William_T._Bianco,_David_T._Canon]_American_Polit

The development of an independent and powerful federal judiciary 491

about the judiciary. Article III of the Constitution, which concerns the judicial branch

of government, created one Supreme Court and gave the courts independence by

providing federal judges with lifetime terms (assuming “good behavior”).

The main disagreements about the judiciary had to do with how independent the

courts should be vis-à-vis the other branches of government and how much power to

give to the courts. Some of the framers feared a tyrannical Congress and wanted to

create judicial and executive branches that could check this power. Others argued

for making the executive and judicial branches more closely related so they would be

better able to balance Congress. A central debate was whether to give the judiciary

some “revisionary power” over Congress, similar to the president’s veto power. This

idea of judicial review would have given the Supreme Court the power to strike down

laws passed by Congress that violated the Constitution. The framers could not agree on

judicial review, so the Constitution remained silent on the matter.

While the Constitution clearly specified the kinds of cases over which the Court

would have original jurisdiction (see Nuts & Bolts 14.1), many details about the

Supreme Court were left up to Congress, including its size, the time and place it would

meet, and its internal organization. These details, and the system of lower federal

courts, were outlined in the Judiciary Act of 1789. This law set the number of justices

at six (one chief justice and five associates). The number of justices gradually increased

to ten by the end of the Civil War and was then restricted to seven under Reconstruction

policies. In 1869 the number was set at nine, where it has remained ever since.^7 The

1789 act also created a system of federal courts, which included 13 district courts and

3 circuit courts—the intermediate-level courts with appellate jurisdiction. Since the

circuit courts hear cases on appeal from lower courts, they are now more commonly

called appeals courts. The district courts each had one judge, while the circuit courts

were each staffed by two Supreme Court justices and one district judge. This odd

arrangement in which Supreme Court justices had to preside over both cases in

district courts

Lower-level trial courts of the federal

judicial system that handle most U.S.

federal cases.

appellate jurisdiction

The authority of a court to hear

appeals from lower courts and change

or uphold the decision.

NUTS

& B O LT S

14 .1

Jurisdiction of Lower Federal Courts

• Cases involving the U.S. Constitution, federal laws, and treaties.


• Controversies between two or more states. (Congress passed a law giving the Supreme Court
  exclusive jurisdiction over these cases.)


• Controversies between citizens of different states.


• Controversies between a state and citizens of another state. (The Eleventh Amendment removed
  federal jurisdiction in these cases.)


• Controversies between a state or its citizens and any foreign states, citizens, or subjects.


• Cases affecting ambassadors, public ministers, and consuls.


• Cases of admiralty and maritime jurisdictions.


• Controversies between citizens of the same state claiming lands under grants of different states.

Jurisdiction of the Supreme Court

Original Jurisdiction*

• Cases involving ambassadors, public ministers, and consuls.


• Cases that involve a state.

Appellate Jurisdiction

• Cases falling under the jurisdiction of the lower federal courts, “with such exceptions, and under
  such Regulations as the Congress shall make.”

Jurisdiction

of the Federal

Courts as

Defined in

Article III of the

Constitution

Source: Lee Epstein and Thomas G. Walker,

Constitutional Law for a Changing America:

Institutional Powers and Constraints, 5th

ed. (Washington, DC: CQ Press, 2004), p. 65.

*^ This does not imply exclusive jurisdiction. For example, the Supreme Court may refer to a district court

for a case involving an ambassador (the more likely outcome).

original jurisdiction

The authority of a court to handle a

case first, as in the Supreme Court’s

authority to initially hear disputes

between two states. However,

original jurisdiction for the Supreme

Court is not exclusive; it may assign

such a case to a lower court.

Judiciary Act of 1789

The law in which Congress laid

out the organization of the federal

judiciary. The law refined and

clarified federal court jurisdiction

and set the original number of justices

at six. It also created the office of the

attorney general and established the

lower federal courts.

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