The
Judiciary Act of
1789 established a
United States Supreme Court of six judges, provided 13 district courts and 3 circuit courts. A clause granting the Supreme Court the right to issue writs of
mandamus was declared unconstitutional by
Marbury v. Madison 5 US 137
1803, the seminal case in American law. Thus the Judiciary Act of 1789 was the first act by
Congress to be invalidated by the Supreme Court.