Question

Identify the original inferior courts established by the judiciary act of 1789, and how they functioned in the jusical branch.

Answer 1

One of the new Congress' first actions was to create a federal court structure through the 1789 Judiciary Act. The Constitution provided for the judicial branch to be composed from time to time of one Supreme Court and such lower courts as were created by Congress. But contrary to the constitutional rules, in which the framers explicitly set out Congressional powers, Article III of the Constitution is quite ambiguous on exactly what the judicial powers will be for.

Congress had no precedent to guide it, as the three tribunal systems Common Pleas (private law), King's Bench (criminal law) and Chancery (equity) existed separately of the British system and derived their authority from the King's writing. Even when American courts followed English precedents during colonial times, the frontier culture was too limited in wealth and qualified staff to adopt British custom. And Congress basically had a blank slate to write upon. One of the most innovative moves was to merge law and equity into a single court system, thus allowing for a more productive and equitable way to provide justice.

That the supreme court of the United States shall consist of a chief justice and five associate judges, each of whom shall be a quorum, and shall hold two sessions, one starting on the first Monday of February and the other on the first Monday of August, annually at the headquarters of the nation. That the associate judges shall have precedence according to the date of their commissions, or whether, according to their respective ages, the commissions of two or more of them bear the same date on the same day.