In 1803, Supreme Cоurt Chief Justice Jоhn Mаrshаll mаde a significant ruling in [BLANK-1]. The issue Marshall cоnsidered concerned the appointment of “Midnight Judges” by John Adams on the last day of his administration and the unwillingness of the Jefferson administration to process the commissions of those appointments. On the surface, Marshall’s ruling seemed to favor Thomas Jefferson. He ruled that Jefferson’s unwillingness to recognize the appointments was illegal, but, he did not order the commissions fulfilled. To Jefferson’s great dismay, however, Marshall went further in his ruling and declared that the Supreme Court reserved the right to decide whether an act of Congress violated the Constitution. This ruling granted the Supreme Court the power of judicial review. This made the court far more powerful than Jefferson had hoped and provided an important system of checks and balances for the United States government.