Article Three of the United States Constitution

Section 1. The judicial Power of the United States, shall be vested in one supreme Court, and in such inferior Courts as the Congress may from time to time ordain and establish.

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Article Three of the United States Constitution

United States Constitution

The Constitution of the United States of America is the supreme law of the United States. It is the foundation and source of the legal authority underlying the existence of the United States of America; the Federal Government of the United States; and all the State & local governments and Territorial Administrative bodies contained therein....
 establishes the judicial branch of the federal government

Federal government of the United States

The Federal Government of the United States is the central current reigning United States governmental body, established by the United States Constitution....
. The judicial branch comprises the Supreme Court of the United States

Supreme Court of the United States

The Supreme Court of the United States is the highest judicial body in the United States, and leads the federal United States federal courts. It consists of the Chief Justice of the United States and eight Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States, who are nominated by the President of the United States and confirmed with th...
 along with lower federal courts established pursuant to legislation by Congress

United States Congress

The United States Congress is the Bicameralism legislature of the Federal government of the United States of the United States of America, consisting of two houses, the United States Senate and the United States House of Representatives....
.

Section 1: Federal courts

Section 1 vests the judicial power in federal courts, requires a supreme court, allows inferior courts, requires life tenure for judges, and prohibits decreasing the salaries of judges.

Section 1. The judicial Power of the United States, shall be vested in one supreme Court, and in such inferior Courts as the Congress may from time to time ordain and establish. The Judges, both of the supreme and inferior Courts, shall hold their Offices during good Behavior, and shall, at stated Times, receive for their Services a Compensation which shall not be diminished during their Continuance in Office.

Number of courts

Section 1 explicitly requires "one" Supreme Court, but does not fix the number of justices that must be appointed to it. The number of justices has been fixed by statute, and at present the number is nine: one chief justice and eight associate justices. (Article I of the constitution also provides for some courts. That article is discussed herein for completeness.)

Proposals to divide the Supreme Court into the separate panels have been made, but all have failed. Since all such proposals have failed, the Supreme Court has never ruled on the constitutionality

Constitutionality

Constitutionality is the status of a law, a procedure, or an act's accordance with the laws or guidelines set forth in the applicable constitution....
 of such a division. However, Chief Justice Charles Evans Hughes

Charles Evans Hughes

Charles Evans Hughes Sr. was a lawyer and United States Republican Party politician from the State of New York. He served as Governor of New York , United States Secretary of State , Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States and Chief Justice of the United States ....
 wrote, "the Constitution does not appear to authorize two or more Supreme Courts functioning in effect as separate courts."

The Supreme Court is the only federal court

United States federal courts

The United States federal courts comprises the Judiciary of government organized under the United States Constitution and Law of the United States of the federal government of the United States....
 that is required explicitly by the Constitution. During the Constitutional Convention, a proposal was made for the Supreme Court to be the only federal court, having both original jurisdiction and appellate jurisdiction. This proposal was rejected in favor of the provision that we have today. Under this provision, the Congress may create inferior courts under both Article III, Section 1, and Article I, Section 8. The Article III

Article I and Article III tribunals

In the United States, a federal tribunal may be either a court or another adjudicative body and can be classified as either an Article I tribunal or an Article III tribunal, in reference to the article of the United States Constitution from which the tribunal's authority stems....
 courts, which are also known as "constitutional courts," were first created by the Judiciary Act of 1789

Judiciary Act of 1789

The United States Judiciary Act of 1789 was a landmark statute adopted on September 24, 1789 in the first session of the First United States Congress establishing the United States federal courts....
. Article I

Article I and Article III tribunals

In the United States, a federal tribunal may be either a court or another adjudicative body and can be classified as either an Article I tribunal or an Article III tribunal, in reference to the article of the United States Constitution from which the tribunal's authority stems....
 courts, which are also known as "legislative courts," consist of regulatory agencies, such as the U.S. Tax Court. Article III courts are the only ones with judicial power, and so decisions of regulatory agencies remain subject to review by Article III courts. However, cases not requiring "judicial determination" may come before Article I courts. In the case of Murray's Lessee v. Hoboken Land & Improvement Co. (1856), the Supreme Court ruled that cases involving "a suit at the common law, or in equity, or admiralty" inherently involves judicial determination and must come before Article III courts. Other cases, such as bankruptcy cases, have been held not to involve judicial determination, and may therefore go before Article I courts. Similarly, several courts in the District of Columbia, which is under the exclusive jurisdiction of the Congress, are Article I courts rather than Article III courts.

