Judiciary Act of 1801

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The Judiciary Act of 1801 was a controversial Federalist law that reorganized the federal court system and expanded the number of judgeships in the final days of John Adams’s presidency, enabling the appointment of the so-called “midnight judges.”

All labels observed (2)

How this entity was disambiguated

Statements (49)

Predicate Object
instanceOf United States federal statute
judicial reform law
affectedOfficeHolder James Madison
John Marshall
William Marbury
alsoKnownAs Midnight Judges Act
areaOfLaw constitutional law
judicial administration
associatedWithEvent midnight appointments
changedNumberOf Supreme Court justices
constitutionalBasis Article III of the United States Constitution
controversial true
country United States of America
createdOffice additional district judges
new circuit court judges
new federal marshals and attorneys
dateEnacted 1801-02-13
dateRepealed 1802-03-08
eliminatedDuty Supreme Court justices riding circuit
enabledAppointmentOf midnight judges
enactedBy 6th United States Congress
expandedNumberOf federal judgeships
followedBy Judiciary Act of 1802
historicalContext final days of John Adams presidency
introduced separate circuit judgeships
legalStatus repealed
legislativeChamber United States House of Representatives
United States Senate
opposingParty Democratic-Republican Party
politicalContext Federalist attempt to entrench power after 1800 election
predecessorAct Judiciary Act of 1789
previousSupremeCourtSize 6 justices
purpose to reduce the workload of Supreme Court justices
to reorganize the federal judiciary
to strengthen Federalist influence in the judiciary
relatedCase Marbury v. Madison
reorganizedBody United States courts of appeals
surface form: United States circuit courts

United States district courts
repealedBy Judiciary Act of 1802
resultedIn expansion of lower federal courts
increased number of lifetime judicial appointments
setSupremeCourtSizeTo 5 justices upon next vacancy
shortName Judiciary Act of 1801 self-link
signedBy John Adams
subjectMatter federal courts
judicial organization
jurisdiction of federal courts
supportingParty Federalists
surface form: Federalist Party
tookEffectOn 1801-07-01

How these facts were elicited

Referenced by (7)

Full triples — surface form annotated when it differs from this entity's canonical label.

Presidency of John Adams judiciaryAct Judiciary Act of 1801
Pierce Butler votedOn Judiciary Act of 1801
Judiciary Act of 1869 relatedTo Judiciary Act of 1801
Judiciary Act of 1801 shortName Judiciary Act of 1801 self-link
Midnight Judges hasCause Judiciary Act of 1801
Midnight Judges significantEvent Judiciary Act of 1801
this entity surface form: repeal of the Judiciary Act of 1801
Midnight Judges legalBasis Judiciary Act of 1801