Delegates to the Federal Convention in 1787 agreed that the new government of the United States must include a national judiciary. Article III of the US Constitution was drafted that summer, establishing the judicial branch and a Supreme Court:
Article III, 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 Behaviour, and shall, at stated Times, receive for their Services, a Compensation, which shall not be diminished during their Continuance in Office.
When Congress first set up the nation’s high court, it only had six justices. Each was appointed by President George Washington. Today, the Supreme Court has nine justices
The second half of Section 1 prevents judges from losing their jobs or having their pay cut because of an unpopular decision. The framers included these protections to secure the judiciary’s independence, allowing judges to make fair rulings without pressure from the president or Congress.
The federal court system is made up of three levels: district courts (also known as the trial court), circuit courts (which are the first appeals courts), and the Supreme Court. The US has 94 district courts, 13 circuit courts, and a single Supreme Court. There are hundreds of federal judges throughout the United States.
In Federalist No. 78, Alexander Hamilton argued that “the judiciary, from the nature of its functions, will always be the least dangerous to the political rights of the Constitution; because it will be least in a capacity to annoy or injure them.”
