COURTS OF THE UNITED STATES. The judiciary of the United States is
established by virtue of the following provisions, contained in the third
article of the constitution, namely:
2.-1. The judicial power of the United States shall be vested in one
supreme court, and in such inferior courts as congress may, from time to
time, ordain and establish. The judges, both of the supreme and inferior
courts, shall hold their offices during good behaviour, and shall, at stated
times, receive for their services a compensation, which shall not be
diminished during their continuance in office.
3.- 2. (1.) The judicial power shall extend to all cases in law and
equity arising under this constitution, the laws of the United States, and
treaties made, or which shall be made, under their authority; to all cases
affecting ambassadors, other public ministers and consuls; to all cases of
admiralty and maritime jurisdiction; to controversies to which the United
States shall be a party to controversies between two or more states, between
a state and a citizen of another state, between citizens of different
states, between citizens of the same state claiming lands under grants of
different states, and between a state, or the citizens thereof, and foreign
states, citizens or subjects.
4.-(2.) In all cases affecting ambassadors, other public ministers
and consuls, and those in which a state shall be party, the supreme court
shall have original jurisdiction. In all the other cases before mentioned,
the supreme court shall have appellate jurisdiction, both as to law and
fact, with such exceptions, and under such regulations, as congress shall
make.
5.-(3.) The trial of all crimes, except in cases of impeachment,
shall be by jury; and such trial shall be held in the state where the said
crime shall have been committed; but when not committed within any state,
the trial shall be at such place or places as congress may by law have
directed.
6. By the amendments to the constitution, the following alteration has
been made: "Art. 11. The judicial power of the United States shall not be
construed to extend to any suit in law or equity, commence or prosecuted
against one of the United States by citizens of another state, or citizens
or subjects of any foreign state."
7. This subject will be considered by taking a view of, 1. The central
courts; an 2. The local courts.
Art. 1 The Central Courts of the United States.
8. The central courts of the United States are, the senate, for the
trial of impeachments, and the supreme court. The territorial jurisdiction
of these courts extends over the whole country.
1. Of the Senate of the United States.
9.-1. The constitution of the United States, art. 1, Sec. 3, provides
that the senate shall have the sole power to try all impeachments. When
sitting for that purpose, the senate shall be on oath or affirmation. When
the president of the United States is tried, the chief justice shall preside
and no person shall be convicted without the concurrence of two-thirds of
the members present.
10. lt will be proper here to consider, 1. The organization of this
extraordinary court; and, 2. Its jurisdiction.
11.-1. Its organization differs according as it has or, has not the
president of the United States to try. For the trial of all impeachment of
the president, the presence of the chief justice is required. There must
also be a sufficient number of senators present to form a quorum. For the
trial of all other impeachments, it is sufficient if a quorum be present.
12.-2. The jurisdiction of the senate, as a court for the trial of
impeachments, extends to the following officers, namely; the president,
vice-president, and all civil officers of the United States, art. 2, Sec. 4,
when they shall have been guilty of treason, bribery, and other high crimes
and misdemeanors. Id. The constitution defines treason, art.
3.-3, but recourse must be had to the common law for a definition of
bribery. Not having particularly mentioned what is to be understood by
"other high crimes and misdemeanors," resort, it is presumed, must be had to
parliamentary practice. and the common law, in order to ascertain what they
are. Story, Const. Sec. 795.
2. Of the Supreme Court.
13. The constitution of the United States directs that the judicial
power of the United States shall be vested in one supreme court; and in such
inferior courts as congress may, from time to time, ordain and establish. It
will be proper to consider, 1st. Its organization; 2dly. Its Jurisdiction.
14.-1. Of the organization of the supreme court. Under this head will
be considered, 1. The appointment of the judges. 2. The number necessary to
form a quorum. 3. The time and place of holding the court.
15.-1. The judges of the supreme court are appointed by the president,
by and with the consent of the senate, Const. art. 2, Sec. 2. They hold
their office during good behaviour, and receive for their services a
compensation, which shall not be diminished during their continuance in
office. Const. art" 3, Sec. 1. They consist of a chief justice and eight
associate justices. Act of March 3, 1837, Sec. 1.
