Jump to content

Judiciary Act of 1789: Difference between revisions

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Browse history interactively
← Previous edit
Content deleted Content added
VisualWikitext
Excirial (talk | contribs)
211,201 edits
m Reverted edits by 99.185.49.232 to last revision by Excirial (HG)
Sheckmojr (talk | contribs)
242 edits
 
(415 intermediate revisions by more than 100 users not shown)
Line 1: Line 1:
{{Inline citations|date=September 2022}}{{Short description|United States law establishing the federal court system}}
[[Image:Judiciary Act of 1789.jpg|thumb|The first page of the Judiciary Act of 1789.]]
{{Use mdy dates|date=September 2018}}
The [[United States]] '''Judiciary Act of 1789''' (ch. 20, 1 [[United States Statutes at Large|Stat.]] 73-93) was a landmark [[statute]] adopted on September 24, [[1789]] in the first session of the [[First United States Congress]] establishing the [[United States federal courts|U.S. federal judiciary]]. Article III, section 1 of the [[Constitution]] prescribed that the "judicial power of the United States, shall be vested in one Supreme Court," and such inferior courts as Congress saw fit to establish. It made no provision, though, for the composition or procedures of any of the courts, leaving this to Congress to decide.
{{Infobox U.S. legislation
| name = Judiciary Act of 1789
| fullname = An Act to establish the Judicial Courts of the United States
| acronym =
| nickname = establishment of the federal judiciary
| enacted by = 1st
| effective date =
| public law url =
| cite public law =
| cite statutes at large = {{USStat|1|73}}
| acts amended =
| acts repealed =
| title amended = <!--US code titles changed-->
| sections created = <!--{{USC}} can be used-->
| sections amended =
| leghisturl = https://www.loc.gov/rr/program/bib/ourdocs/judiciary.html
| introducedin = Senate
| introducedbill = the Judiciary Act
| introducedby = [[Richard Henry Lee]]<ref name="marcus"/>
| introduceddate = June 12, 1789<ref name="marcus"/>
| committees =
| passedbody1 = Senate
| passeddate1 = July 17, 1789
| passedvote1 = [http://memory.loc.gov/cgi-bin/ampage?collId=llac&fileName=001/llac001.db&recNum=28 14–6]
| passedbody2 = House of Representatives
| passedas2 = <!-- used if the second body changes the name of the legislation -->
| passeddate2 = September 17, 1789
| passedvote2 = 37–16<ref name="marcus"/>
| agreedbody3 = Senate
| agreeddate3 = September 19, 1789<ref name="marcus">{{cite book |last=Marcus |first=Maeva |title=The Documentary History of the Supreme Court of the United States, 1789–1800 |url=http://www.access.gpo.gov/congress/senate/capitol/ |publisher=[[Columbia University Press]] |year=1992 |isbn=0-231-08867-1 |access-date=July 15, 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081216042325/http://www.access.gpo.gov/congress/senate/capitol/ |archive-date=December 16, 2008 |url-status=dead }}</ref>
| agreedvote3 = <!-- used when the other body agrees without going into committee -->
| agreedbody4 = House
| agreeddate4 = September 21, 1789<ref name="marcus"/>
| agreedvote4 = <!-- used if agreedbody3 further amends legislation -->
| signedpresident = [[George Washington]]
| signeddate = September 24, 1789
| amendments = [[Judiciary Act of 1801]], [[Judiciary Act of 1802|1802]], [[Judicial Circuits Act|1866]], [[Judiciary Act of 1867|1867]], [[Judiciary Act of 1869|1869]], [[Judiciary Act of 1891|1891]], [[Judiciary Act of 1925|1925]]<br>[[Eleventh Amendment to the United States Constitution|U.S. Const. amend. XI]]
| SCOTUS cases = ''[[Marbury v. Madison]]''
}}


