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The Federal Court System

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To properly discuss the history of the Federal Court System in America one must first describe the functions and responsibilities of the court system. As with anything complex, it starts first from humble beginnings, and constant adaptations, and in the end you get your final product. This complexity that is going to be described and explained just so happens to be the American Federal Court System, this will cover the history, growth and development, as well as the current status of this intricate system.
The Supreme Court is the highest court in the federal system, currently the Supreme Court has nine Justices who hold meetings in Washington, D.C. There are ninety-four district level trial courts and thirteen courts of appeals that sit below the Supreme Court. Most importantly Article III of the United States Constitution placed the actual judicial power to the Supreme Court. In the beginning, the Judiciary Act of 1789 made it possible for the Supreme Court to be developed, the act also appointed a Chief Justice and five other associate justices. Over the next eighty years or so, changes were constantly made to the Federal Court system; due to the Judiciary Act of 1801, the number of justices were reduced to five which also would include the Chief Justice. From 1802 up until 1863, four more justices were authorized but, in 1837 the number of justices were reduced from a total of ten to seven. Finally, in April of 1869 the size of the Supreme Court was raised one final

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