Lesson 10
Remember how you learned a little about Judicial Review in the last lesson? It's a pretty important concept to understanding how the government works, particularly the Supreme Court. Judicial Review is the power that the Supreme Court has to declare something Unconstitutional.
But the power of Judicial Review is not given to the Supreme Court in the Constitution. So who decided that the Supreme Court's job is to interpret the Constitution. Judicial Review actually came out of a Supreme Court case known as Marbury v. Madison.
I'm going to have you research a few important Supreme Court cases, but the first one I want you to learn about is :Marbury v. Madison.
But the power of Judicial Review is not given to the Supreme Court in the Constitution. So who decided that the Supreme Court's job is to interpret the Constitution. Judicial Review actually came out of a Supreme Court case known as Marbury v. Madison.
I'm going to have you research a few important Supreme Court cases, but the first one I want you to learn about is :Marbury v. Madison.
Here's a quick rundown of what happened:
First you need to know that there was a law passed called 'Judiciary Act of 1789'. Part of this act was a provision called the Writ of Mandamus. The Writ said that the Supreme Court could tell the President (and Congress) what to do. If the President wasn't following a law that the Supreme Court passed, then the Supreme Court could make him with a Writ of Mandamus.
Alright here's what happened. Thomas Jefferson gets elected president. But he doesn't take over until March. So in January and February John Adams is still president. John Adams belongs to a political party known as the FEDERALISTS. While Thomas Jefferson's political party is DEMOCRATIC REPUBLICAN. So while John Adams is still in office, he decides to appoint a bunch of FEDERALIST judges. John Marshall was Adam's Secretary of State so it was his job to make sure all the Federalist judges that Adam's wanted were appointed.
But he didn't get them appointed in time.
Now Thomas Jefferson's in office. He doesn't want all these Federalist judges, because they aren't members of his political party. So he ignores the judges that weren't appointed in time. William Marbury was one of these Federalist judges who didn't get appointed in time. He kind of throws a fit. He decides to go to the Supreme Court (guess who's in charge of the Supreme Court now?... Marbury's federalist buddy John Marshall) and say "Hey guys, I was supposed to be a judge with you, why don't you use that fancy WRIT OF MANDAMUS and make Thomas Jefferson appoint me as a judge??" Well it would actually be forcing James Madison to appoint him, because Madison was Jefferson's Secretary of State, so it would have been Madison's job.
Thus the Supreme Court case of Marbury v. Madison. You following? Don't worry I'll have you watch a clip that explains it better.
So John Marshall Cheif Justice (the judge in charge of the Supreme Court) has a little dilemma. He's a federalist so he likes Marbury, but at the same time- Jefferson is president now. Ironically it was Marshall's job to appoint Marbury and he didn't get it done in time.
John Marshall makes a brilliant move. Here's what he says:
'Marbury it's not fair that you weren't appointed as a judge, and ya, you should be appointed.... but this whole WRIT OF MANDAMUS thing is Unconstitutional. We shouldn't have the right to tell the President what to do.'
Why is it brilliant? Well because Marshall just gave the Supreme Court the power to declare something Unconstitutional. PLUS if he would have agreed with Marbury and issued the WRIT OF MANDAMUS to James Madison and Thomas Jefferson, they probably would have just ignored it. And that would mean that ignoring an order of the Supreme Court was okay.
Alright now watch this video:
First you need to know that there was a law passed called 'Judiciary Act of 1789'. Part of this act was a provision called the Writ of Mandamus. The Writ said that the Supreme Court could tell the President (and Congress) what to do. If the President wasn't following a law that the Supreme Court passed, then the Supreme Court could make him with a Writ of Mandamus.
Alright here's what happened. Thomas Jefferson gets elected president. But he doesn't take over until March. So in January and February John Adams is still president. John Adams belongs to a political party known as the FEDERALISTS. While Thomas Jefferson's political party is DEMOCRATIC REPUBLICAN. So while John Adams is still in office, he decides to appoint a bunch of FEDERALIST judges. John Marshall was Adam's Secretary of State so it was his job to make sure all the Federalist judges that Adam's wanted were appointed.
But he didn't get them appointed in time.
