On September 24, 1789, President George Washington signed the Judiciary Act of 1789 into law, creating the operational framework for the federal judiciary envisioned by Article III of the U.S. Constitution. Although the Constitution established “one supreme Court,” it left Congress with the authority to create lower federal courts and define much of the judiciary’s structure and jurisdiction.
The landmark law organized the nation into judicial districts and created a three-tier federal court system: the Supreme Court, federal district courts, and circuit courts. The district courts heard admiralty and maritime cases along with certain other matters, while the circuit courts functioned principally as trial courts and exercised limited appellate jurisdiction. The act also provided for court officers, including clerks, U.S. attorneys, and marshals.
Crucially, the act established the Supreme Court with six members: one Chief Justice and five Associate Justices. The Court’s size did not remain fixed. Over the following decades, Congress changed the number of justices several times, often in connection with the country’s geographic growth and the structure of the federal circuits.
In 1869, Congress set the Supreme Court’s membership at nine justices under the Judiciary Act of 1869. That number has remained unchanged ever since, though Congress retains the legal power to alter it.
Washington’s signing of the Judiciary Act was therefore a foundational moment in American government. It did not merely recognize the judicial branch in principle; it supplied the courts, officers, jurisdictions, and procedures that allowed the third branch of the federal government to begin functioning in practice.
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