The '''Judiciary Act of 1789''' (ch. 20, {{USStat|1|73}}) was a [[United States federal statute]] enacted on September 24, 1789, during the first session of the [[First United States Congress]]. It established the [[federal judiciary of the United States]].<ref name="loc">{{cite web |url=https://www.loc.gov/rr/program/bib/ourdocs/judiciary.html |title=Judiciary Act of 1789 |publisher=[[Library of Congress]] |access-date=September 23, 2018}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.fjc.gov/history/home.nsf/page/landmark_02.html |title=History of the Federal Judiciary |publisher=[[Federal Judicial Center]] |access-date=July 14, 2013}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/307569/1789-Judiciary-Act |title=1789 Judiciary Act |publisher=[[Encyclopædia Britannica]] |access-date=July 14, 2013}}</ref><ref name="marshals">{{cite web |url=http://www.usmarshals.gov/history/judiciary/judiary_act_of_1789.htm |title=U.S. Marshals Service, History, The Judiciary Act of 1789 |publisher=[[United States Marshals Service]] |access-date=July 14, 2013}}</ref><ref name="White_Page_197">{{cite book |last1=White |first1=G. Edward |title=Law in American History, Volume 1: From the Colonial Years Through the Civil War |date=2012 |publisher=Oxford University Press |location=Oxford and New York |isbn=978-0190634940 |page=197 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=-xNmdt2BNRIC&pg=PA197 |access-date=January 16, 2022}}</ref> [[Article Three of the United States Constitution|Article III]], [[Article Three of the United States Constitution#Section 1: Federal courts|Section 1]] of the [[United States Constitution|Constitution]] prescribed that the "judicial power of the United States, shall be vested in one [[Supreme Court of the United States|Supreme Court]], and such inferior Courts" as Congress saw fit to establish. It made no provision for the composition or procedures of any of the courts, leaving this to Congress to decide.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.ourdocuments.gov/doc.php?flash=true&doc=12 |title=Federal Judiciary Act (1789) |publisher=[[National Archives and Records Administration]] |access-date=July 14, 2013}}</ref>
The existence of a separate federal judiciary had been controversial during the debates over the ratification of the Constitution. [[Anti-Administration Party (United States)|Anti-Federalists]] had denounced the judicial power as a potential instrument of national [[tyranny]]. Indeed, of the ten amendments that eventually became the [[United States Bill of Rights|Bill of Rights]], five (the [[Fourth Amendment to the United States Constitution|fourth]] through the [[Eighth Amendment to the United States Constitution|eighth]]) dealt primarily with judicial proceedings. Even after ratification, some opponents of a strong judiciary urged that the federal court system be limited to a Supreme Court and perhaps local [[admiralty law|admiralty]] judges. The Congress, however, decided to establish a system of federal trial courts with broader jurisdiction, thereby creating an arm for enforcement of national laws within each state.


The existence of a separate federal judiciary had been controversial during the debates over [[History of the United States Constitution#1788_ratification|the ratification]] of the Constitution. [[Anti-Administration Party (United States)|Anti-Federalists]] had denounced the judicial power as a potential instrument of national [[tyranny]]. Indeed, of the ten amendments that eventually became the [[United States Bill of Rights|Bill of Rights]], five (the [[Fourth Amendment to the United States Constitution|fourth]] through the [[Eighth Amendment to the United States Constitution|eighth]]) dealt primarily with judicial proceedings. Even after ratification, some opponents of a strong judiciary urged that the federal court system be limited to a Supreme Court and perhaps local [[admiralty law|admiralty]] judges. Congress, however, decided to establish a system of [[United States district court|federal trial courts]] with broader jurisdiction, thereby creating an arm for enforcement of national laws within each state.<ref name="White_Page_197" />
==Details of the Act==
The Act set the number of [[Supreme Court of the United States|Supreme Court]] [[Judge|justices]] at six: one [[Chief Justice]] and five [[Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States|Associate Justices]]. The Supreme Court was given exclusive [[original jurisdiction]] over all [[civil action]]s between states, or between a state and the United States, as well as over all suits and proceedings brought against ambassadors and other diplomatic personnel; and original, but not exclusive, jurisdiction over all other cases in which a state was a party and any cases brought by an ambassador. The Court was given appellate jurisdiction over decisions of the federal circuit courts as well as decisions by state courts holding invalid any statute or treaty of the United States; or holding valid any state law or practice that was challenged as being inconsistent with the federal constitution, treaties, or laws; or rejecting any claim made by a party under a provision of the federal constitution, treaties, or laws.