16.-2. Five judges are required to make a quorum, Act of March 3,
1837, Sec. 1; but by the act of the 21st of January, 1829, the judges
attending on the day appointed for holding a session of the court, although
fewer than a quorum, at that time, four have authority to adjourn the court
from day to day, for twenty days, after the time appointed for the
commencement, of said session, unless a quorum shall sooner attend; and the
business shall not be continued over till the next session of the court,
until the expiration of the said twenty days. By the same act, if, after the
judges shall have assembled, on any day less than a quorum shall assemble,
the judge or judges. so assembling shall have authority to adjourn the said
court, from day to day, until a quorum shall attend, and, when expedient and
proper, may adjourn the same without day.
17-3. The supreme court is holden at the city of Washington. Act of
April 29, 1 802. The session commences on the second Monday of January, in
each and every year. Act of May, 4, 1826. The first Monday of August in each
year is appointed as a return day. Act of April 29, 1802. In case of a
contagious sickness, the chief justice or his senior associate may direct in
what other place the court shall be held, and the court shall accordingly be
ad to such place. Act of February 25, 1799, Sec. 7. The officers of the
court are a clerk, who is appointed by the court, a marshal, appointed by
the president, by and with the advice and the consent of the senate, crier,
and other inferior officers.
18.-2. Of the jurisdiction of the supreme. court. The jurisdiction of
the supreme court is either civil or criminal.
19.-1. The civil jurisdiction is either original or appellate.
20.-(1.) The provisions of the constitution that relate to the
original jurisdiction of the supreme court, are contained in the articles of
the constitution already cited.
21. By the act of September 24th, 1789, Sec. 13, the supreme court shall
have exclusive jurisdiction of all controversies of civil nature where a
state is a party, except "between a state and it's citizens; and except
also, between a state and citizens of other states or aliens, in which
latter case it shall have original, but not exclusive jurisdiction. And
shall have, exclusively, all such jurisdiction of suits, or proceedings
against ambassadors or other public ministers, or their domestics or
domestic servants, as a court of law can have or exercise consistently with
the law of nations. And original, but not exclusive jurisdiction of all
suits brought by ambassadors or other public ministers, or in which a consul
or vice-consul shall be a party. And the trial of issues in fact, in the
supreme court, in all actions at law, against citizens of the United States,
shall be by jury.
22. In consequence of the decision of the case of Chisholm v. Georgia,
where it was held that assumpsit might be maintained against a state by a
citizen of a different state, the 11th article of the amendments of the
constitution above quoted, was adopted.
23. In those cases in which original jurisdiction is given to the
supreme court, the judicial power of the United States cannot be exercised
in its appellate form. With the exception of those cases in which original
jurisdiction is given to this court, there is none to which the judicial
power extends, from which the original jurisdiction of the inferior courts
is excluded by the constitution.
24. The constitution establishes the supreme court and defines its
jurisdiction. It enumerates the cases in which its jurisdiction is original
and exclusive, and defines that which is appellate. See 11 Wheat. 467.
25. Congress cannot vest in the supreme court original jurisdiction in a
case in which the constitution has clearly not given that court original
jurisdiction; and affirmative words in the constitution, declaring in what
cases the supreme court shall have original jurisdiction, must be construed
negatively as to all other cases, or else the clause would be inoperative
and useless. 1 Cranch, 137. See 5 Pet. 15 Pet. 284; 12 Pet. 657; 9 Wheat.
738 6 Wheat. 264.
26.-2. The supreme court exercises appellate jurisdiction in the
following different modes:
(1.) By writ of error from the final judgments of the circuit courts; of
the district courts, exercising the powers of circuit courts; and of the
superior, courts of the territories, exercising the powers of circuit,
courts, in certain cases. A writ of error does not lie to the supreme court
to reverse the judgment of a circuit court, in a civil action by writ of
error carried from the district court to the circuit court. The United
States v. Goodwin, 7 Cranch, 108. But now, by the act of July 4, 1840, c.
20, Sec. 3, it is enacted that writs of error shall lie to the supreme court
from all judgments of a circuit court, in cases brought there by writs of
error from the district court, in like manner and under the same
regulations, as are provided by law for writs of error for judgments
rendered upon suits originally brought in the circuit court.
27.-(2.) The supreme court has jurisdiction by appeals from the final
decrees of the circuit courts; of the district courts exercising the powers
of circuit courts; and of the superior courts of territories, exercising the
powers of circuit courts in certain cases. See 8 Cranch, 251 6 Wheat. 448.