Tenure

The Constitution provides that judges "shall hold their Offices during good Behavior" (unless appointed during a Senate recess). The term "good behavior" is interpreted to mean that judges may serve for the remainder of their lives, although they may resign or retire voluntarily. Although a judge may also be removed by impeachment and conviction by congressional vote; this has occurred only seven times

Impeachment in the United States

Impeachment in the United States is an expressed power of the legislature which allows for formal charges to be brought against a civil officer of government for conduct committed in office....
. Two other judges, Mark H. Delahay and George W. English

George W. English

George Washington English, Sr. was a United States District Court judge for the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Illinois....
, resigned rather than go through the impeachment process.

Salaries

The compensation of judges may not be decreased, but may be increased, during their continuance in office. The Constitution is silent when it comes to judges of courts which have been abolished. The Judiciary Act of 1801 increased the number of courts to permit the Federalist President John Adams

John Adams

John Adams was an Politics of the United States and the List of Presidents of the United States President of the United States , after being the List of Vice Presidents of the United States Vice President of the United States for two terms....
 to appoint a number of Federalist judges before Thomas Jefferson

Thomas Jefferson

Thomas Jefferson was the List of Presidents of the United States President of the United States , the principal author of the United States Declaration of Independence , and one of the most influential Founding Fathers of the United States for his promotion of the ideals of republicanism in the United States....
 took office. When Jefferson became President, the Congress abolished several of these courts and made no provision for the judges of those courts. The power to abolish a court was next used in 1913, when the Congress abolished the Commerce Court

United States Commerce Court

The Commerce Court of the United States was a brief-lived United States federal court system trial court. It was created by the Mann-Elkins Act of June 18, 1910 and abolished a mere three years later, by 38 Stat. 208, effective December 31, 1913....
. In that case, however, Congress transferred the judges of the Commerce Court to the Circuit Courts.

Section 2: Federal jurisdiction and trial by jury

Section 2 specifies the subject-matter jurisdiction of the federal courts and requires trial by jury in all criminal cases, except impeachment cases.

Section 2. The judicial Power shall extend to all Cases, in Law and Equity, arising under this Constitution, the Laws of the United States, and Treaties made, or which shall be made, under their Authority; to all Cases affecting Ambassadors, other public Ministers and Consuls; to all Cases of admiralty and maritime Jurisdiction; to Controversies to which the United States shall be a Party; to Controversies between two or more States; between a State and Citizens of another State; between Citizens of different States; between Citizens of the same State claiming Lands under Grants of different States, and between a State, or the Citizens thereof, and foreign States, Citizens or Subjects.

In all Cases affecting Ambassadors, other public Ministers and Consuls, and those in which a State shall be Party, the supreme Court shall have original Jurisdiction. In all the other Cases before mentioned, the supreme Court shall have appellate Jurisdiction, both as to Law and Fact, with such Exceptions, and under such Regulations as the Congress shall make.

Trial of all Crimes, except in Cases of Impeachment, shall be by Jury; and such Trial shall be held in the State where the said Crimes shall have been committed; but when not committed within any State, the Trial shall be at such Place or Places as the Congress may by Law have directed.

Subject-matter jurisdiction

Federal courts are courts of limited jurisdiction, and not courts of general jurisdiction. Courts of limited jurisdiction can hear and decide cases that involve only certain subject matter. For federal courts, this limited "subject-matter jurisdiction" extends to:

• Federal question jurisdiction
  Federal question jurisdiction
  
  Federal question jurisdiction is a term used in the United States law of civil procedure to refer to the situation in which a United States federal court has subject matter jurisdiction to hear a civil case because the plaintiff has alleged a violation of the U.S....
  : cases arising under the Constitution, laws, and treaties
• Ambassador jurisdiction: cases involving ambassadors, other public ministers and consuls
• Admiralty Clause
  Admiralty law
  
