The Original Design of the Court
The Original Design of the Court
The Constitution creates three branches of the national government, each with different powers. The legislative branch makes laws, the executive enforces the law, and the judiciary renders judgment. The purpose of the judicial branch of government was to adjudicate cases related to constitutional and national questions. It was therefore one of the key components of effectively governing under the new constitutional government.
The Articles of Confederation lacked a national judiciary, which contributed to the dysfunction of the weak central government under that league of friendship. As a result, many national disputes and problems were not resolved by the government. The Framers of the Constitution sought to establish the principle of separation of powers in the new system of constitutional government. Therefore, they created an independent judicial branch in the Constitution.
The Constitution addresses the judicial branch in Article III of the Constitution. Article III, Section 1, simply states that the “judicial power of the United States shall be vested in one Supreme Court, and in such inferior courts as the Congress may from time to time ordain and establish.” In 1789, the First Congress quickly created the inferior courts of the federal court system when it passed a Judiciary Act. The law established a three-tiered system for the federal court system, with a district court in every state, appellate courts, and a Supreme Court. Congress also decided the Supreme Court should have six justices. The Court currently has nine justices and can change that number.
In Federalist #78, Alexander Hamilton stated that the independence of the judiciary was based in part upon appointment for life. The judges would not have to face election and be subject to public pressures related to controversial issues. They could dispassionately and reasonably decide cases and render justice in an unbiased and constitutional manner. However, they would have to exercise “good behavior” in carrying out their offices, though the Constitution did not specifically define good behavior. Their salaries could not be lowered during their tenure to shield them from political pressure.
In Federalist #78, Hamilton also described the judiciary as the “least dangerous” branch of government. He asserted that, “the judiciary…has no influence over either the sword or the purse…and can take no active resolution whatever. It may truly be said to have neither FORCE nor WILL, but merely judgment.”
The independent judiciary was part of the system of separation of powers and checks and balances between the three branches. Congress had the authority to create the federal court system. The president appoints justices to the Supreme Court with the approval of a majority of the Senate. The Supreme Court chief justice presides over the Senate trial to remove presidents in case of impeachment.
In Federalist #78, Hamilton proposed the principle of judicial review because legislative acts could not contradict the fundamental law established by the people in the Constitution. Judicial review also supported the principle of checks and balances. He wrote, “A constitution is, in fact, and must be regarded by the judges, as a fundamental law….If there should happen to be an irreconcilable variance between the [the Constitution and congressional laws]…the Constitution ought to be preferred to the statute.”
The Judiciary Act of 1789 empowered the Court to review state court decisions. The Supreme Court quickly did so, overturning some and affirming others. The Court also began reviewing congressional laws, among these the Judiciary Act of 1789 itself. This eventually resulted in the Court’s decision in Marbury v. Madison (1803), which definitively established the principle of judicial review. In this decision, the Court also stated all laws must be consistent with the fundamental law of the Constitution, or they were null and void. The Court did not overturn another congressional law until Dred Scott v. Sandford (1857).
The Constitution created an independent judiciary, which established itself as a coordinate branch of the national government with Congress and the presidency. The three branches are in dynamic tension with one another as they exercise their powers constitutionally.