Arguing Marbury V. Madison

by Tushnet, Mark V.

• ISBN13: 9780804752275
• ISBN10: 0804752273
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2005-08-09
• Publisher: Stanford Law & Politics

Summary

Marbury v. Madison, decided in 1803, is the foundation stone of the American doctrine of judicial review. Remarkably, the case was decided without the parties having presented an oral argument to the Supreme Court. This book begins with a unique transcript of an oral argument in the case, conducted before a bench of four distinguished federal judges. The transcript is followed by essays on Marbury's intellectual background, its significance in U.S. constitutional history, and the way in which we might think of constitutional theory and judicial review in terms sensitive to the historical and political contexts in which the practice persists. Distinguished commentators question some of the claims made in the essays, and offer their own perspectives on Marbury's importance.

Author Biography

Mark Tushnet is Carmack Waterhouse Professor of Constitutional Law at Georgetown University.

Table of Contents

Contributors	xi
Introduction	1	(12)
Section I. The Oral Argument in Marbury v. Madison
1. Transcript of the Oral Argument in Marbury v. Madison	13	(25)
2. David A. Strauss, On Having Mr. Madison as a Client	38	(9)
Section II. Perspectives on Marbury v. Madison
3. Suzanna Sherry, The Intellectual Background of Marbury v. Madison	47	(18)
COMMENT: Susan Low Bloch, Marbury Redux	59	(6)
4. Barry Friedman, The Myths of Marbury	65	(39)
COMMENT: Douglas Reed, Judicial Review and the Stages of Marbury	88	(16)
5. Stephen M. Griffin, The Age of Marbury: Judicial Review in a Democracy of Rights	104	(63)
COMMENT: Vicki C. Jackson, A Democracy of Rights: The Dark Side?	147	(13)
COMMENT: Louis Michael Seidman, Marbury and the Authoritarian Straddle	160	(7)
Notes	167	(42)
Index	209