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Judges and Juries, Part 1
Contextualizes Article III within the Revolution's judicial history, explaining why the judiciary shares its chapter with juries and emphasizing the founders' skepticism of judges.
Examines Article III of the United States Constitution, exploring why the judiciary is placed third and given the shortest treatment among the three branches. Akhil Reed Amar connects the structure of the judiciary to the American Revolution, noting that colonial judges largely sided with the Crown while juries and local assemblies drove the patriot cause. The session outlines the democratic pyramid of the Constitution, the mechanics of judicial selection and independence, and the origins of judicial review in Federalist 78.
Referenced inYale Law School Open Course · LAW-CONST1 (2014)
Lecture Guide
- 1Article III is the shortest and placed last because colonial judges were largely loyal to the British Crown, whereas juries and local assemblies were the heroes of the American Revolution.
- 2The framers' judiciary can be viewed as a bicameral structure consisting of an elite upper house of judges and a populist lower house of juries.
- 3The Constitution establishes a democratic pyramid where more politically accountable branches select less accountable ones, meaning presidents pick judges rather than judges picking presidents.
- 4Federal judges are granted structural independence through lifetime tenure during good behavior and undiminishable salaries.