Summary: The Evolution Of Federal Courts

The history involving the evolution of the federal courts started around the Constitutional Convention in Philadelphia around 1787. It was decided that a “national judiciary be established”(pg65). There was the question of whether the federal court system should be separated from the state court system. This idea is what created “Anti-Federalists” who did not want the national government to destroy the liberties of individuals and threaten the strength of the state courts. The “Federalists” on the other hand ,wanted a strong national government so that it would provide for a new nation with a struggling economically and political unity. Through that Constitutional Convention, Article III was created to provide an outline of a federal judiciary. The power of the United States would be vested in one Supreme Court and such inferior courts.

The Judiciary Act of 1789 was the next big step for the Federalist.

They created separate federal district courts. District courts were drawn along state lines. Each line was responsible for their own work under limited supervision. The judges for these district courts were local residents from their home area. This was in place to keep local ,social, and political interest in mind. Currently, the federal court system is set up in four layers, magistrate, district, appellate ,and Supreme Court.
In 1968, Congress created the U.S. magistrate judges to help with a workload of the U.S. district courts. The magistrates are appointed for 8-years and must be lawyers by profession. Their workload varies from “950,000 matters for federal courts” with “roughly 539,000 felony matters”(pg69). For the 94 districts congress created 678 district court judgeships positions. The federal district courts spend more time with civil cases rather than criminal. In an effort to assist the

Supreme Court from hearing a lot of appeals congress established the court of appeals in 1891. There are “14 circuits: 11 numbered circuits”(pg 74) of the U.S. Court of Appeals, in which appeals are heard for the specific district. There staffed with 179 judges nominated by the president and confirmed by the Senate. The cases are decided by a three- judge panel. The number of appeals is decreasing somewhat from “68,473 in 2005” to “58, 410 in 2007”(pg76). The court of appeals is usually the last step of all federal litigation due to the fact that the Supreme Court hears a small percentage of cases. The court of last resort is the Supreme Court because no appeals are possible. The president nominates the justices with the advice and consent of the Senate. The appointments of the justices are one the single most important task of a president. This appointment leaves a lasting effect way after that particular president has left office. For the most part, the Supreme court reviews the decisions of the federal court and the highest state court. The Supreme court issues the writ of certiorari to lower courts to have sent their records to determine if the law was used correctly. Only a small percentage of cases are granted this writ. This only happens when it is believed that there was a violation of the U.S. Constitution and/or federal law.