Judicial Branch

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Judicial Branch
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Judicial Branch

• The courts serve as an impartial forum for
  resolution of disputes in both civil and criminal
  cases.

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Article III

• Section I gave Congress the authority to
  establish other courts as it saw fit.
• Section II specifies the judicial power of the
  Supreme Court and discusses the Courts original
  and appellate jurisdiction.
• Also specifies that all federal crimes, except
  those involving impeachment, shall be tried by
  jury in the state in which the crime was
  committed
• Section III defines treason and mandates that at
  least two witnesses appear in such cases.

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Article III

• Framers gave federal judges tenure for life with
  good behavior
• Did not want judges to be subject to the whims of
  politics, the public, or politicians
• Hamilton argued in Federalist 78 that the
  independence of judges was needed to guard the
  Constitution and the rights of individuals.

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Article III

• Some checks on judiciary include
• Congress has the authority to alter the Courts
  jurisdiction.
• Congress can propose constitutional amendments
  that, if ratified, can effectively reverse
  judicial decisions.
• Congress can impeach and remove federal judges.
• President (with advise and consent of Senate)
  appoints federal judges

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The Judiciary Act of 1789 and the Creation of the
Federal Judicial System

• Established the basic three-tiered structure of
  the federal court system
• District courts at least one in each state, each
  staffed by a federal judge
• Circuit Court avenue for appeal
• Each circuit court initially composed of one
  district court judge and two itinerant Supreme
  Court Justices who met as a circuit court twice a
  year
• Supreme Court size set in the Act chief justice
  and five associates
• Number of justices set to 9 in 1869

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Judicial Review

• Allows the judiciary to review the
  constitutionality of acts of the other branches
  of government and the states
• Settled under Marbury v. Madison (1803) for
  national governments acts
• Settled under Martin v. Hunters Lessee (1816)
  for state laws

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The American Legal System

• Trial courts
• Courts of original jurisdiction where a case
  begins
• Appellate courts
• Courts that generally review only findings of law
  made by lower courts

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Jurisdiction

• Authority vested in a particular court to hear
  and decide the issues in any particular case
• Original jurisdiction The jurisdiction of courts
  that hears a case first, usually in a trial
• Appellate jurisdiction The power vested in an
  appellate court to review and/or revise the
  decision of a lower court

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The American Legal System

• Criminal law
• Codes of behavior related to the protection of
  property and individual safety

• Civil law
• Codes of behavior related to business and
  contractual relationships between groups and
  individuals (typically disputes over money or
  property)

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The Federal Court System

• Constitutional courts
• Federal courts specifically created by the U.S.
  Constitution or Congress pursuant to its
  authority in Article III
• Legislative courts
• Courts established by Congress for specialized
  purposes, such as the Court of Military Appeals

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The Federal Court System

• District Courts
• 94 federal district courts staffed by 646 active
  judges, assisted by more than 300 retired judges
• No district courts cross state lines
• Every state has at least one federal district
  court
• The most populous states have four. (CA, TX, and
  NY)

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Original Jurisdiction of Federal District Courts

• Involve the federal government as a party
• Present a federal question based on a claim under
  the U.S. Constitution, a treaty with another
  nation, or a federal statute
• Involve civil suits in which citizens are from
  different states, and the amount of money at
  issue is more than 75,000

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District Courts

• Each federal judicial district has a U.S.
  attorney.
• This individual is nominated by the president and
  confirmed by the senate.
• The attorney is that districts chief law
  enforcement officer.
• They have a considerable amount of discretion as
  to whether they pursue criminal or civil
  investigations or file charges against
  individuals or corporations.

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The Courts of Appeals

• The losing party in a case heard and decided in a
  federal district court can appeal the decision to
  the appropriate court of appeals.
• 11 numbered circuit courts
• Twelfth, D.C. Court of Appeals
• Handles most appeals involving federal regulatory
  commissions and agencies
• Thirteenth, U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal
  Circuit
• Deals with patents and contract and financial
  claims against the federal government

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The Courts of Appeals

• Have no original jurisdiction
• Try to correct errors of law and procedure that
  have occurred in the lower courts or
  administrative agencies
• Hear no new testimony
• Briefs submitted to them containing legal written
  arguments in a case

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The Courts of Appeals

• Decisions of the court of appeals are binding on
  only the district courts within the geographic
  confines of the circuit
• Decisions of the Supreme Court are binding
  throughout the nation and establish national
  precedents
• Reliance on past decisions or precedents to
  formulate decisions in new cases is called stare
  decisis.

