The Florida Territorial Court of Appeals was a court system during the time of the

Florida Territory The Territory of Florida was an organized incorporated territory of the United States that existed from March 30, 1822, until March 3, 1845, when it was admitted to the Union as the state of Florida. Originally the major portion of the Spanish te ...

Samuel J. Douglas Samuel J. Douglas (October 10, 1812 – November 14, 1873) was an American politician and jurist. A Democrat originally from Virginia, he served on the Florida Territorial Court of Appeals (during the era of Florida Territory) 1841–45 and ...

served on it.

Supreme Court rulings limiting the power of Article I and Article IV tribunals

The concept of a legislative court was first defined by Chief Justice

John Marshall John Marshall (September 24, 1755July 6, 1835) was an American politician and lawyer who served as the fourth Chief Justice of the United States from 1801 until his death in 1835. He remains the longest-serving chief justice and fourth-longes ...

in the case of '' American Ins. Co. v. 356 Bales of Cotton'', 1 Pet. 511 (1828), which is sometimes referred to as ''Canter'', after a claimant in the case. In this case, a court in what was then the

Territory of Florida The Territory of Florida was an organized incorporated territory of the United States that existed from March 30, 1822, until March 3, 1845, when it was admitted to the Union as the state of Florida. Originally the major portion of the Spanish te ...

had made a ruling on the disposition of some bales of cotton that had been recovered from a sunken ship. This clearly fell into the realm of

admiralty law Admiralty law or maritime law is a body of law that governs nautical issues and private maritime disputes. Admiralty law consists of both domestic law on maritime activities, and private international law governing the relationships between priva ...

, which is part of the federal judicial power according to Article III of the Constitution. Yet the judges of the Florida Territorial Court had four-year terms, not the lifetime appointments required by Article III of the Constitution. Marshall's solution was to declare that territorial courts were established under Article I of the constitution. As such, they could not exercise the federal judicial power, and therefore the law that placed admiralty cases in their jurisdiction was unconstitutional. Tenure that is guaranteed by the Constitution is a badge of a judge of an Article III court. The argument that mere statutory tenure is sufficient for judges of Article III courts was authoritatively answered in ''Ex parte Bakelite Corp.'':''Ex parte Bakelite Corp.'', at 459-460

References

{{reflist Florida state courts Courts and tribunals with year of establishment missing Year of disestablishment missing

Supreme Court rulings limiting the power of Article I and Article IV tribunals

See also

References