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Madison is a landmark U. S. Supreme Court case decided in 1803, which established the principle of judicial review. The case involved a political dispute between President Thomas Jefferson and outgoing President John Adams over the appointment of William Marbury as a justice of the peace in the District of Columbia. Chief Justice John Marshall, who delivered the Court's unanimous opinion, ruled that the provision of the Judiciary Act of 1789, which Marbury relied upon to bring his claim directly to the Supreme Court, was unconstitutional. In doing so, Marshall argued that it was the duty of the Supreme Court to interpret the Constitution and determine whether a law was in violation of it. This marked the first time the Court struck down an act of Congress as unconstitutional, establishing the authority of judicial review. The decision has since been widely regarded as one of the most important in U. S. constitutional law, shaping the role of the judiciary and the balance of power between the three branches of government.