https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_Marshals_Service
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Judiciary_Act_of_1789
Like many things I see in the US Constitution, the Framers tended to like 2/3rds - was this the reason that the original Supreme Court had 6 members, forcing opinions to win by at least 2/3rds (4-2)?
Was there debate when it was increased to an odd number since then only a one-Justice majority would be needed? Was there any call to go back to an even number?
Chief Justice Marshall produced his masterstroke opinion that manages to assert the courts power over the executive and legislative branches while simultaneously relinquishing power afforded the SCOTUS by the Judiciary Act of 1789. My trouble is I dont actually understand why the original jurisdiction given to the Court by section 13 of the judiciary act contradicts Article III Sec. 2 of the Constitution?
Judiciary Act section 13 reads: > The Supreme Court shall have [original] jurisdiction over all cases of a civil nature where a state is a party, . . . And shall have exclusively all such jurisdiction of suits or proceedings against ambassadors, or other public ministers, . . .
Article III section 2: > In all Cases affecting Ambassadors, other public Ministers and Consuls, and those in which a State shall be Party, the supreme Court shall have original Jurisdiction. In all the other Cases before mentioned, the supreme Court shall have appellate Jurisdiction, both as to Law and Fact, with such Exceptions, and under such Regulations as the Congress shall make.
Everything I've read suggests that the Constitution only gave the SCOTUS original jurisdiction over suits involving the States. But what about the part that reads "other public Ministers and Consuls"??
Is the secretary of state not a "public minister or consul"?? Seems like the constitution provides for the SCOTUS to have original jurisdiciton here as well.
Very Confused.
Thank you for reading!
Imgur album with original source links in description.
The Importance of Slavery and the Slave Trade to Industrializing Britain - JSTOR
Britain & the Slave Trade - National Archives - PDF
How Britain is facing up to its hidden slavery history - BBC
Via the [wiki](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brooks_(1781_ship):
Brooks (or Brook, or Brookes) was a British slave ship launched at Liverpool in 1781. She became infamous after prints of her were published in 1788. Between 1782 and 1804 when she was condemned as unseaworthy she made 11 slave–trading voyages. During this period she spent some years as a West Indiaman, and also captured a French merchantman.
An engraving first published in Plymouth in 1788 by the Plymouth chapter of the Society for Effecting the Abolition of the Slave Trade depicted the conditions on board Brookes[3] and has become an iconic image of the inhumanity of the slave trade.
The image portrayed slaves arranged on the ship's lower deck and poop deck, in accordance with the Regulated Slave Trade Act of 1788.[4]
Brookes was reportedly allowed to stow 454 African slaves, by allowing a space of 6 feet (1.8 m) by 1 foot 4 inches (0.41 m) to each man, 5 feet 10 inches (1.78 m) by 1 foot 4 inches (0.41 m) to each woman, and 5 feet (1.5 m) by 1 foot 2 inches (0.36 m) to each child. However, the poster's text alleges that a slave trader confessed that before the Act, the Brookes had carried as many as 609 slaves at one time.[5]
Other records indicate several other problems with the image:
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The image portrays 487 slaves while on the voyage prior to when the measurements were taken the ship held 638 persons, the next journey 744, and the journey following the measurements, 609.
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The planking as depicted on the outside of the ship is disproportionately too thick.
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Stowage of slaves on multiple layers of decks does not allow for the storage of water and provisions, which was the common practice.
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No deck hatches are illustrated, only small ladders.
There would be no way for the ship to load and unload provisions, especially for the legs of the voyages with no slaves aboard. Despite these flaws this image has become the one most used to depict conditions on a slave ship.
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... keep reading on reddit ➡We now have 13 Circuit Courts, and some Supreme Court Justices oversee more than one Circuit Court. Is this an argument for increasing the Supreme Court to 13 Justices?