==Legislative history==
The Act also created 13 judicial districts within the 11 states that had then ratified the Constitution ([[North Carolina]] and [[Rhode Island]] were added as judicial districts in 1790, and other states as they were admitted to the Union). Each state comprised one district, except for [[Virginia]] and [[Massachusetts]], each of which comprised two. Massachusetts was divided into the District of [[Maine]] (which was then part of Massachusetts) and the District of Massachusetts (which covered modern-day Massachusetts). Virginia was divided into the District of [[Kentucky]] (which was then part of Virginia) and the District of Virginia (which covered modern-day [[West Virginia]] and Virginia).
[[United States Senate|Senator]] [[Richard Henry Lee]] ([[Anti-Administration Party|AA]]-[[Virginia]]) reported the judiciary bill out of committee on June 12, 1789;<ref name="marcus"/> [[Oliver Ellsworth]] of [[Connecticut]], who would go on to serve as the third Chief Justice of the United States, was its chief author.<ref>{{cite web| url=https://www.senate.gov/artandhistory/history/minute/Senator_Ellsworths_Judiciary_Act.htm |title=Senator Ellsworth's Judiciary Act |publisher=[[United States Senate]] |access-date=July 14, 2013}}</ref> The bill passed the Senate 14–6 on July 17, 1789, and the [[United States House of Representatives|House of Representatives]] then debated the bill in July and August 1789. The House passed an amended bill 37–16 on September 17, 1789. The Senate struck four of the House amendments and approved the remaining provisions on September 19, 1789. The House passed the Senate's final version of the bill on September 21, 1789. [[President of the United States|U.S. President]] [[George Washington]] signed the Act into law on September 24, 1789.<ref name="loc"/>


==Provisions of the Act==
This Act established a [[United States circuit court|circuit court]] and [[United States district court|district court]] in each judicial district (except in Maine and Kentucky, where the district courts exercised much of the jurisdiction of the circuit courts). The circuit courts, which comprised a district judge and (initially) two Supreme Court justices "riding circuit," had original jurisdiction over serious crimes and civil cases of at least $500 involving [[diversity jurisdiction]] or the United States as plaintiff. The circuit courts also had appellate jurisdiction over the district courts. The single-judge district courts had jurisdiction primarily over [[admiralty]] cases, petty crimes, and suits by the United States for at least $100. Notably, the federal trial courts had not yet received original [[federal question jurisdiction]].
[[File:Judiciary Act of 1789.jpg|thumb|upright=.90|The first page of the Judiciary Act of 1789]]


The Act set the number of [[Supreme Court of the United States|Supreme Court]] [[Judge|justices]] at six: one [[Chief Justice of the United States|Chief Justice]] and five [[Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States|Associate Justices]].<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.fjc.gov/history/legislation/landmark-legislation-judiciary-act-1789|title=Landmark Legislation: Judiciary Act of 1789|publisher=Federal Judicial Center|access-date=October 5, 2017|archive-date=October 5, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171005151519/https://www.fjc.gov/history/legislation/landmark-legislation-judiciary-act-1789|url-status=dead}}</ref> The Supreme Court was given exclusive [[original jurisdiction]] over all [[civil action]]s between states, or between a state and the United States, as well as over all suits and proceedings brought against ambassadors and other diplomatic personnel; and original, but not exclusive, jurisdiction over all other cases in which a state was a party and any cases brought by an ambassador. The Court was given appellate jurisdiction over decisions of the [[United States circuit court|federal circuit courts]] as well as decisions by [[State court (United States)|state courts]] holding invalid any statute or treaty of the United States; or holding valid any state law or practice that was challenged as being inconsistent with the federal constitution, treaties, or laws; or rejecting any claim made by a party under a provision of the federal constitution, treaties, or laws.<ref name="marcus"/>
Congress authorized all people to either represent themselves or to be represented by another person. The Act did not prohibit paying a representative to appear in court.


{{Quote|SECTION 1. ''Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,'' '''That the supreme court of the United States shall consist of a chief justice and five associate justices, any four of whom shall be a quorum,''' and shall hold annually at the seat of government two sessions, the one commencing the first Monday of February, and the other the first Monday of August. [bold added]|Judiciary Act of 1789}}
Congress authorized persons who were sued by citizens of another state, in the courts of the plaintiff's home state, to [[Diversity jurisdiction#Removal|remove]] the lawsuit to the federal circuit court. The power of removal, and the Supreme Court's power to review state court decisions where federal law was at issue, established that the federal judicial power would be superior to that of the states.