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Coverage of the Court of Appeals(as of 2010)

• District of Columbia Circuit, John G. Roberts,
  Jr.
• First Circuit, Stephen Breyer
• Second Circuit, Ruth Bader Ginsburg
• Third Circuit, Samuel A. Alito, Jr.
• Fourth Circuit, John G. Roberts, Jr.
• Fifth Circuit, Antonin Scalia
• Sixth Circuit, Elena Kagan
• Seventh Circuit, Elena Kagan
• Eighth Circuit, Samuel A. Alito, Jr.
• Ninth Circuit, Anthony M. Kennedy
• Tenth Circuit, Sonia Sotomayor
• Eleventh Circuit, Clarence Thomas
• Federal Circuit, John G. Roberts, Jr.

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The Supreme Court

• Reviews cases from the U.S. courts of appeals and
  state supreme courts (as well as other courts of
  last resort)
• Acts as the final interpreter of the Constitution
• Ensures uniformity in the interpretation of
  national laws and the Constitution
• Resolves conflicts among the states
• Maintains the supremacy of national law in the
  federal system
• 8 justices and one chief justice
• Relatively few support staff
• Clerks plus 400 staff members

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How Federal Court Judges Are Selected

• Often a very political process
• Judges nominated by president and confirmed by
  Senate
• Can reflect the ideological stamp of the
  president
• Senatorial Courtesy
• A process by which presidents, when selecting
  district court judges, defer to the senator in
  whose state the vacancy occurs

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Who Are Federal Judges?

• Typically they have held other political offices.
• State court judge or prosecutor
• Most have been involved in politics
• White males tend to dominate

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Appointments to the U.S. Supreme Court

• Nomination Criteria
• Competence
• Ideology or Policy Preference
• Strict constructionist an approach to
  constitutional interpretation that emphasizes the
  Framers original intentions
• Rewards
• Pursuit of Political Support
• Religion
• Race, Ethnicity, and Gender

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The Roberts Court

• Conservatives
• Roberts, Kennedy, Thomas, Scalia, Alito
• Liberals Breyer, Ginsburg, Sotomayor, Kagan

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Current Supreme Court
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The Supreme Court Today Deciding to Hear a Case

• 8,159 cases were filed at the Supreme Court in
  its 2009 term.
• 82 argued, 73 signed opinions issued
• In the 1940s, fewer than 1000 cases were filed
  annually
• Today many of the cases involve Bill of Rights
  issues

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Cases with Supreme Court Jurisdiction

• All cases arising under the Constitution and laws
  or treaties of the United States
• All cases of maritime or admiralty jurisdiction
• Cases in which the US is a party
• Controversies between a state and citizens of
  another state (later modified by the 11th Amend)
• Controversies between two or more states
• Controversies between citizens of different
  states
• Controversies between citizens of the same states
  claiming lands under grants in different states
• Controversies between a state, or citizens of a
  state, and foreign states or citizens
• All cases affecting ambassadors or other public
  ministers

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Supreme Court Today

• Court has two types of jurisdiction Original
  Appellate
• Writ of certiorari
• A request for the court to order up the records
  from a lower court to review the case
• Use the Rule of Four
• Court controls its caseload through the
  certiorari process.
• All petitions for certiorari must meet two
  criteria
• The case must come either from a U.S. court of
  appeals, a special three-judge district court, or
  a state court of last resort.
• Case must involve a federal question. This means
  that the case must present questions of
  interpretation of federal constitutional law or
  involve a federal statute, action or treaty.

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How Does a Case Survive the Process?

• Characteristics of the cases the Court accepts
• The federal government is the party asking for
  review through the Solicitor General
• The case involves conflict among circuit courts.
• The case presents a civil rights or civil
  liberties question.
• The case involves ideological and/or policy
  preferences of the justices.
• The case has significant social or political
  interest, as evidenced by the presence of
  interest group amicus curiae briefs.

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Hearing and Deciding a Case

• Oral Arguments
• 7 sittings, 2 weeks long
• Supreme Court Conference
• Each Friday
• Vote and write Majority Opinion

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Written Decisions of the Court

• Opinion of the Court
• Majority opinion often written by senior member
• Concurring Opinion
• Agreed with Opinion of Court but not the reason
  behind the decision
• Dissenting Opinion
• Disagreed with Opinion of Court

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Judicial Philosophy

• Judicial restraint
• A philosophy of judicial decision making that
  argues courts should allow the decisions of other
  branches of government to stand, even when they
  offend a judges own sense of principles
• Judicial activism
• A philosophy of judicial decision making that
  argues judges should use their power broadly to
  further justice, especially in the areas of
  equality and personal liberty (even if it affects
  policy)