Decision
Justice William Johnson, Jr. delivered the opinion of the Court. He first explained that the federal government is one of limited powers, as set forth in the Constitution. Furthermore, only the jurisdiction of the Supreme Court was explicitly defined in Article III of the U.S. Constitution. Since the lower federal courts were created by Congress with the Judiciary Act of 1789, their jurisdiction had to be defined by Congress. Therefore, the Court reasoned that since Congress has the power to create such courts, the principles of limited government militate in favor of limiting those courts' jurisdiction to specific acts specified by Congress. The Court held that "he legislative authority of the Union must first make an act a crime, affix a punishment to it, and declare the Court that shall have jurisdiction of the offence."
Justice Johnson, in dicta, also mentioned an exception to this general rule—that courts do have some implied powers; for example, to punish litigants for contumacy (contempt of court) and enforcement of court orders.
Read more about this topic: United States V. Hudson And Goodwin
Famous quotes containing the word decision:
“You can hesitate before deciding, but not once the decision is made.”
—José Bergamín (1895–1983)
“Once the decision has been reached, close your ears even to the best counter-argument: a sign of strong character. Thus an occasional will to stupidity.”
—Friedrich Nietzsche (1844–1900)
“Will mankind never learn that policy is not morality,—that it never secures any moral right, but considers merely what is expedient? chooses the available candidate,—who is invariably the devil,—and what right have his constituents to be surprised, because the devil does not behave like an angel of light? What is wanted is men, not of policy, but of probity,—who recognize a higher law than the Constitution, or the decision of the majority.”
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)