But Sir Edward Coke reversed the decision. The College tried Bonham in its own court and found him guilty. Bonham with practicing medicine without a license. The Royal College of Physicians charged Dr. John Adams said ours is a “government of laws and not of men.” The rule of law had replaced the “divine right of kings.” But what does “rule of law” mean?Ī legal maxim that defines the rule of law is: “no one should be a judge in their own cause.” In other words, a judge shouldn’t decide a case if they have a conflict of interest.Ī classic example of this maxim is Dr.

Law professors tell students at these schools, many of them Black, that their careers, to be spent in the pursuit of “equal justice under law” as engraved on the Supreme Court building, will underscore Marshall’s legacy.īut does equal justice denote John Marshall’s true legacy, if we move beyond Founding Era hagiography? What about Marshall’s practice of routinely perverting the law in favor of slaveholding interests, against the rights of enslaved people? What about his legacy as corrupt judge who undermined the rule of law? Is he truly a role model for law students or anyone else? We celebrate his legacy in many ways, most notably, by having named three law schools in his honor, in Chicago, Cleveland, and Atlanta. Without Marbury, there could be no Dred Scott nor Brown. By giving the Court power to declare legislative acts and executive actions unconstitutional, he in a sense became an unnamed co-author of all subsequent landmark constitutional decisions. Madison (1803), which established judicial review. Early in his tenure he authored the single most important judicial opinion in American history, Marbury v. Marshall served as Chief Justice of the United States from 1801-1835. John Marshall: A Framer of Constitutional Law Thus his full legacy, though complicated, is one we should not honor. He engorged power and unjustly enriched himself. He undermined the rule of law by ignoring precedent in cases involving slavery. Even worse, Marshall allowed his slaveholding interests to taint his work as a judge. But Marshall has another, darker, legacy-that of a slave lord who bought and sold other human beings to support his plutocratic lifestyle. As a result, three law schools are named in his honor. He authored many decisions that shape our democratic republic even today. Truth, Racial Healing, and TransformationĬhief Justice John Marshall may be the most influential judge in American history.Technology Law and Intellectual Property.Regulation and the Administrative State.

John marshall history