28.-(3.) The supreme court has also jurisdiction by writ of error from
the, final judgments and decrees of the highest courts of law or equity in a
state, in the cases provided for by the twenty-fifth section of the act of
September 24th, 1789, which enacts that a final judgment or decree, in any
suit in the highest court of law, or equity of a, state, in which a decision
in the suit could be had, where is drawn in question the validity of a
treaty, or statute of, or an authority exercised under, the United States,
and the decision is against their validity; or where is drawn in question
the validity of a statute of, or an authority exercised under any state, on
the ground of their being repugnant to the constitution, treaties, or laws
of the United States, and the decision is in favor of such their validity;
or where is drawn in question the construction of any clause of the
constitution, or of a treaty or statute of, or commission held under the
United States, and the decision is against the title, right, privilege, or
exemption specially set up or claimed by either party, under such clause of
the said constitution, treaty, statute, or commission, may be re-examined,
and reversed or affirmed in the supreme court of the United States, upon a
writ of error, the citation being signed by the chief justice or judge, or
chancellor of the court rendering or passing the judgment or decree
complained of, or by a justice of the supreme court of the United States, in
the same manner, and under the same regulations, and the writ shall have the
same effect as if the judgment or decree complained of had been rendered or
passed in a circuit court; and the proceeding upon the reversal shall also
be the same, except that the supreme court, instead of remanding the cause
for a final decision as before provided, may, at their discretion, if the
cause shall have been once remanded before, proceed to a final decision of
the same, and award execution. But no other error shall be assigned or
regarded as a ground of reversal, in any such case as aforesaid, than such
as appears on the face of the record, and immediately respects the before
mentioned questions of validity, or construction of the said constitution,
treaties, statutes, commissions, or authorities in dispute. See 5 How. S. C.
R. 20, 55
29. The appellate jurisdiction of the supreme court extends to all cases
pending in the state courts and the twenty-fifth section of the judiciary
act, which authorizes the exercise of this jurisdiction in the specified
cases by writ of error, is supported by the letter and spirit of the
constitution. 1 Wheat. 304.
30. When the construction or validity of a treaty of the United States
is drawn in question in the state courts, and the decision is against its
validity, or the title specially set up by either party under the treaty,
the supreme court has jurisdiction to ascertain that title, and to determine
its legal meaning. 1 Wheat. 358; 5 Cranch, 344; 9 Wheat. 738; 1 Pet. 94; 9
Pet. 224; 10 Pet. 368; 6 Pet. 515.
31. The supreme court has jurisdiction although one of the parties is a
state, and the other a citizen of that state. 6 Wheat. 264.
32. Under the twenty-fifth section of the judiciary act, when any clause
of the constitution or any statute of the United States is drawn in
question, the decision must be against the title or right set up by the
party under such clause or statute; otherwise the supreme court has no
appellate jurisdiction of the case. 12 Wheat. 117, 129 6 Wheat. 598 3
Cranch, 268 4 Wheat. 311; 7 Wheat. 164; 2 Peters, 449; 2 Pet. 241; 11 Pet.
167; 1 Pet. 655; 6 Pet. 41; 5 Pet. 248.
33. When the judgment of the highest court of law of a state, decides in
favor of the validity of a statute of a state drawn in question, on the
ground of its being repugnant to the constitution of the United States, it
is not a final judgment within the twenty-fifth section of the judiciary act
if the suit has been remanded to the inferior court, where it originated,
for further proceedings, not inconsistent with the judgment of the highest
court. 12 Wheat. 135.
34. The words "matters in dispute" in the act of congress, which is to
regulate the jurisdiction of the supreme court, seem appropriated to civil
causes. 3 Cranch, 159. As to the manner of ascertaining the matter in
dispute, see 4 Cranch, 216; 4 Dall. 22; 3 Pet. 33; 3 Dall. 365; 2 Pet. 243;
7 Pet. 634; 5 Cranch, 13; 4 Cranch, 316.
35.-(4.) The supreme court has jurisdiction by certificate from the
circuit court, that the opinions of the judges are opposed on points stated,
as provided for by the sixth section of the act of April 29th, 1802. The
provisions of the act extend to criminal as well as to civil cases. See 2
Cranch, 33; 10 Wheat. 20 2 Dall. 385; 4 Hall's Law Journ. 462; 5 Wheat. 434;
6 Wheat. 542; 12 Wheat. 212; 7 Cranch, 279.
36.-(5.) It has also jurisdiction by mandamus, prohibition, habeas
corpus, certiorari, and procedendo.
