Part one of term paper
Marbury v. Madison, one of the first Supreme Court cases asserting the power of judicial review, is an effective argument for this power; however, it lacks direct textual basis for the decision. Marshall managed to get away with this deficiency because of the silence on many issues and the vague wording of the Constitution. During the early t ...

Part two of term paper
... judge. Marshall identified three major questions that needed to be answered before the Court could rule on the Marbury v. Madison case. The first of these was, "Has the applicant a right to the commission he demands?" The Constitution allows that "the Congress may by Law vest the Appointment of such inferior Officers, as they think proper, in the President alone, . . . " (Art. II, § 2). The Judiciary Act of 1793 had given the President the right to appoint federal judges and justices of the peace; ...