WEEK 3

THE U.S. SUPREME COURT

The U.S. Supreme Court began in 1789 by the third article in the U.S. Constitution.

This article stated that Congress was allowed the power to create federal courts.

The Judiciary Act of 1789 was signed by George Washington, which was where the
Constitution allowed Congress to determine the organization of the U.S. Supreme Court. 

An interesting fact that I read in an article was that the original meeting, which was scheduled
for February 1, 1790 in the New York City Merchants Building was postponed. It
was postponed due to transportation issues. Interestingly enough, they met the following day. 

There were no cases during the first meeting. The meeting consisted of
generic organizational procedures and confirmation that all logistics were set in stone. 

The first decision occurred on August 3, 1791 and the case was titled West v. Barnes.
This case was between a farmer and a family he owed money to. 

The first Chief Justice is appointed by the President. This action is accepted or denied
by the U.S. Senate. The Chief Justice serves as the spokesperson for the federal
government’s judicial branch. The Chief Justice will listen to arguments and discussions
of cases. The first Chief Justice was John Jay. 

The Chief Justice also deals with trials of impeachment against the President of the
United States, which interestingly enough happened very recently.

https://www.history.com/topics/us-government/supreme-court-facts