37.-2. The criminal jurisdiction of the supreme court is derived from
the constitution and the act of September 24th, 1789, s. 13, which gives the
supreme court exclusively, all such jurisdiction of suits or proceedings
against ambassadors, or other public ministers, or their domestics, as a
court of law can have or exercise consistently with the law of nations. But
it must be remembered that the act of April 30tb, 1790, sections 25 and 26,
declares void any writ or process whereby the person of any ambassador, or
other public minister, their domestics or domestic servants, may be arrested
or imprisoned. Art. 2. The local courts.
38. The local courts of the United States are, circuit courts, district
courts, and territorial courts., 1. The circuit courts.
39. In treating of circuit courts, it will be convenient to consider,
1st. Their organization; and, 2d. Their jurisdiction.
40.-1. Of the organization of the circuit courts. The circuit courts
are the principal inferior courts established by congress. There are nine
circuit courts, composed of the districts which follow, to wit:
41.-1. The first circuit consists of the districts of New Hampshire,
Massachusetts, Rhode Island, and Maine. It consists of a judge of the
supreme court and the district judge of the district where such court is
holden. See Acts April 29, 1802 March 26, 1812 and March 30, 1820.
42.-2 The second circuit is composed of the districts of Vermont,
Connecticut and New York. Act of March 3, 183 7.
43.-3. The third circuit consists of the districts of New Jersey, and
eastern and western Pennsylvania;. Act of March 3, 1837.
44.-4. The fourth circuit is composed of Maryland, Delaware, and
Virginia. Act of Aug. 16, 1842.
45.-5. The fifth circuit is composed of Alabama and Louisiana. Act of
August 16, 1842.
46.-6. The sixth circuit consist of the districts of North Carolina,
South Carolina, and Georgia. Act of Aug. 16, 1842.
47.-7. The seventh circuit is composed of Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, and
Michigan. Act of March 3, 1837, Sec. 1.
48.-8. The eighth circuit includes Kentucky, East and West Tennessee,
and Missouri. Act of March 3, 1837, Sec. 1. By the Act of April 14, 1842,
ch. 20, Sec. 1, it is enacted that the district court of the United States
at Jackson, in the district of West Tennessee, shall in future be attached
to, and form a part of the eighth judicial district of the United States,
with all the power and jurisdiction of the circuit court held at Nashville,
in the middle district of Tennessee.
49.-9. The ninth circuit is composed of the districts of Alabama, the
eastern district of Louisiana, the district of Mississippi, and the district
of Arkansas. Act of March 3, 1837, Sec. 1.
50. In several districts of the United States, owing to their remoteness
from any justice of the supreme court, there are no circuit courts held. But
in these, the district court there is authorized to act as a circuit court,
except so far as relates to writs of error or appeals from judgments or
decrees in such district court.
51. The Act of March 3, 1837, provides, "That so much of any act or
acts of congress as vests in the district courts of the United States for
the districts of Indiana, Illinois, Missouri, Arkansas, the eastern district
of Louisiana, the district of Mississippi, the northern district of New
York, the western district of Virginia, and the western district of
Pennsylvania, and the district of Alabama, or either of them, the power and
jurisdiction of circuit courts, be, and the same is hereby, repealed; and
there shall hereafter be circuit courts held for said districts by the chief
or associate justices of the supreme court, assigned or allotted to the
circuit to which such districts may respectively belong, and the district
judges of such districts, severally and respectively, either of whom shall
constitute a quorum; which circuit courts, and the judges thereof, shall
have like powers, and exercise like jurisdiction as other circuit courts and
the judges thereof; and the said district courts, and the judges thereof,
shall have like powers, and exercise like jurisdiction, as the district
courts, and the judges thereof in the other circuits. From all judgments and
decrees, rendered in the district courts of the United States for the
western district of Louisiana, writs of error and appeals shall lie to the
circuit court in the other district in said state, in the same manner as
from decrees and judgments rendered in. the districts within which a circuit
court is provided by this act."
