The Judicial Power of the United States.—The framers of the Constitution decided that the jurisdiction of the national courts should be restricted to questions of national interest and to those involving the peace and tranquillity of the Union, such as disputes between the states themselves and between citizens of different states, and that the jurisdiction of all other controversies should be left to the determination of the courts of the several states. The jurisdiction of the federal courts, therefore, was made to include all cases whether of law or equity arising under the national Constitution, the laws of the United States, and all treaties made under their authority; all cases affecting ambassadors, other public ministers, and consuls; all cases of admiralty and maritime jurisdiction; all controversies to which the United States is a party; all controversies between two or more states; and between a state, or the citizens thereof, and foreign states or citizens or subjects thereof.[96]
The wisdom and propriety of giving the federal courts jurisdiction over all such cases are obvious, since they involve either national, interstate, or international questions. Manifestly, the state courts could not properly be left to determine finally controversies involving the meaning or the application of provisions of the federal Constitution, laws, or treaties, since in that case they would not be what they are declared to be, namely, the supreme law of the land. Conflicting decisions would be rendered by the courts of different states, and in case of inconsistency between state constitutions and laws on the one hand and the federal Constitution, laws, and treaties on the other, the state courts would be under the temptation to uphold the validity of the former.
The Eleventh Amendment.—As originally adopted, the Constitution permitted suits to be brought in the federal courts against a state by citizens of another state or by citizens of foreign countries, and when a suit brought against the state of Georgia in 1793 by a citizen of South Carolina named Chisholm for the recovery of a debt was actually entertained by the Supreme Court, widespread popular indignation followed the decision. The authorities of Georgia felt that it was derogatory to the dignity of a sovereign state that it should be made the defendant in a suit brought by a private individual, and a demand was made that the Constitution be amended so as to prevent such "suits" in the future. As a result of this demand, the Eleventh Amendment was adopted in 1798 which declared that the judicial power of the United States should not be construed to extend to suits brought against a state by citizens of another state or of a foreign country. Nevertheless while a state cannot be made a defendant in a federal court at the instance of a private individual of another state, the federal courts may entertain jurisdiction of suits between a state and a citizen of another state provided the state is the plaintiff.
How Cases "Arise."—A case "arises" under the Constitution, laws, or treaties whenever a suit is filed involving a right or privilege thereunder. Until a case "arises," that is, until it comes before the courts in due form, they will take no notice of it. When President Washington in 1793 sought the opinion of the Supreme Court on certain points involving our obligations to France under the treaty of alliance of 1778 it declined to answer his question, holding that it could give opinions only in cases properly brought before it.
The Regular Federal Courts.—The Constitution declares that the judicial power of the United States shall be vested in one Supreme Court and in such inferior courts as Congress may from time to time ordain and establish. The Supreme Court, therefore, is the only federal tribunal which owes its existence to the Constitution, the others being created by statute. Even as to the Supreme Court Congress has considerable power of control, since it determines the number of judges of which it shall be composed, and the amount of their compensation. But it cannot remove any judge except upon impeachment, or reduce his compensation after he has once been appointed.
The Supreme Court is at present composed of one Chief Justice and eight associate justices. It holds its sessions in the city of Washington from October to May of each year. Practically all the cases which it hears are those appealed from the lower courts. When a case has been argued, the court holds a consultation at which the points involved are considered and a decision is reached. The Chief Justice then requests one of his associates to prepare the opinion of the court, or he may prepare it himself, after which it is scrutinized by the court at a second conference and approved. Any member of the court who disagrees with the majority may file a dissenting opinion, a right frequently taken advantage of. The concurrence of at least five of the nine judges is necessary to the validity of a decision, and as a matter of fact, many important decisions have been rendered in recent years by a bare majority of the court. The opinions rendered are published as the United States Reports, of which there are now more than 200 volumes. They constitute the great authoritative source of the constitutional law of the United States, are studied by lawyers and judges, and are relied upon by the courts as precedents for the decisions of future cases involving similar points of law.[97] There is a reporter who arranges and publishes the opinions, a clerk who keeps the records, and a marshal who attends the court, preserves decorum, and enforces its orders.
The Circuit Courts of Appeals.—Next below the Supreme Court are the circuit courts of appeals, nine in all—one for each of the judicial circuits into which the country is divided.[98] These courts were created by act of Congress in 1891 to relieve the Supreme Court from an accumulation of business that rendered the prompt decisions of cases impossible, the docket of the court having become so overcrowded that it was about three years behind with its business. The act creating the circuit courts of appeals, however, did not provide an additional class of judges to hold these courts, but enacted that each of them should be held by three judges assigned for the purpose from among the judges of the circuit. The judges of each circuit include one justice of the Supreme Court assigned to the circuit, two or more circuit judges appointed for the circuit, and a considerable number of district judges, each appointed for a district in the circuit. Most circuit courts of appeals are held by three circuit judges; but occasionally by two circuit judges together with a district judge or the Supreme Court justice. The circuit courts of appeals have only appellate jurisdiction, that is, they hear and determine only cases appealed from the lower courts, and their decisions are final in most cases. This relieves the Supreme Court of all but the most important cases, and enables it to give more attention to the cases before it and to dispatch its business more promptly.
Former Circuit Courts.—Prior to 1911 next below the circuit courts of appeals were the circuit courts, which were held in the different districts within the circuit, either by a circuit judge or by the justice of the Supreme Court assigned to the circuit, or by a district judge, or by the three, or any two of them, sitting together. In 1911 the circuit courts were abolished and their jurisdiction conferred on the district courts. The circuit judges, however, were retained and will henceforth sit in the circuit courts of appeal.
The District Courts.—The lowest grade of federal court is the district court, held in each of the districts (about eighty) into which the country is divided. In some cases a state constitutes one district; in other cases a state is divided into two, three, four, or five districts. Usually there is one judge for each district, though in a few cases there are several judges for a single district, each holding court separately.
The jurisdiction of the district court embraces civil and criminal cases under the laws of the United States—such as suits for the infringement of patents and copyrights, admiralty cases, bankruptcy proceedings, revenue cases; and offenses against the United States revenue laws, laws against counterfeiting, the public land laws, the pure food laws, the postal laws, and the interstate commerce laws. Controversies between citizens of different states may also be brought to this court.[99]