Maeva Marcus

Origins of the Federal Judiciary: Essays on the Judiciary Act of 1789 Maeva Marcus

Jacket Description/Back: The Judiciary Act of 1789 established a federal court system, an experiment that became one of the outstanding features of American democracy. This volume of essays analyzes the Act from political and legal perspectives while enhancing our understanding of the history of the judiciary and its role in constitutional interpretation. Using previously unavailable material, the first essays examine the importance of political considerations and the intended implementations of constitutional imperatives. They also focus on such topics as ambiguities in the Judiciary Act's division of jurisdiction between state courts and the newly created federal system; early interpretations of various sections of the Act; whether the Act presupposed a federal common law; the problem of dual office holdings by judges; and early perceptions of justice in the courts of frontier America. The book concludes with an essay exploring the attitudes of the Framers towards judicial independence. This interdisciplinary look at one of the most important statues enacted by Congress will interest not only law professors, historians, and political scientists, but also judges, lawyers, and anyone interested in constitutional law and legal history. Review Quotes: "This book is an important contribution because of the overall quality and depth of its essays. It provides valuable and quite various insights into a wide range [of] issues."--The Law and Politics Book Review"The quality of the essays is uniformly high.... A few more sorties like this and we will be well on the way to recapturing a better understanding of the beginnings of the sulfurous mix of law, politis, and morality in whih we still find ourselves."--William and Mary QuarterlyReview Quotes: "This book is an important contribution because of the overall quality and depth of its essays. It provides valuable and quite various insights into a wide range [of] issues."--The Law and Politics Book Review "The quality of the essays is uniformly high.... A few more sorties like this and we will be well on the way to recapturing a better understanding of the beginnings of the sulfurous mix of law, politis, and morality in whih we still find ourselves."--William and Mary Quarterly Review Quotes: "This book is an important contribution because of the overall quality and depth of its essays. It provides valuable and quite various insights into a wide range [of] issues."--The Law and Politics Book Review "The quality of the essays is uniformly high.... A few more sorties like this and we will be well on the way to recapturing a better understanding of the beginnings of the sulfurous mix of law, politis, and morality in whih we still find ourselves."--William and Mary QuarterlyReview Quotes:"This book is an important contribution because of the overall quality and depth of its essays. It provides valuable and quite various insights into a wide range [of] issues."--The Law and Politics Book Review"The quality of the essays is uniformly high.... A few more sorties like this and we will be well on the way to recapturing a better understanding of the beginnings of the sulfurous mix of law, politis, and morality in whih we still find ourselves."--William and Mary QuarterlyMarc Notes: Papers based on the Bicentennial Conference on the Judiciary Act of 1789.; Includes bibliographical references and index. Publisher Marketing: The Judiciary Act of 1789 established a federal court system, an experiment that became one of the outstanding features of American democracy. This volume of essays analyzes the Act from political and legal perspectives while enhancing our understanding of the history of the judiciary and its role in constitutional interpretation. Using previously unavailable material, the first essays examine the importance of political considerations and the intended implementations of constitutional imperatives. They also focus on such topics as ambiguities in the Judiciary Act's division of jurisdiction between state courts and the newly created federal system; early interpretations of various sections of the Act; whether the Act presupposed a federal common law; the problem of dual office holdings by judges; and early perceptions of justice in the courts of frontier America. The book concludes with an essay exploring the attitudes of the Framers towards judicial independence. This interdisciplinary look at one of the most important statues enacted by Congress will interest not only law professors, historians, and political scientists, but also judges, lawyers, and anyone interested in constitutional law and legal history.

Contributor Bio:  Marcus, Maeva Maeva Marcus is currently Director of the Institute for Constitutional Studies and a Research Professor of Law at the George Washington University Law School. She is the author of Truman and the Steel Seizure Case and an editor of The Documentary History of the Supreme Court of the United States, 1789 1800 (8 volumes), as well as an editor of and contributor to Origins of the Federal Judiciary: Essays on the Judiciary Act of 1789 and a member of the Permanent Committee for the Oliver Wendell Holmes Devise.