History of the Supreme Court

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United States Supreme Court
United States Supreme Court

“The judges … are held in very high esteem. Being entirely dependent on public opinion, they need to make continual efforts to keep this esteem…. I look on the judges … as the regulators of the irregular movements of our democracy, and as those who maintain the equilibrium of the system.”


--Albert Gallatin, in a conversation with Alexis de Tocqueville


Contents

Background

The United State's Supreme Court has a long and varied history. It was established under Article III of the Constitution of the United States (1788), whose ratification also granted Congress the power to establish, from time to time and as they saw fit, courts of lesser import. Very few additional specifics were spelled out, and it wasn't until the Judiciary Act of 1789 (whereby the federal court system was actually established), that the role of the judicial branch took on greater meaning.

The law (Article III) created 13 district courts in principal cities, with one judge apiece, and three circuit courts to cover the other areas of the eastern, middle and southern United States. Above these it set a Supreme Court, with a Chief Justice and five Associate Justices, as the only court of appeals.[1]

Once the Constitution replaced the preceding Articles of Confederation, the United States government became a much more predominant force in American life. As a result, American history since 1788 has been "about how these three branches have exercised their individual supremacy subject to the decisions of the Supreme Court [emphasis added], which assumed early in the Nineteenth century the authority for reviewing all governmental action and laws in the context of their constitutionality. This means that the Court has functioned over time as the principal interpreter of the meaning of the Constitution."[2]


The Initial Years: The Jay Court (1789-1795)

On February 2, 1790 the Supreme Court convened at the Royal Exchange Building (also known as the Merchants Exchange Building) in New York for its very first session.

The inaugural Supreme Court was comprised of the Chief Justice--John Jay of New York--and five associate justices: John Blair (Virginia), William Cushing (Massachusetts), James Wilson (Pennsylvania), James Iredell (North Carolina), and John Rutledge (South Carolina).

President Washington appointed these men based upon legal capabilities, while also hoping to off-set regional jealousies and establish sectional neutrality by choosing minds from across the new country.[3]

The Supreme Court's role for the next eleven years was subdued, as leading statesmen tested the waters of checks and balances established within the new republic. Unfortunately, thanks to a haphazard order of operations, misleading court accounts, and the War of 1812, much of what we know about the court's first decade is paltry.

In 1795, the courts began requiring lawyers to submit the "material points" of their arguments. Until then, cases were argued verbally, and documentation was sparse-to-none. Correlatively, the justices themselves did not issue written judgments, but rather announced their decisions from the bench.

There was no official reporter, just a freelance Philadelphia lawyer named Alexander James Dallas, whose courtroom accounts often proved misleading. For example, in the 1798 case of Wilson v. Daniel, Dallas reported that the Supreme Court affirmed a prior trial court's ruling; in reality, the Court had done just the opposite.[4]

It wasn't until John Marshall joined the bench in 1801, that the court took on a more orderly shape, and became a significant participant in American democracy.

The Marshall Court (1801-1835)

The appointment of John Marshall as the fourth Supreme Court Chief Justice (preceded by John Jay, John Rutledge, and Oliver Ellsworth) can be considered a turning point for the American judiciary. Prior to his appointment, the court was easily--and understandably--the weakest member of America's triune government. An eleventh hour appointment by then-President John Adams, Marshall's nomination was confirmed by the Senate on January 27, 1801. His tenure as Chief Justice would last until 1835--one of the longest in Supreme Court history. "Chief Justice Marshall's vigorous and able leadership in the formative years of the Court was central to the development of its prominent role in American government."[5]

As Chief Justice, Marshall presided over some of the most storied and crucial legal cases in American history. Among them were: Marbury v. Madison, McCulloch v. Maryland, Cohens v. Virginia, and Gibbons v. Ogden.

The outcome of these cases, guided by Marshall, transformed the judiciary into a powerful branch of goverment, and set multiple precedents for centuries to come.

The Progressive Era: 1950s and early 1960s

"[In] the 1950s and early 1960s, liberal America had appealed to the courts to remedy the refusal of Congress to pass effective civil rights legislation. The courts responded, and having acquired the taste for power, indulged it long after the essential civil rights battle was won. They eroded the legitimate sphere not only of Congress but of the presidency, not only in the area of rights but in the conduct of the economy. Thus the early 1970s saw the birth not only of the 'imperial press' but of the 'imperial judiciary'."[6]

See Also

Supreme Court Chief Justices

External Links

References

  1. ↑ The Supreme Court Historical Society: The Jay Court 1789-1785.
  2. ↑ History of the Supreme Court
  3. ↑ History of the Court: The Jay Court
  4. ↑ After 30 Years, Supreme Court History Project Turns a Final Page
  5. ↑ The Court as an Institution
  6. ↑ Johnson, Paul. Modern Times: The World from the Twenties to the Nineties. New York: Perennial Classics: HarperCollins Publishing. p.662. 2001.

Suggested Reading

The Federalist Papers (see no. 78)

Democracy in America

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