The legal battle between the State Department and Iranian
dissidents fighting to be removed from the U.S. terrorist list
evolved this week into a brief lecture on one of the most famous
Supreme Court cases, which established a fundamental
constitutional principle more than 200 years ago. Viet Dinh, a
former Justice Department lawyer and now attorney for the
People’s Muhajedeen Organization of Iran (PMOI), cited Marbury
v. Madison in the latest round of legal briefs that began in
February, when he filed his original motion in a federal court
in Washington. The 1803 case pitted James Madison, then
secretary of state, against William Marbury, a wealthy Maryland
resident who had been promised a judicial office in Washington
but had not received his commission to authorize him to take the
position as a justice of the peace. Marbury appealed directly to
the Supreme Court to order Madison to do his duty and deliver
the commission. In legal terms, he was seeking a “writ of
mandamus.” Marbury’s case resulted from the