February 1st 1790: Supreme Court first meets
On this day in 1790, the highest court in the United States, the Supreme Court, met for the first time at the Merchants’ Exchange Building in New York City. The Supreme Court is the only federal court specifically established in the Constitution (in Article III), and was implemented in 1789 with the Judiciary Act. The original role of the Supreme Court, according to the Constitution, was jurisdiction over “all Cases, in Law and Equity, arising under this Constitution” (Article III, Section II). The location of the Court moved a number of times, finally gaining its own building in Washington D.C. in 1935. The Court consists of a chief justice and eight associate justices, who are nominated by the President and confirmed by the Senate; the first Chief Justice was Founding Father John Jay. The 1803 landmark case Marbury v. Madison formed the basis for the Supreme Court’s exercise of judicial review - when they can invalidate laws by declaring them ‘unconstitutional’ - which is now a major part of the Court’s role in American governance.
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