<!-- [[File:1789 Dist. Cts..JPG|thumb|upright=.70|Map of the original judicial districts established by the Judicial Act of 1789]] This map is wrong, since it includes Rhode Island, North Carolina, and Vermont. As note in the article, Rhode Island and North Carolina had not yet ratified the Constitution and were excluded. And Vermont was a de-facto independent country to which the federal judicial power was extended in 1791. -->
The Act created the [[Office of Attorney General]], a [[United States Attorney]] and a United States Marshal through the creation of the [[United States Marshals Service]] for each judicial district. The [[Judiciary Act of 1789]] specifically determined that law enforcement was to be the [[United States Marshals Service]] primary function. Therefore it appropriately defined [[United States Marshals Service]] as truly the oldest federal law enforcement agency employing defined law enforcement officers.
The Act also created 13 judicial districts within the 11 states that had then ratified the Constitution ([[North Carolina]] and [[Rhode Island]] were added as judicial districts in 1790, and other states as they were admitted to the Union). Each state comprised one district, except for [[Virginia]] and [[Massachusetts]], each of which comprised two. Massachusetts was divided into the District of [[Maine]] (which was then part of Massachusetts) and the District of Massachusetts (which covered modern-day Massachusetts). Virginia was divided into the District of [[Kentucky]] (which was then part of Virginia) and the District of Virginia (which covered modern-day [[West Virginia]] and Virginia).<ref name="marcus"/>


This Act established a [[United States circuit court|circuit court]] and [[United States district court|district court]] in each judicial district (except in Maine and Kentucky, where the district courts exercised much of the jurisdiction of the circuit courts).<ref name="White_Page_197" /> The circuit courts, which comprised a district judge and (initially) two Supreme Court justices "riding circuit", had original jurisdiction over serious crimes and civil cases of at least $500 involving [[diversity jurisdiction]] or the United States as plaintiff in [[common law]] and [[Equity (legal concept)|equity]]. The circuit courts also had appellate jurisdiction over the district courts. The single-judge district courts had jurisdiction primarily over [[Admiralty law|admiralty]] cases, petty crimes, and suits by the United States for at least $100. Notably, at this time, Congress did not grant original [[federal question jurisdiction]] to the federal courts, which is why diversity has been described as the "original" and "ancient" jurisdiction of the federal courts.<ref name="Purcell_Page_14">{{cite book |last1=Purcell |first1=Edward A. Jr. |author1-link=Edward A. Purcell Jr. |title=Litigation and Inequality: Federal Diversity Jurisdiction in Industrial America, 1870–1958 |date=1992 |publisher=Oxford University Press |location=New York and Oxford |isbn=978-0195073294 |page=14 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Hj3nCwAAQBAJ&pg=PA14 |access-date=30 July 2023}}</ref>
A clause granting the Supreme Court the power to issue [[Mandamus|writs of mandamus]] outside its appellate jurisdiction was declared [[Constitutionality|unconstitutional]] by [[Marbury v. Madison]] [[Case citation|5 U.S. 137]] (1803), one of the seminal cases in American law. Thus, the Judiciary Act of 1789 was the first act of Congress to be partially invalidated by the Supreme Court.


Congress authorized all people to either [[Pro se legal representation in the United States|represent themselves]] or to be represented by another person. The Act did not prohibit paying a representative to appear in court.{{Citation needed|date=September 2020}}
The Judiciary Act of 1789 included the [[Alien Tort Statute]], now codified as {{UnitedStatesCode|28|1350}}, which provides [[jurisdiction]] in the district courts over lawsuits by [[Alien (law)|aliens]] for [[tort]]s in violation of the [[international law|law of nations]] or [[treaties of the United States]].

Congress authorized persons who were sued by citizens of another state, in the courts of the plaintiff's home state, to [[Diversity jurisdiction#Removal and remand|remove]] the lawsuit to the federal circuit court.<ref name="Purcell_Page_14" /> According to [[Edward A. Purcell Jr.]], removal was the "most significant innovation" of the Act.<ref name="Purcell_Page_14" /> The Constitution says nothing about removal jurisdiction, which "was a powerful device to assert the primacy of the national judicial power over that of the states."<ref name="Purcell_Page_14" />

The Act created the [[United States Attorney General|Office of Attorney General]], whose primary responsibility was to represent the United States before the Supreme Court. The Act also created a [[United States Attorney]] and a [[United States Marshals Service|United States Marshal]] for each judicial district.<ref name="marshals"/>

The Judiciary Act of 1789 included the [[Alien Tort Statute]], now codified as {{UnitedStatesCode|28|1350}}, which provides [[jurisdiction]] in the district courts over lawsuits by [[Alien (law)|aliens]] for [[tort]]s in violation of the [[international law|law of nations]] or [[treaties of the United States]].<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/28/1350 |title=28 USC § 1350 – Alien's action for tort |website=LII / Legal Information Institute |access-date=2012-06-22}}</ref>

