JUDICIAL BRANCHSupreme Court and Lower Courts

Constitutional Principles

Judicial Review Supreme court has right to declare acts of Congress

unconstitutional Power to determine the constitutionality of a government

action Limited Government

“Constitutionalism” Government itself must obey the law Every public official, every public agency at every level in this

country is bound to follow principle of limited government Checks and Balances

Independence of the federal judiciary Appointed by Executive branch, confirmed by Senate Serve for life –”during good behavior”

Marbury v. Madison 1803 Judicial Review

William Marbury had been commissioned by Federalists (John Adams) midnight appointments to a justice of the peace position Jefferson (Democratic-Republicans) held executive/legislative branches refused to honor appointments-Marbury took issue

to Court Marshall Court declared that Judiciary Act

(Congress) violated Article III Section 2 and therefore was unconstitutional Marbury could not get appointment because he

based his argument on unconstitutional law

The Dual Court System

In US there are two separate court systems

National Judiciary—Constitutional Courts/ Regular Courts/Article III Courts Supreme Court (1) Courts of Appeals (12) District Courts (94) US court of International Trade

State courts Majority of cases get heard hear

State Courts

Trial Courts Civil Criminal

State courts found in counties Appeals courts

Lead to State Supreme Courts Then can lead to Federal Supreme Court

Municipal Courts City courts

Handle items like traffic issues, city ordinances Limited Jurisdiction courts

Juvenile courts, Family courts, small claims court General Jurisdiction courts (Superior courts)

Special Courts/Legislative Courts/Article I Courts

These courts do not exercise “broad judicial power of the United state”---they exist as “tribunals inferior to Supreme Court”

Hear narrow range of cases US Court of Federal Claims Territorial Courts (Guam, virgin islands, Northern

Marianas) US Tax Court Courts of the District of Columbia US court of Appeals for the Armed Force US court of Appeals for Veterans Claims

Supreme Court 2014

Cases under Federal Jurisdiction“authority to try and decide a case”

Subject Matter The interpretation of Constitution, federal statute, treaty Questions of admiralty law

Parties involved in the Case US, its officers, its agencies An ambassador, consul or other official representative of

foreign government One of 50 states suing a citizen, another state or a

foreign government A citizen of one state suing citizen of another state US citizen suing a foreign govt. or a foreign subject Land grant issues involving citizens from different states

Jurisdiction

Authority of courts to hear cases Federal courts have jurisdiction in cases

of federal law, treates and interpretation of Constitution

Original jurisdiction Lower courts hear cases for 1st time In federal system district courts and Supreme

Court (limited) where trials are conducted, evidence presented, juries determine outcome

Jurisdiction cont.

Appellate jurisdiction Review or appeals of decisions Court of Appeals and Supreme Court have

appellate jurisdiction Concurrent jurisdiction

Certain types of court cases to be tried can be tried n either the federal or state courts

Judicial Appointments in Lower Courts

Incredibly large number of appointments in lower courts

Senatorial courtesy Practice of allowing individual senators who

represent the states where the district is located to approve or disapprove potential nominees

Traditionally has been used to make appointments to District Courts

Supreme Court appointment considerations

Party affiliation Judicial philosophy Race, gender, religion, region Judicial experience Litmus test

Test of ideological purity toward a liberal or conservative stand

Acceptability Noncontroversial for appointment purposes

Court at work

Term of Supreme Court begins 1st Monday in October

Acceptance of Cases Rule of four

Four of the nine justices must agree to hear the case Brief orders

This is when an accepted case is returned to the lower court for reconsideration because of a related case that was recently decided

Writ of certiorari Order by Court (when petitioned) directing a lower court to send

up records of a case for review—interpret law, decide a constitutional question

Certificate A lower court may ask Supreme Court about a rule of law or

procedures in specific cases

Briefs and Oral Arguments

Brief Once case reaches the Court, lawyers file a “brief” Detailed statement of facts of case supporting

particular position by presenting arguments based on relevant facts and citations from previous cases

Amicus Curiae briefs “friends of the court” Support or reject arguments of the case

Oral arguments Both sides present positions to justices during 30

minute period Justices may interrupt with questions or challenging

points of law

Opinions

The decision of the Court in a written statement Majority Opinion

Majority of justices agree on decision and its reasons Concurring Opinion

Justice agrees with majority opinion BUT NOT with reasoning behind decision

Dissenting Opinion Justice (s) who disagree with the majority opinion

Majority opinions often become precedents Standards or guides followed in deciding similar cases

in the future

Courts as Policy makers

New Deal Era Congress passed numerous laws that were later

declared unconstitutional FDR attempted “court packing” plan 2 justices /Chief Justice Charles E. Hughes and

Associate Justice Owen Roberts began voting in favor of New Deal legislation “ the switch in time to save nine”

Warren Court (1953-1969) “the most liberal court ever” Chief Justice Earl Warren heard cases Brown v. Board..(1954)/Gideon v. Wainwright

(1963)/Miranda v. Arizona (1966)

Policy makers cont.

Burger Court (1969-1986) Chief Justice Warren Burger (Nixon appointee) Conservative ideology in regards to narrowing rights of

defendants Roe v. Wade (1973)/ U.S. v. Nixon (19740

Abortion constitutional /executive privilege over information in criminal cases not constitutional

Regents of the University of CA v. Bakke ( 1978) Quotas unconstitutional /affirmative action constitutional

Rehnquist and Roberts Courts Conservative ideology Limit but not reverse decisions on defendants’ rights to

abortion 2007 Robert’s Court upheld decision in federal Partial-Birth

Abortion Act of 2003

Judicial Philosophy

Strict Constructionist Limits or restricts judicial interpretation/apply text only as

spoken Loose Constructionist

Allows inference in regards to text of Constitution or law Judicial Activism

Judicial intervention Court should play an active role in determining national

policies Apply Constitution to social and political questions

Judicial Restraint Avoid taking initiative on social and political questions Operate strictly within the limits of the Constitution and

uphold acts of Congress