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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