Marbury v. Madison
John Adams appointed several new justices of the peace before he was to leave office, and the commissions had to be delivered to have effect.
Adams gave the task to his Secretary of State, John Marshall, to deliver the commissions, but it was soon recognized it would be impossible to deliver them all in time.
It was vital they were delivered before Adams left office, or else they would become null and void.
Marshall, when he was appointed Chief Justice, assumed the new Secretary of State, James Madison, would deliver the rest. However, Madison had not arrived to his post when Marshall left, and not all the commissions were delivered on time.
Marbury was one of the men who didn’t receive his commission, yet still demanded …show more content…
Plessy v Ferguson
Constitutional Issue
Dispute over legality of segregated railroads cars in Louisiana due to the 1890 Separate Car Act, which was in violation of the 14th Amendment
Main Arguments
Plaintiff- Homer Plessy was denied his rights under the 13th and 14th amendments
The 14th amendment guaranteed rights to all citizens, and Plessy was being deprived of life, liberty and happiness
Defendant- Judge John Ferguson ruled the state has a right to regulate railroads in its own boundaries
In the Louisiana Courts, the argument was based off the North’s laws about intermixing and segregation could not be changed
Decision of the Court 7-1
The Court found that there was no violation of the Fourteenth Amendment in the Separate Car Act.
Rather the decision to stay separate was for public policy
Justice Brown wrote “We consider the underlying fallacy of the plaintiff's argument to consist in the assumption that the enforced separation of the two races stamps the colored race with a badge of inferiority”
The Lone Dissenter, Justice Harlan, viewed the ruling as racist, and against American values
He blasted the majority by explaining “There is no caste here. Our constitution is colorblind, and neither knows nor tolerates classes among citizens. In respect of civil rights, all citizens are equal before the