==Implementation==
{{Further|Jay Court}}
Immediately after signing the Judiciary Act into law, President Washington submitted his nominations to fill the offices created by the Act. Among the nominees were [[John Jay]] for [[Chief Justice of the United States]]; [[John Rutledge]], [[William Cushing]], [[Robert H. Harrison]], [[James Wilson (Founding Father)|James Wilson]], and [[John Blair Jr.]] as [[Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States|Associate Justices]]; [[Edmund Randolph]] for [[United States Attorney General|Attorney General]]; and myriad [[United States district court|district judges]], [[United States Attorney]]s, and [[United States Marshals Service|United States Marshals]] for [[Connecticut]], [[Delaware]], [[Georgia (U.S. state)|Georgia]], [[Kentucky]], [[Maryland]], [[Maine]], [[Massachusetts]], [[New Hampshire]], [[New Jersey]], [[New York (state)|New York]], [[Pennsylvania]], [[South Carolina]], and [[Virginia]].<ref name="marcus" /><ref>{{cite web|url=http://memory.loc.gov/cgi-bin/ampage?collId=llac&fileName=001/llac001.db&recNum=28|title=A Century of Lawmaking for a New Nation: U.S. Congressional Documents and Debates, 1774–1875|website=American Memory – Library of Congress }}</ref> All six of Washington's Supreme Court nominees were confirmed by the Senate. Harrison, however, declined to serve. In his place, Washington later nominated [[James Iredell]], who joined the Court in 1790, thereby bringing the Court to its "full strength" complement of six members.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://supremecourthistory.org/associate-justices/james-iredell-1790-1799/|title=Supreme Court Historical Society – James Iredell, 1790–1799|publisher=Supreme Court Historical Society |accessdate=July 27, 2023}}</ref>

The first six persons to serve on the United States Supreme Court (ordered by seniority) were:
<gallery widths="120px" heights="140px">
File:John Jay (Gilbert Stuart portrait).jpg|[[John Jay]]<br>Chief Justice<br>Commissioned: September&nbsp;26, 1789<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.fjc.gov/history/judges/jay-john|title=History of the Federal Judiciary, Judges, Jay, John|publisher=Federal Judicial Center}}</ref>
File:John Rutledge color painting.jpg|[[John Rutledge]]<br>Associate Justice<br>Commissioned: September&nbsp;26, 1789<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.fjc.gov/history/judges/rutledge-john|title=History of the Federal Judiciary, Judges, Rutledge, John|publisher=Federal Judiciary Center}}</ref>
File:WilliamCushing.jpg|[[William Cushing]]<br>Associate Justice<br>Commissioned: September&nbsp;27, 1789<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.fjc.gov/history/judges/cushing-william|title=History of the Federal Judiciary, Judges, Cushing, William|publisher=Federal Judiciary Center8}}</ref>
File:JusticeJamesWilson.jpg|[[James Wilson (Founding Father)|James Wilson]]<br>Associate Justice<br>Commissioned: September.&nbsp;29, 1789<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.fjc.gov/history/judges/wilson-james|title=History of the Federal Judiciary, Judges, Wilson, James|publisher=Federal Judiciary Center}}</ref>
File:John Blair (page 82 crop).jpg|[[John Blair Jr.|John Blair]]<br>Associate Justice<br>Commissioned: September&nbsp;30, 1789<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.fjc.gov/history/judges/blair-john-jr|title=History of the Federal Judiciary, Judges, Blair, John, Jr.|publisher=Federal Judiciary Center}}</ref>
File:JamesIredell.jpg|[[James Iredell]]<br>Associate Justice<br>Commissioned: February&nbsp;10, 1790<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.fjc.gov/history/judges/iredell-james|title=History of the Federal Judiciary, Judges, Iredell, James|publisher=Federal Judiciary Center}}</ref>
</gallery>

The seniority of the associate justices was set by §&nbsp;1 of the Judiciary Act of 1789, which assigned seniority by the dates borne on the judicial commissions each justice received from President Washington prior to taking office. This rule setting seniority of the justices is today codified at Title {{USC|28|4}}.