52. In all cases where the day of meeting of the circuit court is fixed
for a particular day of the mouth, if that day happen on Sunday, then, by
the Act of 29th April, 1802, and other acts, the court shall be held the
next day.
53. The Act of April 29, 1802, Sec. 5, further provides, that on every
appointment which shall be hereafter made, of a chief justice, or associate
justice, the chief justice and associate justices shall allot among
themselves the aforesaid circuits, as they shall think fit, and shall enter
such allotment on record.
54. The Act of March 3, 1837, Sec. 4, directs that the allotment of the
chief justice and the associate justices of the said supreme court to the
several circuits shall be made as heretofore.
55. And by the Act of August 16, 1842, the justices of the supreme court
of the United States, or a majority of the are required to allot the several
districts among the justices of the said court.
56. And in case no such allotment shall be made by them, at their
sessions next succeeding such appointment, and also, after the appointment
of any judge as aforesaid, and before any other allotment shall have been
made, it shall and may be lawful for the president of the United States, to
make such allotment as he shall deem proper which allotment, in either case,
shall be binding until another allotment shall be made. And the circuit
courts constituted by this act shall have all the power, authority and
jurisdiction, within the several districts of their respective circuits,
that before the 13th February, 1801, belonged to the circuit courts of the
United States.
57. The justices of the supreme court of the United States, and the
district judge of the district where the circuit is holden, compose the
judges of the circuit court. The district judge may alone hold a circuit
court, though no judge of the supreme court may be allotted to that circuit.
Pollard v. Dwight, 4 Cranch, 421.
58. The Act of September 24th, 1789, Sec. 6, provides, that a circuit
court may be adjourned from day to day, by one of its judges, or if none are
present, by the marshal of the district, until a quorum be convened. By the
Act of May 19, 1794, a circuit court in any district, when it shall happen
that no judge of the supreme court attends within four days after the time
appointed by law, for the commencement of the sessions, may be adjourned to
the next stated term, by the judge of the district, or, in case of his
absence also, by the marshal of the district. But by the 4th section of the
Act of April 29, 1802, where only one of the judges thereby directed to hold
the circuit courts shall attend, such circuit court may be held by the judge
so attending.
59. By the Act of March 2, 1809, certain duties are imposed oil the
justices of the supreme court, in case of the disability of a district judge
within their respective circuits to hold a district court. Sect. 2, enacts,
that in case of the disability of the district judge of either of the
district courts of the United States, to hold a district court, and to
perform the duties of his office, and satisfactory evidence thereof being
shown to the justice of the supreme court allotted to that circuit, in which
such district court ought, by law to be holden, and on application of the
district attorney, or marshal of such district, in writing, the said justice
of the supreme court shall, thereupon, issue his order in the nature of a
certiorari) directed to the clerk of such district court, requiring him
forthwith to certify unto the next circuit court, to be holden, in said
district, all actions, suits, pauses, pleas, or processes, civil or
criminal, of what nature or land soever, that may be depending in such
district court, and undetermined, with all the proceedings thereon, and all
files, and papers relating, thereto, which said order shall be immediately
published in one or more newspapers, printed in said district, and at least
thirty days before the session of such circuit court, and shall be deemed a
sufficient notification to all concerned. And the said circuit court shall,
thereupon, have the same cognizance of all such actions, suits, causes,
pleas, or processes, civil or criminal, of what nature or kind soever, and
in the like manner, as the district court of said district by law might
have, or the circuit court, had the same been originally commenced therein,
and shall proceed to hear and determine the same accordingly; and the said
justice of the supreme court, during the continuance of such disability,
shall, moreover, be invested with, and exercise all and singular the, powers
and authority, vested by law in the judge of the district court in said
district. And all bonds and recognizances taken for, or returnable to, such
district court, shall be construed and taken to be the circuit court to be
holden thereafter, in pursuance of this act, and shall have the same force
and effect in such court as they would have had in the district court to
which they were taken. Provided, that nothing in this act contained shall be
so construed, as to require of the judge of the supreme court, within whose
circuit such district may lie, to hold any special court, or court of
admiralty, at any other time than the legal time for holding the circuit
court of the United States in and for such district.
