U.S Supreme Court Law Cases

Table of Contents Marbury v. Madison Overview3 Arguments4 Verdict5 Miranda v. Phoenix Overview6 Arguments 7 Verdict8 United States v. Nixon Overview9 Arguments 10 Verdict 11

Marbury v. Madison Overview Ending of a term John Adams (a democrat) term was coming to an end. He planned for a last minute arrangement to appoint 58 more democrats and give them government jobs. Secretary of state, John Madison was in charge of delivering their commissions The new president Thomas Jefferson (a republican)won election in 1800 Jefferson ordered Madison to stop proceeding with Adams’s plan 41 of the 58 were appointed Aftermath One of those 17 people who didn’t receive their commission was William Marbury Marbury was suppose to be appointed as justice of the peace of the District of Columbia He sued Madison and asked the court to issue a writ of mandamus

Arguments Marbury Marbury argued that it was not fair that the secretary of state did not approve of his new role as the justice of peace. Marbury declared this as unconstitutional Madison Madison argued that he was not guilty to the charges and that his decision of not approving the new role for Marbury as the justice of peace was constitutional and not based on his own bias opinion

The Verdict To avoid direct political confrontation, Marshall dismissed the case on the grounds of unconstitutionality

Miranda v. Arizona- Overview Ernesto Miranda Ernesto Miranda, a man living in Phoenix, was interrogated by policemen on the account of rape and kidnapping The Interrogation The policemen did not inform him the rights of the accused Miranda admitted to the crime

Arguments Phoenix Policemen confessed to not explaining Miranda his rights They argued that Miranda had been convicted before, so although they didn’t tell him his rights, he already knew them Miranda He argued that his rights of being accused and rights to an attorney was not explained to him before the incrimination Argued that his confession should be excluded from trial because of his rights not explained to him

The Verdict The supreme court denied Miranda’s appeal of the case, he was then sentenced to years in imprisonment for each crime committed

United States v. Nixon- Overview Watergate President Nixon and aides were accused of spying on the democrats in at the Watergate Hotel and office complex Hearing During the hearing it had been discovered that Nixon had tapes recorded in the oval office Prosecutor The prosecutor demanded Nixon to turn in those tapes

Arguments United States Argued that Nixon should give away confidentiality to the demands of the legal system in a criminal case Argued that although he was entitled to privacy, this right is not absolute. Nixon Argued that the case couldn’t be heard in court because it involved the executive branch. Agued that the president was entitled to privacy with his aides- executive immunity

The Verdict the Supreme Court decided that Nixon must hand over the tapes. The Court said that under the Constitution, the judiciary had the final voice, not the Executive branch. The Court were ware that the President had a right to privileged communication where certain areas of national security were concerned. However, the Court stated that this case did not meet those conditions. The Court declared that no president is above the law. Nixon handed over the tapes that revealed that he had personally engaged in the cover-up of the burglary.