Marbury v.

Madison, 5 US (1 Cranch) 137 (1803) – Timeline of Events

October 31, 1800: Electors appointed for the upcoming Presidential election.

December 3, 1800: Electors cast votes for President.

February 2, 1801: President Adams' Secretary of State, John Marshall, is commissioned and sworn in as
Chief Justice of the United States (Supreme Court). Marshall agrees to continue fulfilling the role of
Secretary of State until the end of Adams' term.

February 11, 1801: Presidential electoral votes tabulated in Congress. Incumbent President John Adams
was defeated, but Thomas Jefferson and Aaron Burr were tied at 73 votes each, necessitating a special
election in the House of Representatives.

February 13, 1801: Congress passes the Judiciary Act of 1801, adding 16 new Circuit Judges and reducing
the size of the Supreme Court from 6 justices to 5 (by attrition).

February 1801: President Adams nominates 16 members of the Federalist party to fill the new Circuit
Judge positions. Congress approves all nominations.

February 17, 1801: Democratic-Republican Thomas Jefferson wins the Presidency in the House election;
Democratic-Republican Aaron Burr becomes Vice-President.

February 27, 1801: Congress passed the District of Columbia Organic Act of 1801, in which Congress
formally incorporated landed ceded to the federal government by Virginia and Maryland into the District
of Columbia, dividing the territory into two "cities": Alexandria, which operated under Virginia law; and
Georgetown, which operated under Maryland law. One provision of the Act allowed the sitting
President (John Adams) to appoint an unspecified number of justices of the peace to serve the needs of
the District.

March 2, 1801: President Adams nominates 42 members of the Federalist Party to the newly created DC
judicial positions (these men became known as the Midnight Judges for the last-minute nature of the
appointments).

March 3, 1801: Congress approves the nominations and commissions Adams' nominees.

March 3, 1801: John Adams signs the commissions, and Secretary of State John Marshall works late into
the night sealing the paperwork and preparing it for delivery.

March 4, 1801: Democratic-Republican President Thomas Jefferson is inaugurated.

March 6, 1801: President Jefferson finds the undelivered commissions on the Secretary's desk in the
State Department and decides to reduce the number of justice of the peace commissions from 42 to 30,
allows 25 of Adams' original appointments to be instated, and makes recess appointments of 5 men of
his choosing. (William Marbury's commission is on of those discarded)

December 16, 1801: Attorney Charles Lee files a petition for a writ of mandamus on behalf of William
Marbury, Dennis Ramsay, Robert T. Hooe, and William Harper requiring Secretary of State James
Madison deliver their justice of the peace commissions.

December 18, 1801: Chief Justice Marshall issues a preliminary order to Madison, asking him to show
cause why a writ of mandamus should not be issued. Madison ignores the order.

January 6, 1802: Senator John Breckenridge of Kentucky moves for repeal of the Judiciary Act of 1801.

March 31, 1802: Congress repeals the Judiciary Act of 1801, reverting legislation to the Judiciary Act of
1789. This changes the months the Supreme Court is scheduled to meet. Congress decides to suspect
the 1802 Supreme Court Term. As a result, all cases scheduled for 1802 (Marbury's was originally
scheduled to be heard June 4, 1802) are rescheduled for 1803.

April 29, 1802: Congress passes the Judiciary Act of 1802, which reinstates many provisions of the 1801
Act, but does not add any new Circuit Judges.

June 4, 1802: Date Marbury's case was originally scheduled to begin.

February 11, 1803: Oral arguments begin on Marbury v. Madison. Marbury is represented by Charles
Lee; Attorney General Levi Lincoln represents the United States.

February 24, 1803: Chief Justice John Marshall delivers the decision.