Now Thomas Jefferson's in office. He doesn't want all these Federalist judges, because they aren't members of his political party. So he ignores the judges that weren't appointed in time. William Marbury was one of these Federalist judges who didn't get appointed in time. He kind of throws a fit. He decides to go to the Supreme Court (guess who's in charge of the Supreme Court now?... Marbury's federalist buddy John Marshall) and say "Hey guys, I was supposed to be a judge with you, why don't you use that fancy WRIT OF MANDAMUS and make Thomas Jefferson appoint me as a judge??" Well it would actually be forcing James Madison to appoint him, because Madison was Jefferson's Secretary of State, so it would have been Madison's job.
Thus the Supreme Court case of Marbury v. Madison. You following? Don't worry I'll have you watch a clip that explains it better.
So John Marshall Cheif Justice (the judge in charge of the Supreme Court) has a little dilemma. He's a federalist so he likes Marbury, but at the same time- Jefferson is president now. Ironically it was Marshall's job to appoint Marbury and he didn't get it done in time.
John Marshall makes a brilliant move. Here's what he says:
'Marbury it's not fair that you weren't appointed as a judge, and ya, you should be appointed.... but this whole WRIT OF MANDAMUS thing is Unconstitutional. We shouldn't have the right to tell the President what to do.'
Why is it brilliant? Well because Marshall just gave the Supreme Court the power to declare something Unconstitutional. PLUS if he would have agreed with Marbury and issued the WRIT OF MANDAMUS to James Madison and Thomas Jefferson, they probably would have just ignored it. And that would mean that ignoring an order of the Supreme Court was okay.
Alright now watch this video:
John Marshall was the Chief Justice when this case was being decided. Back then there were 4 Justices serving in the Supreme Court. Because the Constitution was brand new when this case came to court, Marshall had a lot of influence in being able to decide how much power and jurisdiction the Supreme Court should have.
Just like George Washington, when he became the first president it was his job to set the precedent. Which means that since no one else in the history of America had ever been president- it was George Washington's job to decide things. For example, some people thought the president should be referred to as "your majesty". George Washington decided not to be addressed that way.
John Marshall wasn't the first Chief Justice, he was actually the fourth. But he served for 35 years, which was a lot longer than any Chief Justice before him. Chief Justices serve for life (unless they die, want to leave, or are kicked out because of 'bad behavior').
Always remember, 'The Supreme Court Case Marbury v. Madison established Judicial Review'. Because the Supreme Court can declare a law UNCONSTITUTIONAL, it makes the Constitution what we call a living document.
SO that might have been a complicated story. Let's recap: Back in 1789 a 'Judicial Act' was passed that said Congress could tell the President what to do if they issued what they called a 'WRIT OF MANDAMUS'. John Adams was the second president of the United States. Before he left office he decided to appoint a bunch of judges. It was John Marshall's job to make sure all these judge appointments were taking care of. But he didn't finish in time. So in 1801 T.J. (Thomas Jefferson) becomes the 3rd president of the United States. And he doesn't want all these judges in office. So the ones who weren't appointed in time don't get to be judges. Well William Marbury is one of the judges who didn't get appointed in time. So he goes to the Supreme Court and asks them to make Thomas Jefferson appoint him as a judge using the fancy 'WRIT of MANDAMUS'. Well ironically John Marshall (same one that worked for John Adams) is now the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court so he's the one that makes the decision. Marshall decides, "um no... the whole 'WRIT of MANDAMUS' thing isn't really fair... we shouldn't have the right to tell the president what to do. So, that's UNCONSTITUTIONAL"
Here's why it's important ::: Never before had the Supreme Court declared something UNCONSTITUTIONAL. SO John Marshall, by calling something UNCONSTITUTIONAL gave the Supreme Court the power to do that in the future. Remember declaring something Constitutional or Unconstitutional is called JUDICIAL REVIEW. Does that make more sense? Hopefully it does.
You'll learn about a few other Supreme Court cases when you do the assignment.
One of the important court cases you'll read about is Miranda v. Arizona. I mentioned it briefly in Lesson 7. Have you ever noticed on TV shows and movies that when someone is arrested the police always say "you have the right to remain silent...." ? Did you know they are required to say that?
Just like George Washington, when he became the first president it was his job to set the precedent. Which means that since no one else in the history of America had ever been president- it was George Washington's job to decide things. For example, some people thought the president should be referred to as "your majesty". George Washington decided not to be addressed that way.
John Marshall wasn't the first Chief Justice, he was actually the fourth. But he served for 35 years, which was a lot longer than any Chief Justice before him. Chief Justices serve for life (unless they die, want to leave, or are kicked out because of 'bad behavior').