==Judicial review==
{{Main|Judicial review|Marbury v. Madison}}
A clause in Section 13 of the Judiciary Act, which granted the Supreme Court the power to issue [[Mandamus|writs of mandamus]] under its original jurisdiction, was later declared [[Constitutionality|unconstitutional]]. In ''[[Marbury v. Madison]]'',<ref>{{ussc|name=Marbury v. Madison|volume=5|page=137|pin=|year=1803|reporter=Cranch|reporter-volume=1}}.</ref> one of the seminal cases in American law, the Supreme Court held that was unconstitutional because it purported to enlarge the original jurisdiction of the Supreme Court beyond that permitted by the Constitution. The case was the first that clearly established that the judiciary can and must interpret what the Constitution permits and declare any laws which are contrary to the Constitution as unenforceable. Thus, the Judiciary Act of 1789 was the first act of Congress to be partially invalidated by the Supreme Court.<ref>[https://www.pbs.org/wnet/supremecourt/democracy/landmark_marbury.html Supreme Court History: The Court and Democracy, Marbury v. Madison], PBS, retrieved February 12, 2007</ref><ref>{{cite book|url=https://archive.org/details/supremecourtinu00warrgoog|page=[https://archive.org/details/supremecourtinu00warrgoog/page/n250 222]|quote=as soon as the republicans passed their act.|title=The Supreme Court in United States History|first=Charles|last=Warren|date=September 24, 2018|publisher=Little, Brown|via=Internet Archive}}</ref>

==See also==
*[[List of federal judges appointed by George Washington]]
*[[List of courts of the United States]]
*[[United States Constitution]]
*[[Supreme Court Reform in the United States]]

==References==
{{Reflist}}


==External links==
==External links==
*[http://www.constitution.org/uslaw/judiciary_1789.htm Judiciary Act of 1789]
{{Wikisource|Judiciary Act of 1789|Judiciary Act of 1789}}
* [https://www.govinfo.gov/link/statute/1/73?link-type=pdf&.pdf Judiciary Act of 1789] as enacted ([https://www.govinfo.gov/link/statute/1/73?link-type=details 1 Stat. 73]) in the [[United States Statutes at Large|US Statutes at Large]]
* [https://www.loc.gov/rr/program/bib/ourdocs/judiciary.html Judiciary Act of 1789: Primary Documents of American History (Library of Congress)]
* [https://books.google.com/books?id=zQ8uAAAAIAAJ&pg=PA73 Judiciary Act of 1789] on [[Google Books]]


{{SCOTUS horizontal}}
[[Category:1789 in law]]
{{Richard Henry Lee}}
[[Category:1789 in the United States]]
{{Authority control}}
[[Category:United States federal judiciary legislation|1789]]
[[Category:History of the United States (1789–1849)]]
[[Category:History of the Supreme Court of the United States]]
[[Category:Presidency of George Washington]]
[[Category:1st United States Congress]]


[[Category:1789 in American law]]
[[pl:Judiciary Act (1789)]]
[[Category:United States federal judiciary legislation]]
[[Category:History of the Supreme Court of the United States]]
[[Category:Acts of the 1st United States Congress]]
[[Category:Richard Henry Lee]]

Latest revision as of 18:48, 17 December 2024

Judiciary Act of 1789
Great Seal of the United States
Long titleAn Act to establish the Judicial Courts of the United States
Nicknamesestablishment of the federal judiciary
Enacted bythe 1st United States Congress
Citations
Statutes at Large1 Stat. 73
Legislative history
  • Introduced in the Senate as the Judiciary Act by Richard Henry Lee[1] on June 12, 1789[1]
  • Passed the Senate on July 17, 1789 (14–6)
  • Passed the House of Representatives on September 17, 1789 (37–16[1]) with amendment
  • Senate agreed to House of Representatives amendment on September 19, 1789[1] () with further amendment
  • House agreed to Senate amendment on September 21, 1789[1] ()
  • Signed into law by President George Washington on September 24, 1789
Major amendments
Judiciary Act of 1801, 1802, 1866, 1867, 1869, 1891, 1925
U.S. Const. amend. XI
United States Supreme Court cases
Marbury v. Madison

The Judiciary Act of 1789 (ch. 20, 1 Stat. 73) was a United States federal statute enacted on September 24, 1789, during the first session of the First United States Congress. It established the federal judiciary of the United States.[2][3][4][5][6] Article III, Section 1 of the Constitution prescribed that the "judicial power of the United States, shall be vested in one Supreme Court, and such inferior Courts" as Congress saw fit to establish. It made no provision for the composition or procedures of any of the courts, leaving this to Congress to decide.[7]

The existence of a separate federal judiciary had been controversial during the debates over the ratification of the Constitution. Anti-Federalists had denounced the judicial power as a potential instrument of national tyranny. Indeed, of the ten amendments that eventually became the Bill of Rights, five (the fourth through the eighth) dealt primarily with judicial proceedings. Even after ratification, some opponents of a strong judiciary urged that the federal court system be limited to a Supreme Court and perhaps local admiralty judges. Congress, however, decided to establish a system of federal trial courts with broader jurisdiction, thereby creating an arm for enforcement of national laws within each state.[6]

