Marbury: Should Chief Justice Marshall Have Recused Himself

Because he had personal knowledge of the facts of the case? Consider this excerpt from Van Alstyne, A Critical Guided to Marbury v. Madison, 1969 Duke L.J. 1, 8:

Specifically, it would appear that Marshall should have recused himself in view of his substantial involvement in the background of this controversy....Proof of the status of Marbury's commission not only involved circumstances within the Chief Justice's personal knowledge, it was furnished in the Supreme Court by Marshall's own younger brother who had been with him in his office when, as Secretary of State, he had made out the commissions.

Van Alstyne's article is a good read for those interested in an in depth account of Marbury's case.