June 5, 1787: Debate on the Judiciary

The Assembly Room as it may have looked during the Constitutional Convention.

NPS photo

"The convention opens the great field of political speculation; and there seems to be at present an astonishing variety in the opinion even of respectable men…"

"Extracts of a letter from a gentleman of character in New York": The Massachusetts Gazette, June 5, 1787

Tuesday, June 5, 1787: The Convention Today

The Convention, meeting in the Committeee of the Whole, considered the proposal that the judiciary be appointed by the national legislature. James Wilson (PA) favored their appointment by the executive - he argued intrigue, partiality and concealment would be the consequence of selection by the legislature. Rutledge (SC) was against any court system except a single supreme one. Madison (VA) and Wilson moved to leave the method of appointment blank for a while. The motion passed.

The delegates then agreed that the judiciary should have tenure during good behavior and a fixed salary. They also resolved to make provision for admitting new states to the union.

Synopsis

• Agreed to delete “one or more” and change to “a Supreme Court and inferior tribunals”
• Agreed (8 – 2) to reject approval of judicial appointments by the legislature
• Agreed on judicial tenure during good behavior
• Agreed on a salary provision
• Agreed (8 – 2) on admitting new states (on equal footing with original states)

Delegates Today

• Governor William Livingston of New Jersey arrived and took his seat.

Philadelphia Today

• Pennsylvania's Chief Justice Thomas McKean issued a writ for the arrest of ship captains Thomas Truxton and John Green, after having learned that they intended to fight each other "in single combat with swords, pistols or other dangerous weapons..." Both men were just back from a voyage to Canton, China. Green had captained the first American ship to make that voyage.