Madison, which was held in 1803, pitted the ideas of the Federalists against the newly appointed Republican government and if Marbury should be granted a commission to the court. He stated that Madison, the Secretary of State at the time, failed to give him his commission to the court. Since he was given his commission in the Adams administration and now Jefferson was president many felt Madison did this deliberately since he was a republican and Marbury a federalist. The case was now brought directly to the Supreme Court instead of coming from the lower courts. The Chief Justice John Marshal stated the opinion of the court.
The main question of this case is: Should Marbury be given his commission to the court? .
Marshall stated that Marbury should be given the commission because it was sealed with the Presidential seal of the United States and it was proven that Madison intentionally did not hand in the commission. Under the Constitution any documents sealed with the seal of the President were final and this meant that Marbury should have received his commission. .
The main objective to come out of this case is that now the Supreme Court could hold acts of congress to be unconstitutional and therefore the Judicial branch was equal to the two others.