Always remember, 'The Supreme Court Case Marbury v. Madison established Judicial Review'. Because the Supreme Court can declare a law UNCONSTITUTIONAL, it makes the Constitution what we call a living document.
SO that might have been a complicated story. Let's recap: Back in 1789 a 'Judicial Act' was passed that said Congress could tell the President what to do if they issued what they called a 'WRIT OF MANDAMUS'. John Adams was the second president of the United States. Before he left office he decided to appoint a bunch of judges. It was John Marshall's job to make sure all these judge appointments were taking care of. But he didn't finish in time. So in 1801 T.J. (Thomas Jefferson) becomes the 3rd president of the United States. And he doesn't want all these judges in office. So the ones who weren't appointed in time don't get to be judges. Well William Marbury is one of the judges who didn't get appointed in time. So he goes to the Supreme Court and asks them to make Thomas Jefferson appoint him as a judge using the fancy 'WRIT of MANDAMUS'. Well ironically John Marshall (same one that worked for John Adams) is now the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court so he's the one that makes the decision. Marshall decides, "um no... the whole 'WRIT of MANDAMUS' thing isn't really fair... we shouldn't have the right to tell the president what to do. So, that's UNCONSTITUTIONAL"
Here's why it's important ::: Never before had the Supreme Court declared something UNCONSTITUTIONAL. SO John Marshall, by calling something UNCONSTITUTIONAL gave the Supreme Court the power to do that in the future. Remember declaring something Constitutional or Unconstitutional is called JUDICIAL REVIEW. Does that make more sense? Hopefully it does.
You'll learn about a few other Supreme Court cases when you do the assignment.
One of the important court cases you'll read about is Miranda v. Arizona. I mentioned it briefly in Lesson 7. Have you ever noticed on TV shows and movies that when someone is arrested the police always say "you have the right to remain silent...." ? Did you know they are required to say that?
To learn more about it, do the assignment:
Assignment 10
All the cases you are going to look at have to do with CIVIL RIGHTS. Civil Rights are the rights of citizens. The last column on the worksheet you'll download is where you'll type what each case has done for Civil Rights. Some of the cases decided things that moved civil rights in a backward direction, but they still changed Civil Rights.
Download this Google Doc again you'll have to sign in to your pioneercharterschool.org e-mail address. One you open the Google Doc, download it and save it as a file on your computer (OpenOffice or Microsoft Word). To do this, make sure you are on the Google Doc. Go to FILE- DOWNLOAD AS- and then choose the program you have on your computer.
Once the file is downloaded you can edit it.
This is the worksheet you are going to fill out and send back to me. There are 3 boxes you have to fill out for each case. The first column is labeled "YEAR". Pretty self-explanatory. Tell me the year the case went to court. The second column is labeled: "WHAT WAS THE CASE ABOUT". Again, pretty self-explanatory. Tell me what the case was about. The third column says "WHAT DID IT DO FOR CIVIL RIGHTS?" Well, not all Supreme Court cases gave citizens rights. Some cases actually took them away. Tell me if it helped CIVIL RIGHTS or hurt Civil Rights and why. To find the information to fill out the worksheet go to this website: streetlaw.org.
You need to fill out information in each of the three columns for each of the 6 cases. Once you have filled out the worksheet submit it below
Download this Google Doc again you'll have to sign in to your pioneercharterschool.org e-mail address. One you open the Google Doc, download it and save it as a file on your computer (OpenOffice or Microsoft Word). To do this, make sure you are on the Google Doc. Go to FILE- DOWNLOAD AS- and then choose the program you have on your computer.
Once the file is downloaded you can edit it.
This is the worksheet you are going to fill out and send back to me. There are 3 boxes you have to fill out for each case. The first column is labeled "YEAR". Pretty self-explanatory. Tell me the year the case went to court. The second column is labeled: "WHAT WAS THE CASE ABOUT". Again, pretty self-explanatory. Tell me what the case was about. The third column says "WHAT DID IT DO FOR CIVIL RIGHTS?" Well, not all Supreme Court cases gave citizens rights. Some cases actually took them away. Tell me if it helped CIVIL RIGHTS or hurt Civil Rights and why. To find the information to fill out the worksheet go to this website: streetlaw.org.
You need to fill out information in each of the three columns for each of the 6 cases. Once you have filled out the worksheet submit it below
Standard 2: Objective 2 C
Standard 1 Objective 3 C
Standard 1 Objective 3 C