The Jay Court refers to the Supreme Court of the United States from 1789 to 1795, when John Jay served as the first Chief Justice of the United States. Jay served as Chief Justice until his resignation, at which point John Rutledge took office as a recess appointment. The Supreme Court was established in Article III of the United States Constitution, but the workings of the federal court system were largely laid out by the Judiciary Act of 1789, which set the size of the Supreme Court at six seats. The court had its first public session in February 1790, but did not decide its first case until 1791. The court met first in New York City, but moved with the rest of the federal government to Philadelphia in 1791. In addition to their duties as a court, each justice spent much of his time ridi