The Judicial Power and the Inferior Federal Courts: Exploring the Constitutional Vesting Thesis

The Third Branch of our federal government hastraditionally been viewed as the least of the three interms of the scope of its power and authority. Thisview finds validation when one considers theextensive authority that Congress has been permittedto exercise over the Federal Judiciary. From thebeginning, Congress has understood itself to possessthe authority to limit the jurisdiction of inferiorfederal courts. The Supreme Court has acquiesced tothis understanding of congressional authoritywithout much thought or explanation.It may be possible, however, to imagine a morerobust vision of the Judicial Power through closerscrutiny of the history and text of Article III of theU.S. Constitution.

The Constitution vests JudicialPower of the United States exclusively in "onesupreme Court, and in such inferior Courts as theCongress may from time to time ordain andestablish." This Article reviews historical evidencethat reveals that delegates to the Federal Conventionconsidered and rejected language that would havegiven Congress express authority to manipulate thejurisdiction of inferior federal courts. This fact,coupled with repeated indications by the Framers andby the delegates to state ratifying conventions that theindependence of the Judicial Branch from each of theother branches was of paramount importance, maygive some weight to an understanding of the JudicialPower that challenges-or at least may moderate- our understanding of Congress's authority towithhold from the inferior federal courts some portionof the Judicial Power vested in them under Article III.