Jay Court
Jay Court | |
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October 19, 1789 – June 29, 1795 (5 years, 253 days) | |
Seat | Old City Hall Philadelphia, Pennsylvania |
No. of positions | 6 |
Jay Court decisions | |
The Jay Court refers to the
The Court held its inaugural session on February 2, 1790, at the
The Court's business through its first three years primarily involved the establishment of rules and procedure; reading of commissions and admission of attorneys to the bar; and the Justices' duties in circuit riding, to preside over cases in the circuit courts of the various federal judicial districts.[3] It heard only four cases during Jay's chief justiceship.
During his tenure, Jay established an early precedent for the Court's independence in 1790, when Treasury Secretary
Membership
In September 1789, Washington nominated John Jay as the first Chief Justice and nominated
The justices represented every region of the country, as Washington emphasized geographical balance in making his appointments.[7] The Jay Court ended in 1795, when Jay resigned to become Governor of New York. Jay was replaced via recess appointment by John Rutledge, though Rutledge was denied confirmation by the Senate. Oliver Ellsworth became the third Chief Justice in 1796.
Timeline
The green vertical line denotes February 2, 1790, the date on which the U.S. Supreme Court convened for the first time.
Other branches
The President during this court was George Washington. Congresses during this court included the 1st through 4th United States Congresses.
Gallery
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John Jay
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John Rutledge
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William Cushing
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Robert Hanson Harrison
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James Wilson
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John Blair
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James Iredell
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Thomas Johnson
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William Paterson
The justices are depicted from left to right in order of their seniority, as determined by the date on their respective commissions as justices, in accordance with the Judiciary Act of 1789. While Justice Wilson was the first associate justice to take the oath of office, initially he was to be fourth in precedence among the associate justices. President Washington appointed the initial justices of the Jay Court in the following order:[8]
- Sept. 26, 1789:
- John Jay, Chief Justice
- John Rutledge, Associate Justice
- Sept. 27: William Cushing
- Sept. 28: Robert Harrison (declined)
- Sept. 29: James Wilson
- Sept. 30: John Blair.
Rulings of the Court
The Jay Court did not issue many major rulings, but Chisholm v. Georgia (1793) stands as the first important ruling of the Supreme Court. The court held that the state of Georgia could be sued in federal court, establishing an important precedent that the states of the union do not constitute fully sovereign states.[9] However, the Eleventh Amendment, ratified in 1795, granted states sovereign immunity from suits in federal court by citizens of another state.
See also
References
- ^ Hodak, George (February 1, 2011). "February 2, 1790: Supreme Court Holds Inaugural Session". abajournal.com. Chicago, Illinois: American Bar Association. Retrieved August 24, 2017.
- ^ Schwartz, Bernard (1993). A History of the Supreme Court. New York: Oxford University Press. pp. 15–16.
- ^ Schwartz, p. 18.
- ^ John Jay, Leftjustified.com
- ^ Schwartz, pp. 24–25.
- ^ "Supreme Court Oath Firsts and Other Trivia". www.supremecourt.gov. Retrieved January 11, 2018.
- ^ Schwartz, p. 17.
- (1791)
- ^ Schwartz, pp. 20–21.
Further reading
- Abraham, Henry Julian (2008). Justices, Presidents, and Senators: A History of the U.S. Supreme Court Appointments from Washington to Bush II. Rowman & Littlefield. ISBN 9780742558953.
- Casto, William R. (2012). The Supreme Court in the Early Republic: The Chief Justiceships of John Jay and Oliver Ellsworth. University of South Carolina Press. ISBN 9781611171693.
- Cushman, Clare (2001). The Supreme Court Justices: Illustrated Biographies, 1789–1995 (2nd ed.). (Supreme Court Historical Society, ISBN 1-56802-126-7.
- Friedman, Leon; Israel, Fred L., eds. (1995). The Justices of the United States Supreme Court: Their Lives and Major Opinions. ISBN 0-7910-1377-4.
- Gerber, Scott Douglas, ed. (1998). Seriatim: The Supreme Court Before John Marshall. NYU Press. ISBN 9780814732519.
- Hall, Kermit L.; Ely, James W. Jr.; Grossman, Joel B., eds. (2005). The Oxford Companion to the Supreme Court of the United States (2nd ed.). Oxford University Press. ISBN 9780195176612.
- Hall, Kermit L.; Ely, James W. Jr., eds. (2009). The Oxford Guide to United States Supreme Court Decisions (2nd ed.). Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0195379396.
- Hall, Timothy L. (2001). Supreme Court Justices: A Biographical Dictionary. Infobase Publishing. ISBN 9781438108179.
- Harrington, Matthew P. (2008). Jay and Ellsworth, the First Courts: Justices, Rulings and Legacy. ABC-CLIO. ISBN 9781576078419.
- Hoffer, Peter Charles; Hoffer, WilliamJames Hull; Hull, N. E. H. (2018). The Supreme Court: An Essential History (2nd ed.). University Press of Kansas. ISBN 978-0-7006-2681-6.
- Irons, Peter (2006). A People's History of the Supreme Court: The Men and Women Whose Cases and Decisions Have Shaped Our Constitution (Revised ed.). Penguin. ISBN 9781101503133.
- Johnson, Herbert A. (2000). "John Jay and the Supreme Court". New York History. 81 (1): 59–90. JSTOR 23181808.
- Martin, Fenton S.; Goehlert, Robert U. (1990). The U.S. Supreme Court: A Bibliography. Congressional Quarterly Books. ISBN 0-87187-554-3.
- Stahr, Walter (2012). John Jay: Founding Father. Diversion Publishing Corp. ISBN 9781938120510.
- Tomlins, Christopher, ed. (2005). The United States Supreme Court: The Pursuit of Justice. Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. ISBN 978-0618329694.
- Urofsky, Melvin I. (1994). The Supreme Court Justices: A Biographical Dictionary. Garland Publishing. ISBN 0-8153-1176-1.
- Wood, Gordon S. (2009). Empire of Liberty: A History of the Early Republic, 1789-1815. Oxford History of the United States. Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-19-503914-6.