At that point, the appointment process was considered complete when the signed and sealed appointments had been delivered by the secretary of state, at that time John Marshall, to the appointees.

ДЄfter the signing of the Judiciary Act of 1801, Adams nominated and the Senate approved 16 new judges and 42 justices of the peace prior to leaving office.

In the final days of his presidency, Congress passed and President John Adams signed the Judiciary Act of 1801, which reorganized the federal judiciary, creating six new federal circuits in which federal judges вЂњgained jurisdiction over all cases arising under the Constitution and acts of the United States,вЂќ according to the Federal Judicial Center. The courtвЂ™s ruling established, for the first time, that the court could invalidate laws that contradicted the Constitution.

The outcome: The court held that withholding MarburyвЂ™s appointment was illegal but that the law establishing the courtвЂ™s authority to issue a writ of mandamus-the Judiciary Act of 1789-was inconsistent with the Constitution and that the court could therefore not issue the writ.

Marbury vs madison