Welcome to a Constitutional Convention

Introduction

  1. Declarations

    2.  
  2. Legislative Branch

    3.  
  3. Executive Branch

    4.  
  4. Judicial Branch

    5.  
  5. Electoral Branch

    6.  
  6. Nominations & Elections

    7.  
  7. Federal Service

    8.  
  8. Federal Finance

    9.  
  9. Authority & Responsibility

    10.  
  10. Citizenship

    11.  
  11. Limits on Government Power

    12.  
  12. Amendments

Nomination & Election Schedule
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IV. JUDICIAL BRANCH

A.  Organization

1.  The federal judiciary will consist of a Supreme Court, Appellate Courts, District Courts, various special courts, and an Office of Inspector General.

2.  The Supreme Court will have nine judges who will, in an annual meeting, set the operating procedures of the Court and choose one of their number as Chief Justice[1]. 

3.  Laws will establish the location and size of the Appellate, District, and the various special courts.  Laws will define those matters that will come before the different courts and those matters that will be settled by special judges or masters and not use juries.

4.  The President will submit appointments of federal judges for approval by the Senate within 90 days after vacancies occur.  Appointees must be at least the minimum age and less than the maximum age defined by law and must have been a citizen for at least 14 years.

5.  Unless impeached, a federal judge will serve until reaching the maximum age as defined by law in effect when appointed.  Upon reaching the age limit, he or she will not take up any new matter and will retire when open matters have been settled or transferred to another judge[2]. 

6.  The Judicial Branch will employ professional staff for security, research, audit, and administration.  Federal law will define the position, duties, and powers of the Office of Inspector General. 

B. State and Federal Legal Procedures

1.  State courts will have primary and appellate jurisdiction in criminal and civil matters.  Only violations of federal laws and those matters that by their nature cannot be settled in the state courts, as so defined in federal law, will be considered in federal courts.

2.  Each state will give full faith and credit to the public acts, records, and judicial proceedings of every other state except where a specific exemption is established by federal law[3].

3.  Where there is an overlap or conflict between the laws of the different levels of government, the higher shall take precedence over the lower only where the higher jurisdiction determines that there is a reasonable social or economic case for national or state-wide uniformity[4].

4.  If a person charged with a felony in one state is found in another state, he or she will be delivered to the state having jurisdiction upon the request of one governor to the other, and federal officers may assist upon the request of state law enforcement officials.

5.  State and federal judicial proceedings shall be matters of public record, except in narrowly defined circumstances defined respectively by state and federal laws[5].

6.  Federal laws that apply in federal and in state courts shall define:

  1. In civil actions of all types, limits to the amounts that may be awarded to plaintiffs beyond compensatory damages and the reasonable legal fees that the plaintiff shall pay for both parties when a defendant prevails.
  2. Rules for the filing and settlement of class actions.

7.  State and federal courts will hold attorneys to account for abuse of process and permit private persons and organizations to initiate proceedings against attorneys for abuse of process and malicious prosecution[6]. 

8.  State and federal courts shall recognize that perfect justice can never be achieved by public institutions and that failure to bring matters to a final settlement in a timely fashion gives poor service to the public and brings the entire justice system into disrepute.  The Office of Inspector General will enforce this position and make recommendations that aggrieved parties receive compensation[7].

9.  The Judicial Branch will employ professional staff for security, personnel, and administration.


Footnotes:

[1] The Justices of the Supreme Court select their Chief Justice.

[2] The issue of maximum ages is discussed in the notes to Article VII.

[3] Within one state, respect for the laws and proceedings of other states is obviously desirable, but the possibility of legislative exceptions allows diversity. 

[4] Precedence of the higher is not automatic.

[5] The protections accorded (e.g., to children) in matters of family law should not be extended to ordinary civil disputes.  The public availability of general government records and the balancing right of personal privacy are noted in Article XI.

[6] There is no doubt that an effective objective legal system is essential in a capitalist democracy; witness the problems of China and Russia, but the legal system in the United States is out of control.  The number of attorneys per citizen and the share of the GNP taken up by legal disputes are excessive by any measure of social and economic worth.  Several provisions herein are designed to suppress the demand for legal services.

[7] Experience shows that the public cannot rely on the judiciary to police itself or the bar associations to discipline attorneys.  An Inspector General within the Judicial Branch may or may not fill the need.

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