Expanding federal jurisdiction in 1875 cascaded into caseload crises

Evidence

Concern about caseload pressures on the federal courts emerged after Congress expanded the federal courts’ jurisdiction in 1875, as this created a demand for court services that those courts were ill equipped to handle. In 1873, federal trial courts had 29,013 pending cases, but following the expansion of federal jurisdiction in 1875, pending cases jumped to 38,045 in 1880 and 54,194 in 1890. Similar caseload problems plagued the Supreme Court, which saw its docket rise from 636 cases in 1870 to 1,816 cases in 1890. — G. Alan Tarr, Judicial Process and Judicial…, 262

Categorization

• XREF: Concrete data supporting the institutional dynamic that caseload drives later jurisdictional reform (e.g., certiorari discretion). Relevant to course on judicial institutions. — connects to: The 1789 Judiciary Act denied federal courts general federal-question jurisdiction until 1875 — G. Alan Tarr, Judicial Process and Judicial…, 255; Congress expands federal jurisdiction in response to political and caseload pressures — G. Alan Tarr, Judicial Process and Judicial…, 259

Broader Connections

• Congress expands federal jurisdiction in response to political and caseload pressures #expands (0.82) — G. Alan Tarr, Judicial Process and Judicial…, 259