Community Civics and Rural Life

by Arthur William Dunn

The details of the budget system of the national government if one has been created by the time you study this chapter.

Any change in the rules of Congress relating to appropriations.

The desirability of introducing in our government a plan similar to that used by the House of Commons.

THE NATIONAL JUDICIARY

The judicial power of the United States government is vested by the Constitution "in one Supreme Court, and in such inferior courts as the Congress may from time to time ordain and establish" (Art. III, sec. I). The number of judges in the Supreme Court is determined by Congress, and they are appointed by the President with the advice and consent of the Senate. At present the Supreme Court consists of a chief justice and eight associate justices. Its sessions are held in the Capitol building at Washington. Congress has created circuit courts of appeals, of which there are now nine, each "circuit" including several states; and district courts, of which there is at least one in every state, and sometimes several. In addition to these there is a court of customs appeals and a court of claims, for special classes of cases. The courts of the District of Columbia are also United States courts, inasmuch as the District is governed entirely by the national government. The judges of all United States courts are appointed by the President and hold office for life.

POWERS OF THE FEDERAL COURTS

The powers of the federal courts are stated in Article III, section 2, of the Constitution. In general, they have jurisdiction over cases of a national or interstate character. Most cases that come in the first instance before the federal courts are tried in the United States district courts, going to the higher courts only on appeal; but there are certain classes of cases that go to the Supreme Court at once (Art. III, sec. 2, cl. 2). A case brought to trial before a state court may be appealed to the Supreme Court of the United States when the Constitution, the laws, or the treaties of the United States are involved, and its decision is final. The Supreme Court may declare a law passed by Congress or an act of the President null and void if, in its opinion, such law or act is contrary to the provisions of the Constitution. It has been questioned whether the framers of the Constitution intended the Supreme Court to have this power, but it exercises the power on the ground that the Constitution is the supreme law of the land to which even Congress and the President are subject, and that it is the sacred duty of the courts to preserve it from violation. We have noted the influence exercised by the Supreme Court in extending the activities of the United States government by its broad interpretations of the Constitution.

Study the powers of the federal courts in Article III, sections 1 and 2.

What is treason? (Art. III, sec. 3, cl. I.)

What is meant by the second clause in section 3 of Article III?