  Admiralty law is a distinct body of law which governs maritime questions and offenses. It is a body of both domestic law governing maritime activities, and Conflict of laws governing the relationships between private entities which operate vessels on the oceans....
  : cases involving navigable waters
• United States as a party jurisdiction: cases in which the United States is a party
• State jurisdiction: cases between two or more states
• Diversity jurisdiction
  Diversity jurisdiction
  
  In United States law, diversity jurisdiction is a concept used in civil procedure to refer to the situation in which a U.S. United States district court has subject matter jurisdiction to hear a civil case because the parties are "diverse" in citizenship, which generally indicates that they are citizens of different U.S....
  : cases between citizens of different states
• Land grants jurisdiction: cases between citizens of the same state claiming land under the grants of different states
• Alienage jurisdiction: cases between a state or citizens of a state and a foreign state or citizens of a foreign state

Article Three is not self-executing with respect to the subject-matter over which federal courts can have jurisdiction. The Congress decides, from among the subject-matter specified in Article Three, what jurisdiction the federal courts will actually have.

Eleventh Amendment and State Sovereign Immunity

In Chisholm v. Georgia

Chisholm v. Georgia

Chisholm v. Georgia, Case citation , is considered by many to be the first Supreme Court of the United States case of great significance and impact....
, 2 U.S. (2 Dall.) 419

Case citation

Case citation is the system used in many countries to identify the decisions in past court cases, either in special series of books called Reporter s or law reports, or in a 'neutral' form which will identify a decision wherever it was reported....
 (1793), the Supreme Court held that states were not immune from lawsuits by individuals due to the Supreme Court's Article III jurisdiction over them . Effectively reversing this judgment, the Eleventh Amendment

Eleventh Amendment to the United States Constitution

The Eleventh Amendment to the United States Constitution was passed by the United States Congress on March 4, 1794 and was ratified on February 7, 1795....
 was passed to prevent a state from being sued in a federal court.

Cases and controversies

Only actual cases and controversies

Case or controversy

The Case or Controversy Clause of Article III of the United States Constitution has been deemed to impose a requirement that United States federal courts are not permitted to hear cases that do not pose an actual controversy ? that is, an actual dispute between adverse parties which is capable of being resolved by the court....
 may be heard by the federal courts; the judicial power does not extend to cases which are hypothetical, or which are precluded because of problems with standing

Standing (law)

In the common law, and under many statutes, standing or locus standi is the ability of a party to demonstrate to the court sufficient connection to and harm from the law or action challenged to support that party's participation in the case....
, mootness, or ripeness. Generally, a case or controversy requires the presence of adverse parties. In Muskrat v. United States

Muskrat v. United States

Muskrat v. United States, Case citation , is a case that appears in virtually every constitutional law casebook published, because of its delineation of the authority of United States federal courts to hear certain kinds of cases....
, , the Supreme Court denied jurisdiction to cases brought under a statute permitting certain Native Americans to bring suits against the United States to determine the constitutionality of a law allocating tribal lands. Counsel for both sides were to be paid from the U.S. Treasury. The Supreme Court maintained that, though the United States was a defendant, the case in question was not an actual controversy; rather, the statute was merely devised to test the constitutionality of a certain type of legislation, and the Court's ruling would be nothing more than an advisory opinion

Advisory opinion

An advisory opinion is an opinion issued by a court that does not have the effect of resolving a specific legal case, but merely advises on the constitutionality or interpretation of a law....
; therefore, it dismissed the suit for failing to present a "case or controversy."

Original and appellate jurisdiction

Section 2 provides that the Supreme Court has original jurisdiction

Original jurisdiction

The original jurisdiction of a court is the right to hear a case for the first time as opposed to appellate jurisdiction when a court has the right to review a lower court's decision....
 in cases affecting ambassadors, ministers and consuls, and controversies in which a state is a party. In other cases, the Supreme Court has only appellate jurisdiction

Appellate jurisdiction

Appellate jurisdiction is the power of a court to review decisions and change outcomes of decisions of lower courts. Most appellate jurisdiction is legislatively created, and may consist of appeals by leave of the appellate court or by right....
, which may be regulated by the Congress. The Congress may not, however, amend the Court's original jurisdiction, as was found in Marbury v. Madison

