In the final hours of John Adams' presidency in March 1801, the Federalist administration rushed to appoint dozens of party loyalists to federal judicial posts to maintain influence against incoming Democratic-Republican Thomas Jefferson. Among these 'midnight judges' was William Marbury, appointed as a justice of the peace. John Marshall, the outgoing Secretary of State who had just been named Chief Justice of the Supreme Court, was responsible for affixing the Great Seal and delivering the formal commissions.
In the chaos of the transition, Marshall managed to seal the documents but failed to deliver several of them, including Marbury's, before Jefferson took office. Once inaugurated, Jefferson ordered his new Secretary of State, James Madison, to withhold the undelivered commissions. Furious, Marbury petitioned the Supreme Court for a writ of mandamus to compel delivery.
Chief Justice Marshall authored the landmark 1803 decision, cleverly ruling that while Marbury was entitled to his commission, the law allowing the Supreme Court to issue such writs was unconstitutional. Thus, a simple logistical oversight catalyzed the creation of judicial review.