Establishing the Supreme Court

¶ … U.S. Constitution Between 1777 and 1786, the Articles of Confederation determined what the federal government could and could not do (School of Law, n.d.). The Articles provided no authority for tax collection or regulation of commerce, a situation that left the states to fend for themselves amidst the often chaotic efforts to compete against one another. Without tax revenues, the federal government had no way to pay soldiers fighting in the Revolutionary War and many states ignored requests for financial contributions to the war effort.

To resolve this issue, state representatives convened in Philadelphia to hammer out the U.S. Constitution, establish an executive and legislative branch for the federal government, and confer coercive power in order to enforce tax codes and interstate commerce regulations. A third branch of the government, a federal judiciary, was also created during the Constitutional Convention in Philadelphia (Federal Judicial Center, n.d.). The Founding Fathers were only interested in establishing a Supreme Court, which left the issue of lower federal courts to be decided at a future date.

The Justices were to be given tenure based on continued good behavior and a protected salary, which would create a political barrier between the judicial and the executive and legislative branches of the federal government. The wording establishing the federal judiciary was contained in Article III of the Constitution. Article III has three sections (Federal Judicial Center, n.d.). The first section established a Supreme Court for the United States government and allowed leeway for Congress to establish lower federal courts.

Section 1 prevents expulsion of Supreme Court Justices and lower court judges from their positions, as long as they conduct themselves appropriately. The salaries of Justices and judges are also protected as long as they remain in office, which must be paid in a timely fashion. Section 2 of Article III describes the jurisdiction conferred to the federal judiciary, which includes everything the federal government could become involved in (Federal Judicial Center, n.d.).

The federal judiciary was tasked with adjudicating disputes between states and citizens of states, determining the meaning and execution of treaties, and hearing cases involving the admiralty and maritime disputes. Section 2 also states that the Supreme Court will be the most senior body in the federal judiciary and can therefore hear appeals from the lower courts. Interestingly, Section 2 states that all criminal cases will be tried in front of a jury and in the state in which the crime took place.

If the crime took place outside the boundaries of a state, then the location of the trial will be determined by Congress. Section 3 of Article III describes how the federal judiciary should handle allegations of treason (Federal Judicial Center, n.d.). Treason can only be charged, according to this section, if the defendant levied war against the United States, kept the company of an enemy of the United States, or aided and comforted its enemies.

Under Section 3, an allegation of treason must be supported by the testimony of at least two witnesses or a confession. Section 3 further delineates the punishment allowed under treason, which is left up to Congress; however, an attainder of treason cannot authorize the seizure of property or assets after the traitor has been put to death, nor can the court or government seize the property and assets of the traitor's relatives (Heritage Foundation, 2012). This prohibition is contained in the archaic wording ". no.