Marbury vs. Madison Case?

Question

what were the principals of the constitution and the ensuring laws that were being challenged or defended in this case?

Answer 1

In the specifics of the case four items were being addressed:

Is the petitioner entitled to his commission

Is the court authorized under law to issue a writ of mandamus

If so, are such laws Constitutional

If such laws are not Constitutional, is there a power delegated to the Supreme Court to declare it void

However, more specifically this case became the precedent by the use of Constitutional article III for the Supreme Court of the United States to perform the function of judicial review, not of the enacted laws singularly, but rather, of laws applied to specific cases and then appealed for ‘review’ to the United States Supreme Court.

Since the Constitution left many areas (of the court) gray in terms of responsibility and function, this was a landmark case for future court actions.

Answer 2

http://www.law.umkc.edu/faculty/projects/ftrials/conlaw/marbury.html