Article IIIThe Supreme Court

The Supreme Court BuildingIn Washington DC

Article III

• 1 Chief Justice• 8 associate Justices• Appointed by

President• Approved by Senate• No official

Qualifications• Term is life• Salary-approx

$180,000

Supreme Court

• Session: First Monday in October through the end of June.

• Listen to oral arguments for two weeks

• Adjourn for two weeks to consider cases.

• If tied- lower court decision stands

How Cases Reach the Court

• A. ORIGINAL JURISDICTION: means the 1st place a case is heard; Rare for Supreme Court; Nixon v. U.S. is example

• B. APPELLATE JURISDICTION: A Writ of Certiorari—an order from the

Ct. to a lower court to send up the records on a case for review. A party claiming a legal error was made by lower court.

STEPS at Supreme Court

1. Lawyers for each side submit Briefs ( A brief: A. sets forth the facts of the caseB. summarize lower court decisions

C.gives argument for side represented, & D. discusses precedents on the issue)

STEPS con’t

2. Oral Arguments; Each side has ½ hour to present, but justices can interrupt

3. Amicus curiae: “Friends of the Court” briefs. Sent by those not directly involved in case, but interested in outcome.

4. Justices develop opinions

Judicial Review

• The power to review the laws or acts of Congress (to declare them unconstitutional)

• Marbury v. Madison and Chief Justice John Marshall expanded power of Court

DUE PROCESS CLAUSE

• 14TH AMENDMENT—The Supreme Ct. has used “Selective Incorporation” to apply the Bill of Right to the States.

• Has been a long, slow process. 1st case— Slaughterhouse Cases (1873) Court said Due Process did NOT apply to states.

The Courts as Policymakers

• Use the “rule of four” to choose cases• Issues a writ of certiorari to call up the case• Supreme Court accepts few cases each year• Making Decisions

– Oral arguments heard by the justices– Justices discuss the case– One justice will write the majority opinion (statement

of legal reasoning behind a judicial decision) on the case

Making Decisions con’t

– Dissenting opinions are written by justices who oppose the majority.

– Concurring opinions are written in support of the majority but stress a different legal basis.

– Stare decisis: let previous decision stand unchanged– Precedent: how similar past cases were decided

• May be overruled– Original Intent: the idea that the Constitution should

be viewed according to the original intent of the framers

Policy Making

• What Courts Should Do: The Scope of Judicial Power– Judicial restraint: judges should play a

minimal policymaking role– Judicial activism: judges should make bold

policy decisions and interpret constitution in new ways

– Statutory construction: the judicial interpretation of an act of Congress

Federal Cases

• Federal question cases: involving the U.S. Constitution, federal law, or treaties

• Diversity cases: involving different states, or citizens of different states

National Supremacy

• Marbury v. Madison (1803): The Supreme Court could declare a congressional act unconstitutional

• McCulloch v. Maryland (1819): The power granted to federal government should be construed broadly, and federal law is supreme over state law

Supreme Court

• One of the first acts of the new Congress was to establish a federal court system in the Judiciary Act of 1789 with on Chief Justice and 4 regular justices.

Justices

• Justices of the Supreme and Federal Curt system are appointed by the President and approved by the Senate.

Selecting Judges

• Party background has a strong effect on judicial behavior

• Appointees for federal courts are reviewed by senators from that state, if the senators are of the president’s party (particularly for U.S. district courts)

Chief Justice

• John Roberts• Appointed by

George W. Bush

• The “litmus test”- Presidents seek judicial appointees who share their political ideologies

Selecting Judges

• Presidents seek judicial appointees who share their political ideologies

• This raises concerns that ideological tests are too dominant, and has caused delays in securing Senate confirmations

Justice Clarence Thomas

• Confirmations by the Senate are often extremely difficult. Nominees are asked about personal experiences and work histories. Thomas was accused of sexual harassment by Anita Hill, a former co-worker

Figure 16.1: Female and Minority Judicial Appointments, 1963-2003

Updated from Harold W. Stanley and Richard G. Niemi, Vital Statistics on American Politics, 2003-2004 (Washington, D.C.: Congressional Quarterly, 2003), table 7.5.

Figure 16.1: Female and Minority Judicial Appointments, 1963-2003

Updated from Harold W. Stanley and Richard G. Niemi, Vital Statistics on American Politics, 2003-2004 (Washington, D.C.: Congressional Quarterly, 2003), table 7.5.

Figure 16.1: Female and Minority Judicial Appointments, 1963-2003

Updated from Harold W. Stanley and Richard G. Niemi, Vital Statistics on American Politics, 2003-2004 (Washington, D.C.: Congressional Quarterly, 2003), table 7.5.

Now and Then

• First chief justice John Jay

• 1790- Court adjourned after 10 days, no cases

• Today 10,000 cases appealed, 100-200 heard

1865 to 1936

• The Supreme Court was supportive of private property, but could not develop a principle distinguishing between reasonable and unreasonable regulation of business

• The Court interpreted the Fourteenth and Fifteenth amendments narrowly as applied to blacks—it upheld segregation, excluded blacks from voting in many states

1936 to Present

• The Court establishes tradition of deferring to the legislature in economic regulation cases

• The Warren Court provided a liberal protection of rights and liberties against government trespass

Presidential Appointments

• Eisenhower called Chief Justice Earl Warren the worst mistake he ever made. Why?

Landmark cases review

• Marbury v. Madison• McCulloch v. Maryland• Baaron v. Baltimore• Adamson v. Calif• Powell v. Alabama• Hudson v. California• Mapp v. Ohio• Griffin v. Illinois• Betts V Brady• Gideon v. Wainwright

PLESSY V. FERGUSON(1896)

“Separate but equal”

*Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka (1954)

“Separate but Equal has no Place in Public Schools”

Thurgood Marshall

Head of NAACP

Argued and won Brown before the Supreme Court

1st African Am. on Supreme Ct.

1908-1993

United States v. Virginia 1996: State may not finance an all-male

military school (Citadel)

Reed v. Reed (1971) Gender discrimination violates the equal

protection clause of the Constitution

Miranda v. Arizona(1966)

Court describes the information police must give to persons at time of arrest

The Structure of the Federal Judicial System

LOWER FEDERAL COURTS

District Courts: Trial Courts—there are 94 Districts courts today & over 550 judges.

Solicitor General presents cases for Fed. Govt

They handle Criminal and Civil Federal cases. They have a Grand Jury (indictments) and Petit Jury or trial jury that determines guilt or innocence.

In Civil Case a jury finds for the Plaintiff and Defendant