Judicial Department.
The Federal courts derive their powers and jurisdiction from the Constitution and laws of the United States.
"The judicial powers of the United States shall be vested in one Supreme Court, and in such inferior courts as Congress may from time to time establish."
The Supreme Court of the United States is the highest and most powerful judicial body in the world.
It holds its regular sessions at Washington, sitting from October to July.
The chief justice and eight associate justices constitute the Supreme Court of the United States, and are appointed for life by the President of the United States and confirmed by the United States Senate.
The salary of the chief justice is $15,000.00 per year, and of the associate justices $14,000.00 per year.
Six judges must be present in the trial of a case and a majority is necessary in rendering a decision.
The district judges receive a salary of $6,000.00 annually and the judges of the appeals court $7,000.00 annually.
The judges cannot be removed except for cause, and then they are impeached in the House of Representatives and tried in the United States Senate.
The principal Federal courts that have been organized by Congress are: The Supreme Court, the Circuit Court of Appeals, the Circuit Court, the District Court.
A United States judge if he has served ten years may retire on full salary when seventy years old.