I wish the article had offered whatever were Marshall’s arguments for why, in his opinion, “section 13 of the Judiciary Act of 1789 had empowered the Court to issue writs of mandamus in such cases, but that this was in violation of the Constitution”.
From THAT Marshall’s SCOTUS found it lacked the authority to force Jeffereson to issue the commissions, but what was THAT Constitutional argument of Marshall’s regarding section 13 of the Judiciary Act of 1789?????
Anyone?
Like him or not, Marshall was a genius. He decided this case such that there was nothing that Jefferson or anyone else could do about it.