At the end of President John Adam's term, his secretary of state, John Marshall, failed to deliver the papers naming William Marbury as the new justice of the peace. Thomas Jefferson claimed that the commissions were invalid and denied Marbury the right to be a justice of the peace. Marbury then sued Jefferson's Secretary of State, James Madison, asking the Supreme Court to force the documents to be turned over. Was Marbury entitled to the commission? Marbury was entitled to the commission on the ground that "The order granting the commission takes effect when the constitutional power of appointing the Executive has been exercised, and the power has been exercised when the last act required of the person holding the power."(1) The grant of commissions was valid and had become effective with the signature of President Adams. I believed that Marbury had a legitimate right to the position of Justice of the Peace because Adams had actually signed on to the commissions. Just because the commissions were not properly delivered does not take away that claim from Marbury. In 1831 the Cherokee...