Short Summaries on Select Important Supreme Court Cases

Court Decisions
1)Marbury v. Madison (1803) - On the last day of his presidency, President Adams appointed William Marbury as the justice of peace for the District of Columbia. However, the new secretary of state, James Madison, chose to shelf Marbury's commission. Marbury sued Madison for its delivery. In this case, Chief Justice Marshall knew that it would not be delivered and chose to dismiss Marbury's suit. Marshall claimed that the part of the Judiciary Act of 1789 on which Marbury tried to base his appeal on was unconstitutional. Marshall came out with the principle of "judicial review". This principle had the idea that the Supreme Court alone had the last word on the question of constitutionality.
2)McCulloch v. Maryland (1819) - This suit involved an attempt by the state of Maryland to destroy a branch of the Bank of the United States by imposing tax on its notes. …