The Marshall Court
John Marshall (1755-1835) was Chief Justice of the United States from 1801 to 1835, a longer
term than any other Chief Justice in United States history. According to historian Alan Brinkley,
Marshall “dominated the Court as no one else before or since…. More than anyone but the
framers themselves, he molded the development of the Constitution.”
But how did the Constitution develop? Below is material about one of the cases decided by
the Marshall Court.1 Your job is to read the summary of the case and the decision rendered by
the court, and answer the following question: how did the Marshall Court’s decision in the case
affect the development of the Constitution? Issues you might wish to consider include the rôle of
the judicial branch, the balance of power between the national and state governments, and the
groups that were most favored by the court’s decisions. I will ask you to present your answers to
the class.
Cohens v. Virginia (1821)
Facts of the Case
An act of Congress authorized the operation of a lottery in the District of Columbia. The Cohen
brothers proceeded to sell D.C. lottery tickets in the state of Virginia, violating state law. State
authorities tried and convicted the Cohens, and then declared themselves to be the final arbiters
of disputes between the states and the national government.
Question
Did the Supreme Court have the power under the Constitution to review the Virginia Supreme
Court's ruling?
Conclusion
Split Vote
In a unanimous decision, the Court held that the Supreme Court had jurisdiction to review state
criminal proceedings. Chief Justice Marshall wrote that the Court was bound to hear all cases
that involved constitutional questions, and that this jurisdiction was not dependent on the identity
of the parties in the cases. Marshall argued that state laws and constitutions, when repugnant to
the Constitution and federal laws, were "absolutely void." After establishing the Court's
jurisdiction, Marshall declared the lottery ordinance a local matter and concluded that the
Virginia court was correct to fine the Cohen brothers for violating Virginia law.
1
I have taken most of this material from oyez.com, a website hosted by the Chicago-Kent College of Law which
provides excellent materials, including recordings of recent oral arguments before the Court, on the history of the
Supreme Court and its decisions.