Constitutional Law Summary of legal cases in the United States
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Course
Constitutional law
Institution
Sciences Po
In this document, you will find summaries of important legal cases in the US :
- Marbury V Madison
- Brown V Board of Education
- Loving V Virginia
- Roe V Wade
- Obergefell v Hodges
For each of them, you'ill find :
- The date
- Why is the case meaningful for the US
- The background/c...
This is a legal case in which the U.S. Supreme Court first declared an act of Congress
unconstitutional, thus establishing the concept of judicial review.
This case is considered as being the foundation of the U.S. Constitutional law.
It is completed to remember, but in case, this is the context:
Background: In 1801, President John Adams appointed William Marbury as a justice of the
peace in the District of Columbia. However, Marbury's commission (official appointment
document) was not delivered before Adams left office, and the new Secretary of State,
James Madison, refused to deliver it to Marbury after Thomas Jefferson became president.
Lawsuit: Marbury sued Madison, asking the Supreme Court to issue a court order compelling
Madison to deliver his commission. Marbury argued that he had a legal right to the position
and that Madison's refusal to deliver the commission violated that right.
Supreme Court Decision: The Supreme Court, led by Chief Justice John Marshall, ruled in
1803. Marshall's opinion held that Marbury did have a legal right to his commission, and that
withholding it was illegal. However, the Court also held that the law Marbury relied on to
bring his case, the Judiciary Act of 1789, was unconstitutional because it gave the Court
powers beyond what the Constitution allowed.
Marshall managed to establish the power of the court as the ultimate arbiter of the
Constitution, to chastise the Jefferson administration for its failure to obey the law, and to
avoid having the court’s authority challenged by the administration.
Judicial Review: Importantly, the Court's decision established the principle of judicial review,
which means that the Supreme Court has the authority to review laws passed by Congress
and actions taken by the President and declare them unconstitutional if they violate the
Constitution.
Brown V Board of Education🏫🙋🏻🙋🏿
Date: 1954
Case in which the U.S. Supreme Court ruled unanimously that racial segregation in public
schools violated the Fourteenth Amendment to the Constitution, which prohibits the states
from denying equal protection of the laws to any person within their jurisdictions.
The decision declared that separate educational facilities for white and African American
students were inherently unequal.
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