Midnight Judges Act

The Midnight Judges Act (also known as the Judiciary Act of 1801; 2 Stat. 89, and officially An act to provide for the more convenient organization of the Courts of the United States) expanded the federal judiciary of the United States. The act was supported by the John Adams administration and the Federalist Party. Passage of the act has been described as "the last major policy achievement of the Federalists."

Proponents of the act argued that the current judicial structure required too much work from justices of the U.S. Supreme Court. The existing system required the justices to "ride circuit" to inferior appellate courts, in an era of slow and costly travel. The new act replaced the requirement with additional appellate court justices.

Opponents of the act argued that there was no need to expand the federal judiciary; that the judicial appointments were intended to cement Federalist Party control of the judiciary; and that appointments were rushed (hence they were stigmatized as "midnight appointments").

The Act was repealed by the incoming Thomas Jefferson administration on January 22, 1802, and then partially replaced in the Judiciary Act of 1802.

In part, the Act represented an effort to solve a recurrent concern about the workload of U.S. Supreme Court justices. Since the establishment of the Supreme Court in 1789, justices were required to “ride circuit” and reiterate decisions made in the appellate level courts. The Supreme Court justices had often expressed concern and suggested that the judges of the Supreme and circuit courts be divided. Attempts to solve this situation before and throughout the presidency of John Adams were overshadowed by more pressing foreign and domestic issues that occupied Congress during the early years of the nation's development.

During the 1800 elections, the US experienced an intense growth in partisan politics. The campaign leading up to this election and the election itself revealed sharp divisions within the ruling Federalist Party. Alexander Hamilton and the extreme Federalists attacked then-President Adams for his pacific relationship with Revolutionary France, opposition to a national army, and poor enforcement of the Alien and Sedition Acts.

With the Federalists split, the election results favored the Democratic-Republican Party. Democratic-Republicans won control of the Senate, and tied the Presidential Electoral College. The House of Representatives, dominated by Hamilton's wing of the Federalist party, eventually decided the Presidential election in favor of Democratic-Republican Thomas Jefferson, rather than Adams-aligned Aaron Burr.

The elections thus marked the first peaceful transition of political orientation within the country's leadership. Federalists openly panicked that the new Democratic-Republican administration might destroy the still-fragile constitutional order.