Legislative history

[edit]

Senator Richard Henry Lee (AA-Virginia) reported the judiciary bill out of committee on June 12, 1789;[1] Oliver Ellsworth of Connecticut, who would go on to serve as the third Chief Justice of the United States, was its chief author.[8] The bill passed the Senate 14–6 on July 17, 1789, and the House of Representatives then debated the bill in July and August 1789. The House passed an amended bill 37–16 on September 17, 1789. The Senate struck four of the House amendments and approved the remaining provisions on September 19, 1789. The House passed the Senate's final version of the bill on September 21, 1789. U.S. President George Washington signed the Act into law on September 24, 1789.[2]

Provisions of the Act

[edit]
The first page of the Judiciary Act of 1789

The Act set the number of Supreme Court justices at six: one Chief Justice and five Associate Justices.[9] The Supreme Court was given exclusive original jurisdiction over all civil actions between states, or between a state and the United States, as well as over all suits and proceedings brought against ambassadors and other diplomatic personnel; and original, but not exclusive, jurisdiction over all other cases in which a state was a party and any cases brought by an ambassador. The Court was given appellate jurisdiction over decisions of the federal circuit courts as well as decisions by state courts holding invalid any statute or treaty of the United States; or holding valid any state law or practice that was challenged as being inconsistent with the federal constitution, treaties, or laws; or rejecting any claim made by a party under a provision of the federal constitution, treaties, or laws.[1]

SECTION 1. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That the supreme court of the United States shall consist of a chief justice and five associate justices, any four of whom shall be a quorum, and shall hold annually at the seat of government two sessions, the one commencing the first Monday of February, and the other the first Monday of August. [bold added]

— Judiciary Act of 1789

The Act also created 13 judicial districts within the 11 states that had then ratified the Constitution (North Carolina and Rhode Island were added as judicial districts in 1790, and other states as they were admitted to the Union). Each state comprised one district, except for Virginia and Massachusetts, each of which comprised two. Massachusetts was divided into the District of Maine (which was then part of Massachusetts) and the District of Massachusetts (which covered modern-day Massachusetts). Virginia was divided into the District of Kentucky (which was then part of Virginia) and the District of Virginia (which covered modern-day West Virginia and Virginia).[1]

This Act established a circuit court and district court in each judicial district (except in Maine and Kentucky, where the district courts exercised much of the jurisdiction of the circuit courts).[6] The circuit courts, which comprised a district judge and (initially) two Supreme Court justices "riding circuit", had original jurisdiction over serious crimes and civil cases of at least $500 involving diversity jurisdiction or the United States as plaintiff in common law and equity. The circuit courts also had appellate jurisdiction over the district courts. The single-judge district courts had jurisdiction primarily over admiralty cases, petty crimes, and suits by the United States for at least $100. Notably, at this time, Congress did not grant original federal question jurisdiction to the federal courts, which is why diversity has been described as the "original" and "ancient" jurisdiction of the federal courts.[10]

Congress authorized all people to either represent themselves or to be represented by another person. The Act did not prohibit paying a representative to appear in court.[citation needed]

Congress authorized persons who were sued by citizens of another state, in the courts of the plaintiff's home state, to remove the lawsuit to the federal circuit court.[10] According to Edward A. Purcell Jr., removal was the "most significant innovation" of the Act.[10] The Constitution says nothing about removal jurisdiction, which "was a powerful device to assert the primacy of the national judicial power over that of the states."[10]

The Act created the Office of Attorney General, whose primary responsibility was to represent the United States before the Supreme Court. The Act also created a United States Attorney and a United States Marshal for each judicial district.[5]

The Judiciary Act of 1789 included the Alien Tort Statute, now codified as 28 U.S.C. § 1350, which provides jurisdiction in the district courts over lawsuits by aliens for torts in violation of the law of nations or treaties of the United States.[11]

Implementation

[edit]
Further information: Jay Court

Immediately after signing the Judiciary Act into law, President Washington submitted his nominations to fill the offices created by the Act. Among the nominees were John Jay for Chief Justice of the United States; John Rutledge, William Cushing, Robert H. Harrison, James Wilson, and John Blair Jr. as Associate Justices; Edmund Randolph for Attorney General; and myriad district judges, United States Attorneys, and United States Marshals for Connecticut, Delaware, Georgia, Kentucky, Maryland, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, and Virginia.[1][12] All six of Washington's Supreme Court nominees were confirmed by the Senate. Harrison, however, declined to serve. In his place, Washington later nominated James Iredell, who joined the Court in 1790, thereby bringing the Court to its "full strength" complement of six members.[13]

The first six persons to serve on the United States Supreme Court (ordered by seniority) were:

The seniority of the associate justices was set by § 1 of the Judiciary Act of 1789, which assigned seniority by the dates borne on the judicial commissions each justice received from President Washington prior to taking office. This rule setting seniority of the justices is today codified at Title 28 U.S.C. § 4.

