Starting the Supreme Court

Article III of the U.S. Constitution says that "the judicial power of the United States shall be vested in one supreme Court, and in such inferior Courts as the Congress may from time to time ordain and establish."

The article goes on to guarantee that federal judges "shall hold their offices during good behavior" (that is, for life, unless they misbehave) and to limit the federal courts' jurisdiction. It doesn't say much else. Article I, which deals with Congress, and Article II, which deals with the presidency, are much more detailed. The framers mostly left it to Congress to decide how the federal courts should work.

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