The Supreme Court, Article III, and Sources of Authority

An obvious choice to begin any anything about the Supreme Court would certainly be Marbury v. Madison (5 U.S.) 137 (1803). However, I feel that most overviews of the Supreme Court and its power are overlooked. Sure Marbury is a very important case (why?... it established the Supreme Court's ability to conduct judicial review.. uh doi), but it is equally important to look at what the Constitution says about the judicial branch in general and how we have progressed since the ratification in 1787.

Article III: The Judiciary
It may be interesting to know that the framers viewed the judiciary as the least dangerous branch upon creation. This was primarily because many of the framers were already comfortable with the role of the courts. The colonies and Great Britain already had firmly established court systems and many of the delegates had backgrounds in law. So, what did they actually put to paper back in the day?

Article III, Section 1 establishes the Supreme Court and the framework for the creation of further federal courts. The Supreme Court is permanent, but Congress has the power to create and eliminate lower federal tribunals. The final role of Section 1 is to provide judges with protection from their salary being lessened while they hold their position. While this may seem like an odd inclusion, the "compensation clause" stands as proof that the framers wished for the judiciary to be protected from legislative interference.

Section 2 is where things get a bit meatier (it should since it's the longest section in Article III). This section details the jurisdiction that the Supreme Court and lower federal courts (none of which existed yet) would have. As far as the Supreme Court is concerned, original jurisdiction (cases that would begin in the Supreme Court) would occur only when a case involved an ambassador, public minister, or cases where a state was an involved party. However, the Supreme Court also has appellate jurisdiction (cases that begin in either state or lower federal courts, but are "appealed" and brought to the Supreme Court), but that jurisdiction is subjected to Congressional exceptions. Here, the framers created a check on the power of the courts by allowing Congress to determine the appellate jurisdiction of the Supreme Court.

Finally, Section 3 has little to do with the Supreme Court in particular, but lays out the requirements for someone being charged with treason.

Conclusion
So that was the basic structure of the Supreme Court when the Constitution was ratified. It has evolved a long way since then and will continue to do so. Another small piece of interest is that federal courts are slightly affected by Article II. It is here that the president is granted the power to appoint federal judges with the "advice and consent" of the Senate (majority vote). A little fact, Supreme Court nominations are the most rejected nominations by the Senate. Well, that is the end of the first installment on SCOTUS Review. I plan to next tackle the Judiciary Act of 1789 and cover a little bit more of Congress' use of their ability to grant and strip federal court jurisdiction.

Eric Dietz