Mandamus | Letters, Riddles and Writs | Continuing Mandamus | All Writs Act |
A clause granting the Supreme Court the power to issue writs of mandamus outside its original jurisdiction was declared unconstitutional by Marbury v. Madison (1803) (5 U.S. 137), one of the seminal cases in American law.
The U.S. Supreme Court previously held in Kentucky v. Dennison (1861)—issued shortly before the Civil War—that the federal courts may not, through the issue of writs of mandamus, compel state governors to surrender fugitives.