The Judiciary Act of 1789 created six-justice Supreme Court and two trial tiers

Evidence

As its first order of business, Congress in the Judiciary Act of 1789 established the nation’s judicial system. Atop the structure was the Supreme Court, consisting of six justices. The Act also provided for two tiers of federal trial courts. The 13 district courts were each staffed with a single district judge. Although the number of district courts and judges has increased, this set of federal trial courts, organized along geographic lines that do not overlap state boundaries, has survived to the present day. Less familiar is the second set of trial courts created in 1789, the three circuit courts. These courts initially had no judges of their own. They operated in threejudge panels consisting, at least at the outset, of the district court judge for the district and two Supreme Court justices who “rode circuit” to hear cases. — G. Alan Tarr, Judicial Process and Judicial…, 232

Categorization

• DEFINE: Clarifies the original two-tier trial court structure, distinguishing district courts from the little-known early circuit courts.
• XREF: connects to: The Judiciary Act of 1789 created courts whose structure survives today — G. Alan Tarr, Judicial Process and Judicial…, 278; The Judiciary Act of 1789 fixed the federal courts’ three-level structure — G. Alan Tarr, Judicial Process and Judicial…, 349; The 1789 Judiciary Act denied federal courts general federal-question jurisdiction until 1875 — G. Alan Tarr, Judicial Process and Judicial…, 255

Broader Connections

• The Judiciary Act of 1789 fixed the federal courts’ three-level structure #expands (0.92) — G. Alan Tarr, Judicial Process and Judicial…, 349
• The Judiciary Act of 1789 created courts whose structure survives today #expands (0.85) — G. Alan Tarr, Judicial Process and Judicial…, 278
• The 1789 Judiciary Act denied federal courts general federal-question jurisdiction until 1875 #complicates (0.78) — G. Alan Tarr, Judicial Process and Judicial…, 255