Marbury v. Madison

Marbury v. Madison, is a landmark case in United States law. It formed thebasis for the exercise of judicial review in the United States under Article Three of the United States Constitution of the United States Constitution....
, (the same decision in which the principle of judicial review was established). Marbury established that Congress can neither expand nor restrict the original jurisdiction of the Supreme Court. However, the appellate jurisdiction of the Court is subject to such regulation and exceptions "as the Congress shall make." This power of Congress has rarely been exercised except for the purpose of refining the procedures for obtaining Court review of lower court decisions; over the years the trend has been for Congress to grant the Court maximum discretion in deciding whether to accept or reject a case.

Judicial review

No part of the Constitution expressly authorizes judicial review, but the Framers did contemplate the idea. Alexander Hamilton

Alexander Hamilton

Alexander Hamilton was the first Secretary of the Treasury, a Founding Fathers of the United States, economist, and political philosopher. He led calls for the Philadelphia Convention, was one of America's first Constitutional lawyers, and cowrote the Federalist Papers, a primary source for Constitutional interpretation....
 wrote,

Others, however, disagreed, claiming that each branch could determine for itself the constitutionality of its actions.

Marbury v. Madison

Marbury v. Madison

Marbury v. Madison, is a landmark case in United States law. It formed thebasis for the exercise of judicial review in the United States under Article Three of the United States Constitution of the United States Constitution....
 involved a highly partisan set of circumstances. Though Congressional elections were held in November, the newly elected officers did not, at that time, take power until March. The Federalist Party had lost the elections, and, in the words of President Thomas Jefferson

Thomas Jefferson

Thomas Jefferson was the List of Presidents of the United States President of the United States , the principal author of the United States Declaration of Independence , and one of the most influential Founding Fathers of the United States for his promotion of the ideals of republicanism in the United States....
, "retired into the judiciary as a stronghold". In the four months following the elections, the outgoing Congress created several new judgeships, which were filled by President John Adams

John Adams

John Adams was an Politics of the United States and the List of Presidents of the United States President of the United States , after being the List of Vice Presidents of the United States Vice President of the United States for two terms....
. In the last-minute rush, however, Federalist Secretary of State John Marshall

John Marshall

John Marshall was an American statesman and jurist who shaped American constitutional law and made the Supreme Court a center of power. Marshall was Chief Justice of the United States, serving from February 4, 1801, until his death in 1835....
 had neglected to deliver commissions to the appointees. When James Madison

James Madison

James Madison was an American politician and political philosopher who served as the List of Presidents of the United States President of the United States , and one of the Founding Fathers of the United States....
 took over as Secretary of State, several commissions remained undelivered. Under the Judiciary Act of 1789

Judiciary Act of 1789

The United States Judiciary Act of 1789 was a landmark statute adopted on September 24, 1789 in the first session of the First United States Congress establishing the United States federal courts....
, appointees, including William Marbury

William Marbury

William Marbury was one of the famous "Midnight Judges". Due to John Adams's work in the night before he was to leave office, Marbury was to be appointed a Justice of the Peace in the District of Columbia....
, petitioned the Supreme Court for the issue of a writ of mandamus

Mandamus

A writ of mandamus or simply mandamus, which means "we command" in Latin, is the name of one of the prerogative writs in the common law, and is "issued by a superior court to compel a lower court or a government officer to perform mandatory or purely ministerial duties correctly"....
, which in English law had been used to force public officials to fulfill their ministerial duties.

Marbury v. Madison posed a difficult problem for the Supreme Court, which was incidentally led by Chief Justice John Marshall, the same person who had neglected to deliver the commissions as Secretary of State. If Marshall's Court commanded Madison to deliver the commissions, he would merely ignore the order, thereby indicating the weakness of the Court. Similarly, if the Court denied Marbury's request, it would be perceived as weak. In making his ruling, Chief Justice Marshall declared that Marbury was indeed entitled to his commission. He continued, however, that the Judiciary Act of 1789 was unconstitutional, as it purported to grant original jurisdiction to the Supreme Court in cases not involving states or ambassadors, thereby establishing that the courts could exercise judicial review over the actions of Congress or the executive branch.