Judicial review

[edit]
Main articles: Judicial review and Marbury v. Madison

A clause in Section 13 of the Judiciary Act, which granted the Supreme Court the power to issue writs of mandamus under its original jurisdiction, was later declared unconstitutional. In Marbury v. Madison,[20] one of the seminal cases in American law, the Supreme Court held that was unconstitutional because it purported to enlarge the original jurisdiction of the Supreme Court beyond that permitted by the Constitution. The case was the first that clearly established that the judiciary can and must interpret what the Constitution permits and declare any laws which are contrary to the Constitution as unenforceable. Thus, the Judiciary Act of 1789 was the first act of Congress to be partially invalidated by the Supreme Court.[21][22]

See also

[edit]

References

[edit]
  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i Marcus, Maeva (1992). The Documentary History of the Supreme Court of the United States, 1789–1800. Columbia University Press. ISBN 0-231-08867-1. Archived from the original on December 16, 2008. Retrieved July 15, 2013.
  2. ^ a b "Judiciary Act of 1789". Library of Congress. Retrieved September 23, 2018.
  3. ^ "History of the Federal Judiciary". Federal Judicial Center. Retrieved July 14, 2013.
  4. ^ "1789 Judiciary Act". Encyclopædia Britannica. Retrieved July 14, 2013.
  5. ^ a b "U.S. Marshals Service, History, The Judiciary Act of 1789". United States Marshals Service. Retrieved July 14, 2013.
  6. ^ a b c White, G. Edward (2012). Law in American History, Volume 1: From the Colonial Years Through the Civil War. Oxford and New York: Oxford University Press. p. 197. ISBN 978-0190634940. Retrieved January 16, 2022.
  7. ^ "Federal Judiciary Act (1789)". National Archives and Records Administration. Retrieved July 14, 2013.
  8. ^ "Senator Ellsworth's Judiciary Act". United States Senate. Retrieved July 14, 2013.
  9. ^ "Landmark Legislation: Judiciary Act of 1789". Federal Judicial Center. Archived from the original on October 5, 2017. Retrieved October 5, 2017.
  10. ^ a b c d Purcell, Edward A. Jr. (1992). Litigation and Inequality: Federal Diversity Jurisdiction in Industrial America, 1870–1958. New York and Oxford: Oxford University Press. p. 14. ISBN 978-0195073294. Retrieved July 30, 2023.
  11. ^ "28 USC § 1350 – Alien's action for tort". LII / Legal Information Institute. Retrieved June 22, 2012.
  12. ^ "A Century of Lawmaking for a New Nation: U.S. Congressional Documents and Debates, 1774–1875". American Memory – Library of Congress.
  13. ^ "Supreme Court Historical Society – James Iredell, 1790–1799". Supreme Court Historical Society. Retrieved July 27, 2023.
  14. ^ "History of the Federal Judiciary, Judges, Jay, John". Federal Judicial Center.
  15. ^ "History of the Federal Judiciary, Judges, Rutledge, John". Federal Judiciary Center.
  16. ^ "History of the Federal Judiciary, Judges, Cushing, William". Federal Judiciary Center8.
  17. ^ "History of the Federal Judiciary, Judges, Wilson, James". Federal Judiciary Center.
  18. ^ "History of the Federal Judiciary, Judges, Blair, John, Jr". Federal Judiciary Center.
  19. ^ "History of the Federal Judiciary, Judges, Iredell, James". Federal Judiciary Center.
  20. ^ Marbury v. Madison, 5 U.S. (1 Cranch) 137 (1803).
  21. ^ Supreme Court History: The Court and Democracy, Marbury v. Madison, PBS, retrieved February 12, 2007
  22. ^ Warren, Charles (September 24, 2018). The Supreme Court in United States History. Little, Brown. p. 222 – via Internet Archive. as soon as the republicans passed their act.
[edit]
Wikisource has original text related to this article:
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/enwiki/w/index.php?title=Judiciary_Act_of_1789&oldid=1263622311"