President John Adams submitted forty-two judicial appointments to the Senate, including William Marbury to be justices of the peace in the District of Columbia. Marbury's name was misspelled as Marberry in the Senate Executive Journal.

The Senate confirmed all forty-two judicial appointments submitted by Adams the previous day, including Marbury's.

The petition of William Marbury, Robert Townsend Hooe, and Dennis Ramsay "praying that the Secretary of the Senate may be directed to deliver them a certified copy of their nominations to be justices of the peace for the counties of Washington and Alexandria" was presented and read by the Senate.

The Senate took into consideration the motion made on January 28th, "That the Secretary of the Senate be directed to give an attested copy of the proceedings of the Senate of the 2d and 3d of March, 1801, so far as they relate to the nomination and appointment of William Marbury, Robert T. Hooe, and Dennis Ramsay, as justices of the peace for the counties of Washington and Alexandria, in the territory of Columbia, on the application of them or either of them."

The Senate denied Marbury's petition by a vote of 13 yeas and 15 nays.

The Constitution of the United States of America: Analysis and Interpretation ("Constitution Annotated" or "CONAN") provides a legal analysis and interpretation of the United States Constitution based on a comprehensive review of Supreme Court case law and, where relevant, historical practices that have defined the text of the Constitution. This regularly updated resource is written in "plain English" and useful for a wide audience: from constitutional scholars to those just beginning to learn about the nation's most important legal document. Select "Table of Cases" to find a comprehensive list of all cases cited in the Constitution Annotated alongside the Constitution Annotated essays in which the citations are located, including the Marbury v. Madison decision.

"...in the class of removals however I do not rank the new appointments which mr A. crouded in with whip & spur from the 12th. of Dec. when the event of the election was known, (and consequently that he was making appointments, not for himself, but his successor) until 9. aclock of the night, at 12. aclock of which he was to go out of office. this outrage on decency, shall not have it’s affect, except in the life appointments which are irremoveable. but as to the others I consider the nominations as nullities & will not view the persons appointed as even candidates for their office, much less as possessing it by any title meriting respect." [Founders Online Transcription]

"but the opinion which gives to the judges the right to decide what laws are constitutional, and what not, not only for themselves in their own sphere of action, but for the legislature & executive also in their spheres, would make the judiciary a despotic branch." [Founders Online Transcription]

"I observe that the case of Marbury v. Madison has been cited, and I think it material to stop at the threshold the citing that case as authority & to have it denied to be law..." [and] "I have long wished for a proper occasion to have the gratuitous opinion in Marbury v. Madison brought before the public & denounced as not law." [Founders Online Transcription]

"His twistifications in the case of Marbury, in that of Burr, & the late Yazoo case, shew how dexterously he can reconcile law to his personal biasses." [Founders Online Transcription]

"The 2d question whether the judges are invested with exclusive authority to decide on the constitutionality of a law, has been heretofore a subject of consideration with me in the exercise of official duties. certainly there is not a word in the constitution which has given that power to them more than to the Executive or Legislative branches." [Founders Online Transcription]

"In the case of Marbury and Madison, the federal judges declared that commissions, signed and sealed by the President, were valid, altho’ not delivered. I deemed delivery essential to compleat a deed, which, as long as it remains in the hands of the party, is as yet no deed, it is in posse only, but not in esse, and I withheld delivery of the Commissions." [Founders Online Transcription]

"...among the midnight appointments of mr Adams’ were commissions to some federal justices of the peace for Alexandria. these were signed and sealed by him, but not delivered. I found them on the table of the department of State, on my entry into office, and I forbade their delivery....and in this case was actually in my hands, because, when I countermanded them, there was as yet no Secretary of state. yet this case of Marbury and Madison is continually cited by bench and bar, as if it were, settled, law, without any animadversion on it’s being merely an obiter dissertation of the Chief Justice." [Founders Online Transcription]