation of powers Marshall would apply several Federalist principles in guiding the Supreme Court Under Marshall, the Supreme Court established Judicial Review (the power to review acts of Congress and the President for constitutionality) Marshall Court interfered with the state government’s power to interfere with business contracts Under Marshall, the Court determined that Federal law was superior to state law Marshall broadly interpreted the constitution by giving greater power to the national government

Major Decisions Marbury v. Madison Only case Marshall presided over in which the Court deemed an act unconstitutional Judicial Review established when Marshall declared that the statute for which Marbury was arguing was unconstitutional to begin with Judicial review means a government in which no person (not even the President) and no institution (not even Congress or the Supreme Court itself), nor even a majority of voters, may freely work their will in violation of the written Constitution “It is emphatically the province and duty of the Judicial Department to say what the law is. Those who apply the rule to particular cases must, of necessity, expound and interpret that rule. If two laws conflict with each other, the Courts must decide on the operation of each.” Chief Justice John Marshall "Certainly all those who have framed written constitutions contemplate them as forming the fundamental and paramount law of the nation, and consequently the theory of every such government must be, that an act of the legislature repugnant to the Constitution is void."

Major Decisions Fletcher v. Peck (1810) States can not pass legislation invalidating a contract First time Supreme Court declared a state law to be unconstitutional Dartmouth College v. Woodward (1819) New Hampshire law changed Dartmouth from privately charted college to public institution Supreme Court struck down the state law; it argued that a contract for a private institution could not be altered by the state McCulloch v. Maryland Did Congress have power to create a bank even though no clause in Constitution mentioned a bank? Could a state place a tax on a federally created bank? State of Maryland tried to collect taxes from Second Bank of the United States Using loose interpretation, Marshall ruled that the gov’t has implied powers to create the bank And, no state can tax a federal institution because “power to tax is power to destroy” Gibbons v. Ogden (1824) Marshall rejected a steamboat monopoly granted by state of New York Marshall ruled that steamboat traffic in and out of New York was commerce and only federal government can regulate interstate commerce

In Conclusion… Marshall gave the third branch of the federal government a prominent role in the US Government Guaranteed that rule of law would be upheld in the gov’t of the United States Marshall helped to build a stronger federal government