The US Supreme Court's Power and Authority

An Overview of Article III of the US Constitution

Jul 8, 2009

The United States government is built around the concept of separation of powers among three branches of government, the executive, legislative and judicial branches.

The definition of the powers of each branch is found in the Constitution. Article I defines the legislative, or congress. Article II defines the executive, or presidency. Article III creates broad outlines for the judicial, primarily the Supreme Court. Article IV defines the relations between the states and the federal government.

Qualifications of Judges and Organization of Judiciary Not Addressed

Articles I and II go into great detail regarding the qualifications for President and Member of Congress. These include issues of citizenship, age and residency. Article III does not set any qualifications for judges of the United States courts. As a legal matter judges are not even required to be lawyers. The organization of the courts is also not addressed in the Constitution. The Constitution does not provide for the number of Supreme Court justices. Article III is interesting for what it does not say, as well as for what it says.

The Judicial Power of the United States, Article III, Section 1

Article III, Section 1 vests the judicial power in the federal courts, provides for the lifetime appointment of federal judges and prohibits Congress from decreasing the pay of judges. It reads as follows:

“Section 1. 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. The Judges, both of the supreme and inferior Courts, shall hold their Offices during good Behavior, and shall, at stated Times, receive for their Services a Compensation which shall not be diminished during their Continuance in Office”

While the Founding Fathers created the Supreme Court, they left up to Congress the decision on the size and composition of the Supreme Court, the time and place for sitting, and its internal organization. In fact, the office of Chief Justice of the Supreme Court is not specifically created in Article III regarding the judiciary. That office is mentioned only once in the Constitution, in Article I, Section 3 indicating the Chief Justice would preside at the impeachment of the President.

Subject Matter Jurisdiction, Article III, Section 2 of the Constitution

Article III, Section 2 defines the types of cases that federal courts may decide. The federal courts can only hear those cases involving subjects defined in the Constitution and refined by Congress. This concept is known as subject matter jurisdiction. This is in contrast to state courts that can hear nearly every type of controversy, these are courts of general jurisdiction. Federal courts can hear the following types of cases:

The Supreme Court has two further types of jurisdiction. The first is original jurisdiction. This means that the Supreme Court is the first court to hear the case, and the only types of matters involving original jurisdiction are those involving representatives of foreign governments and those matters to which a State is a party. In all other cases heard by the federal courts, the Supreme Court hears appeals from the decisions of lower courts; this is appellate jurisdiction.

Treason Defined, Article III, Section 3 of the Constitution

The only constitutionally clearly defined crime is treason: “Treason against the United States, shall consist only in levying War against them, or in adhering to their Enemies, giving them Aid and Comfort.”

The Judiciary Act of 1789

The Congress acted in 1789 to fill in the blanks regarding the federal judicial branch left by the Constitution. The Judiciary Act of 1789 provided for six justices, one Chief Justice and five associates. It also created the circuit courts, 13 judicial districts, and refined the appellate and original jurisdiction of the Supreme Court. The number of justices has changed over time, and currently there are a total of nine.

Chief Justice John Marshall and the Supreme Court took the strongest initial step in establishing the court as a co-equal branch of government when in 1803 it declared a portion of the Judiciary Act of 1789 to be unconstitutional, establishing the principal of judicial review in the landmark decision of Marbury v. Madison.

The copyright of the article The US Supreme Court's Power and Authority in Law is owned by David J. Shestokas. Permission to republish The US Supreme Court's Power and Authority in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.