Trial by jury

Section 2 provides that the trial of crimes, except impeachment cases, must be by jury. The trial must be held in the state where the crime was committed, or, if it was not committed in any particular state, in such a place as should have been previously set forth by the Congress.

The Sixth Amendment

Sixth Amendment to the United States Constitution

The Sixth Amendment to the United States Constitution is the part of the United States Bill of Rights which sets forth rights related to criminal prosecutions in federal courts....
 further provides that the trial must be held not only in the state, but also in the district where the crime was committed, which district should have been previously set forth by the Congress, and that the jury must be impartial and chosen from that same state and district.

Section 3: Treason

Section 3 defines treason

Treason

In law, treason is the crime that covers some of the more serious acts of loyalty to one's sovereignty or nation. Historically, treason also covered the murder of specific social superiors, such as the murder of a husband by his wife ....
 and its punishment.

Section 3. Treason against the United States, shall consist only in levying War against them, or in adhering to their Enemies, giving them Aid and Comfort. No Person shall be convicted of Treason unless on the Testimony of two Witnesses to the same overt Act, or on Confession in open Court.

The Congress shall have power to declare the Punishment of Treason, but no Attainder

Attainder

In English criminal law, attainder or attinctura is the metaphorical 'stain' or 'corruption of blood' which arises from being condemned for a serious capital crime ....
 of Treason shall work Corruption of Blood, or Forfeiture except during the Life of the Person attainted.

The Constitution defines treason as specific acts, namely "levying War against [the United States], or in adhering to their Enemies, giving them Aid and Comfort." A contrast is therefore maintained with the English law, whereby a variety of crimes, including conspiring to kill the King or "violating" the Queen, were punishable as treason. In Ex Parte Bollman

Ex parte Bollman

Ex parte Bollman, Case citation , was a case brought before the Supreme Court of the United States. Three main points were established in this early and formative civil liberties case:...
 (1807), the Supreme Court ruled that "there must be an actual assembling of men, for the treasonable purpose, to constitute a levying of war".

Under English law effective during the ratification of the U.S. Constitution, there were essentially five species of treason. Of the five, the Constitution adopted only two: levying war and adhering to enemies. Omitted were species of treason involving encompassing (or imagining) the death of the king, certain types of counterfeiting and fornication with women in the royal family of the sort that would call into question the parentage of successors. One important distinction is that the encompassing the death species of treason was most used by the English government to silence political opposition and was expressly excluded by the authors. In fact, James Wilson wrote the original draft of this section, and he was involved as a defense attorney for some accused of treason against the Patriot cause.

Section 3 also requires the testimony of two different witnesses on the same "overt" act, or a confession by the accused in open court

In open court

In open court is a legal term in the United States defined by the appearance by a party or their Lawyer in a public court session such as during a trial....
, to convict for treason. This rule was derived from an older British law, the Treason Act 1695

Treason Act 1695

The Treason Act 1695 is an Act of Parliament of the Parliament of England which laid down rules of evidence and procedure in high treason trials....
. In Cramer v. United States

Cramer v. United States

Cramer v. United States, Case citation , was a case in which the Supreme Court of the United States reviewed the conviction of Anthony Cramer, a Germany-born naturalized citizen, for treason....
, the Supreme Court ruled that "every act, movement, deed, and word of the defendant charged to constitute treason must be supported by the testimony of two witnesses." In Haupt v. United States, however, the Supreme Court found that two witnesses are not required to prove intent; nor are two witnesses required to prove that an overt act is treasonable. The two witnesses, according to the decision, are required to prove only that the overt act actually occurred (eyewitness

Witness

A witness is someone who has firsthand knowledge about a crime or dramatic event through their senses , and can help certify important considerations to the crime or event....
es and federal agent

Federal agent

Federal agent may refer to* FBI agent* Australian Federal Police agent* Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives agent* U.S. Treasury Department agent...
s investigating the crime, for example).

Punishment for treason may not "work Corruption of Blood, or Forfeiture except during the Life of the Person" so convicted. The descendants of someone convicted for treason could not, as they were under English law, be considered "tainted" by the treason of their ancestor. Furthermore, Congress may confiscate the property of traitors, but that property must be inheritable at the death of the person convicted.

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