 | This article includes a list of references, related reading, or external links, but its sources remain unclear because it lacks inline citations. (September 2022) |
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| Long title | An Act to establish the Judicial Courts of the United States |
|---|---|
| Nicknames | establishment of the federal judiciary |
| Enacted by | the 1st United States Congress |
| Citations | |
| Statutes at Large | 1 Stat. 73 |
| Legislative history | |
| |
| 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]
- ^ a b c d e 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.
- ^ "Judiciary Act of 1789". Library of Congress. Retrieved September 23, 2018.
- ^ "History of the Federal Judiciary". Federal Judicial Center. Retrieved July 14, 2013.
- ^ "1789 Judiciary Act". Encyclopædia Britannica. Retrieved July 14, 2013.
- ^ "U.S. Marshals Service, History, The Judiciary Act of 1789". United States Marshals Service. Retrieved July 14, 2013.
- ^ a b 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.
- ^ "Federal Judiciary Act (1789)". National Archives and Records Administration. Retrieved July 14, 2013.