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Full-Text Articles in Law
The Marbury Mystery: Why Did William Marbury Sue In The Supreme Court?, Susan Low Bloch
The Marbury Mystery: Why Did William Marbury Sue In The Supreme Court?, Susan Low Bloch
Georgetown Law Faculty Publications and Other Works
In 1801, when William Marbury petitioned the Supreme Court to issue a writ of mandamus ordering Secretary of State James Madison to deliver his commission as justice of the peace, he initiated one of the most important cases in the Court's history. But why did Marbury choose the Supreme Court? Was there a lower federal court that could have granted the writ at the time? The short answer is "yes." Rather than making an unsuccessful attempt to invoke the original jurisdiction of the United States Supreme Court, I have learned that he could have brought his suit in the then …
Twins At Birth: Civil Rights And The Role Of The Solicitor General, Seth P. Waxman
Twins At Birth: Civil Rights And The Role Of The Solicitor General, Seth P. Waxman
Georgetown Law Faculty Publications and Other Works
It is painful even today to contemplate the awful devastation wreaked upon this nation by the War Between the States. But like most cataclysms, the Civil War also gave birth to some important positive developments. I would like to talk with you today about two such offspring of that war, and the extent to which, like many sibling pairs, they have influenced each other's development. The first child - the most well-known progeny of the Civil War - was this country's commitment to civil rights. The war, of course, ended slavery. But it did not - and could not - …