60. Sect. 2, provides, that the clerk of such district shall, during the
continuance of the disability of the district judge, continue to certify, as
aforesaid, all suits or actions, of what nature or kind soever, which may
thereafter be brought to such district court, and the same transmit to the
circuit court next thereafter to be holden in the same district. And the
said circuit court shall have cognizance of the same, in like manner as is
hereinbefore provided in this act, and shall proceed to bear and determine
the same. Provided, nevertheless, that when the disability of the district
judge shall cease, or be removed, all suits or actions then pending and
undetermined in the circuit court, in which, by law, the district courts
have an exclusive original cognizance, shall be remanded, and the clerk of
the said circuit court shall transmit the same, pursuant to the order of the
said court, with all matters and things relating thereto, to the district
Court next thereafter to be holden in said district, and the same
proceedings shall be had therein, as would have been, had the same
originated, or been continued, in the said district court.
61. Sect. 3, enacts, that in case of the district judge in any district
being unable to discharge his duties as aforesaid, the district clerk of
such district shall be authorized and empowered, by leave or order of the
circuit judge of the circuit in which such district is included, to take,
during such disability of the district judge, all examinations, and
depositions of witnesses, and to make all necessary rules and orders,
preparatory to the final hearing of all causes of admiralty and maritime
jurisdiction. See 1 Gall. 337 1 Cranch, 309 note to Hayburn's case, 3 Dall.
410.
62. If the disability of the district judge terminate in his death, the
circuit court must remand the certified causes to the district court. Ex
parte United States, 1 Gall. 337.
63. By the first section of the Act of March 3, 1821, in all suits and
actions in any district court of the United States, in which it shall appear
that the judge of such court is any ways concerned in interest, or has been
of counsel for either party, or is so related to, or connected with, either
party, as to render it improper for him, in his opinion, to sit on the trial
of such suit or action, it shall be the duty of such judge, on application
of either party, to cause the fact to be entered on the records of the
court, and also an order that an authenticated copy the thereof, with all
the proceedings in such suit or action, shall be forthwith certified to the
next circuit court of the district, and if there be no circuit court in such
district, to the next circuit court in the state, and if there be no circuit
court in such state, to the most convenient circuit court in an adjacent
state; which circuit court shall, upon such record being filed with the
clerk thereof, take cognizance thereof, in like manner as if such suit or
action had been originally commenced in that court, and shall proceed to
bear and determine the same accordingly, and the jurisdiction of such
circuit court shall extend to all such cases to be removed, as were
cognizable in the district court from which the same was removed.
64. And the Act of February 28, 1839, Sec. 8, enacts, "That in all suits
and actions, in any circuit court of the United States, in which it shall
appear that both the judges thereof, or the judge thereof, who is solely
competent by law to try the same, shall be any ways concerned in interest
therein, or shall have been of counsel for either party, or is, or are so
related to, or connected with, either party as to render it improper for him
or them, in his or their opinion, to sit in the trial of such suit or
action, it shall be the duty of such judge, or judges, on application of
either party, to cause the fact to be entered on the records of the court;
and, also, to make an order that an authenticated copy thereof, with all the
proceedings in such suit or action, shall be certified to the most
convenient circuit court in the next adjacent state, or in the next adjacent
circuit; which circuit court shall, upon such record and order being filed
with the clerk thereof, take cognizance thereof in the same manner as if
such suit or action had been rightfully and originally commenced therein,
and shall proceed to hear and determine the same accordingly; and the proper
process for the due execution of the judgment or decree rendered therein,
shall run into, and may be executed in, the district where such judgment or
decree was rendered; and, also, into the district from which such suit or
action was removed."
65. The judges of the supreme court are not appointed as circuit court
judges, or, in other words, have no distinct commission for that purpose:
but practice and acquiescence under it, for many years, were held to afford
an irresistible argument against this objection to their authority to act,
when made in the year, 1803, and to have fixed the construction of the
judicial system. The court deemed the contemporary exposition to be of the
most forcible nature, and considered the question at rest, and not to be
disturbed then. Stuart v. Laird, 1 Cranch, 308. If a vacancy exist by the
death of the justice of the supreme court to whom the district was allotted,
the district judge may, under the act of congress, discharge the official
duties, (Pollard v. Dwight, 4 Cranch, 428. See the fifth section of the Act
of April 29, 1802,) except that he cannot