The Chief Justiceships of
John Jay and Oliver Ellsworth
by William R. Casto
University of South Carolina Press
CONTENTS
xi
xv
Editor's Preface
Preface and Acknowledgments
Repository Symbols
xvii
Short Titles and Abbreviations
xix
i
Introduction
1 Creating the Court
The Federal Courts' Subject-Matter Jurisdiction
Judicial Appointments
Good Behavior and Compensation
Judicial Review
Nonjudicial Duties
Looking to the Future
2 The Judiciary Act of 1'789
Drafting the Judiciary Act
Opposition to the Federal Courts
The Seeds of a Compromiss
Limiting the Supreme Court's Jurisdiction
Federal Trial Courts: Admiralty Jurisdiction
Shaping the Compromise on Federal Trial Courts
The Congress Accepts Ellsworth's Compromise
Congressional Instrumentalism
3 Selecting the Justices and Initial Operations
The First Nominees
Assessing Washington's Nomination Criteria
vii
viii
CONTENTS
4 A National Security Court
The Nootka Sound Crisis
Relations with France and Great Britain
The Neutrality Proclamation
T h e Treaty of Alliance and the Correspondence of the Justices
Admiralty Jurisdiction I: Clms v. The Sloop Betsy
The Jay Treaty I: Extrajudicial Service
T h e Jay Treaty IT: T h e Rutledge Fiasco
Oliver Ellsworth and Samuel Chase
The Jay Treaty 111: Advisory Opinions
T h e British Debt Cases
The Power to Tax
Admiralty Jurisdiction 11: La Vengeance
Lrt Vengeance: Majority Opinions and Chiefly Leadership
Admiralty Jurisdiction 111: Restitution of Prizes
The Jay Treaty I V: Sale of Prizes
Rushrod Washington
The Quasi-War I:The Ellsworth Mission
Alfred Moore
T h e Quasi-War 11: Bas o. Tina
T h e Quasi-War 111: Chief Justice Ellsworth Resigns
5 National Security and Federal Criminal Law
Political Grand Jury Charges
Common-Law Crimes
Enforcing the Law of Nations
Beyond the Law of Nations: The h I 1 Case
T h e Problem of Seditious Libel
Federal Common Law and the William Case
T h e William Case and Interstitial Federal Common Law
Common-Law Crimes and Common-Law Thinking
Statutory Crimes: T h e Whiskey Rebellion
Statutory Crimes: Justice Chase on Circuit
6 Nonjudicial Activities
Ex-Officio Duties
The Invalid Pensioners Act
Advisory Opinions
A Pragmatic Approach to Nonjudicial Activities
71
71
72
74
75
82
87
90
95
97
98
101
105
I10
112
115
117
118
120
120
124
CONTENTS
7 T h e Constitution and State Sovereignty
Chisholm v. Georgia
The Eleventh Amendment
The Scope of the Eleventh Amendment
Suits by Foreign States
Suits in Admiralty
Enforcement of Federal Rights
'The Federalists and the Eleventh Amendment
8 The Court and the Constitution
judicial Review of Federal Actions
The Sovereignty of the People
Justice Chase's Doubts
Interpreting the Constitution
Congressional Power to Restrict Jurisdiction
9 An Assessment
Table of Cases
Index