Marbury v. Madison · ¶111

When the subject was brought before the court the decision was, not that a mandamus would not lie to the head of a department, directing him to perform an act, enjoined by law, in the performance of which an individual had a vested interest; but that a mandamus ought not to issue in that case—the decision necessarily to be made if the report of the commissioners did not confer on the applicant a legal right.

U. S. Reports, bound volume
U. S. Reports, volume 5, at 137 (Library of Congress) · transcription: Caselaw Access Project
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