The History of The Supreme Court

1
The History of The Supreme Court
2
Federalist 78

• Alexander Hamilton
• Addressed the necessity of an independent
  judiciary.
• See handout

3
The Appointment Process

• Appointed for life during good behavior
• Appointed by the President
• Subject to Senatorial consent.

4
In The Beginning

• Judiciary Act of 1789
• Established the three tiered appellate court
  system.
• Section 25 Gave Supreme Court appellate
  jurisdiction over federal questions arising in
  state supreme courts.
• The Changing Structure of the Court
• See handout.

Forward
5
Appeals Process
Federal Appeals Court Step Two
Federal District Court Step One

• Step Three
• Case is appealed to the Supreme Court.
• The Court will either
• Affirm lower-court ruling
• Remand case back to lower court for
  reconsideration.
• Agree to put case on docket.

Supreme Court rules on the case. Step Four
Can crimes tried in State Court be appealed to
the U.S. Supreme Court?
6
Court Players and Opinions

• Petitioner Party appealing lower courts
  decision
• Respondent Party defending lower courts
  decision
• Majority opinion - Courts decision on a case and
  sets out reasoning.
• Concurring Opinion - is in agreement with the
  majority opinion but is written to add or
  emphasize a point.
• Dissenting Opinions - Written by justices who do
  not agree with the Courts decision.
• Precedents Standards set by the Courts
  decisions to be used in interpreting future
  cases.

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Two Problems Facing the First American Judiciary

• Separation of Powers Defining judicial power of
  the federal courts vis-à-vis the other branches.
• Would not play advisory role to political
  branches.
• Would decide legal questions not political ones.
• Federalism Defining judicial power of the
  federal courts vis-à-vis the states.
• Amendment 10 vs. Article VI

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The Two Marshall Courts

• 1801-1824 Expansion of courts power through
  constitutional interpretation.
• Marbury v. Madison Judicial Review
• McCulloch v. Maryland Bank of the United States
• The Power to tax is the power to destroy!
• Gibbons v. Ogden Competition, not monopoly,
  will secure economic advancement.
• Capitalism wins!
• 1824-1835 The retreat.
• The Cherokee Cases and Andrew Jackson
• Contracts Clause bending to state will

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A Comparison

• What are the five similarities of the Marshall
  and Taney Courts
• Limited government secured individual liberties
• Necessity of effective authority within state and
  federal government
• Interpreted the law to benefit capitalism
• Refused to disrupt social order
• Expanded federal power

10
Taneys Legacy

• Dred Scott v. Sanford

• Remember, Taney was a southerner
• Ruled against Scott
• Decision stood on interstate regulation grounds.

11
Reconstruction and the Court

• Reconstruction Amendments 13th, 14th, 15th
• National laws prohibiting states from depriving
  citizens of basic rights.
• Slaughterhouse Cases
• How did these cases throw the 14th amendment
  equal protection clause for a loop?
• Louisiana butchers contested state health codes
  as depriving right to freely practice their
  occupations.
• The court found that the 14th amendment barred
  states from depriving only those privileges and
  immunities that Americans possessed as United
  States citizens as distinct from those they held
  as state citizens.
• Racism in the Court
• 1898 The Court created Separate But Equal
  Doctrine, in Plessy v. Ferguson.
• Does this jive with the 14th Amendments equal
  protection clause

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The Progressive Era

• Industrial Growth Technological Advancement
  Global Marketplace
• Major Issues Addressed by the Court in the
  Progressive Era
• Laissez-faire constitutionalism
• Supported Dual Federalism states given
  extraordinary leeway in regulating business.
• Liberty of Contract
• See Lochner v. New York

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The Progressive Era

• Liberty of Contract Article I, Section 10,
  Clause 1
• Lochner v. New York
• Lochner bakery owner
• New York statute limiting hours bakers could
  work/week.
• S. Ct. found statute in violation of 14th
  amendment securing residents rights to enter into
  contracts free from governmental regulation.
• Affirmed laissez-faire doctrine and capitalism.

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The Taft Court The Roaring 20s

• Pro-Business/Anti-Labor decisions
• Liberty of Contract v. Police Power of States
• 1923 - Adkins v. Childrens Hospital Court
  struck down a minimum wage law for women.
• In light of the 19th Amendment, women were no
  longer in need of price fixing.

• What is police power?
• Obligation of state government to provide for the
  general welfare of all residents.

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The Taft Court The Roaring 20s

• Civil Liberties Prevail
• Incorporation Argument Bill of Rights guarantees
  should be extended to protect citizens from the
  states see handout.
• Nationalization of state criminal law
• Powell v. Alabama (Scottsboro cases)
• Majority declared that the 14th amendments DP
  clause required fair trials for state criminal
  defendants.

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The Crash, The New Deal and WWII

• Chief Justice Charles E. Hughes - 1930
• Pro-business attitude collapses with the Market.
• By 1937, FDR had filled the bench with liberals.
• New Deal legislation was routinely upheld.
• Protecting civil liberties takes a front seat.
• Chief Justice Harlan F. Stone - 1941
• Korematsu v. United States argued under war
  powers of the president.

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The Vinson Court The Cold War

• Chief Justice Fred M. Vinson - 1946
• Judicial restraint abandoned freedom of thought,
  association, and expression
• Dennis v. United States - 1951
• Clear and Present Danger Test created to reason
  conviction of McCarthyism victims.
• Separation of Powers Dilemma
• Youngstown Sheet Tube Co. v. Sawyer - 1952
• Court overruled Trumans seizure of nations
  steel mills to avoid an impending steelworker
  strike on the eve of the Korean conflict.
• Further extended Incorporation

18
The Warren CourtThe Civil Rights Movement

• Chief Justice Earl Warren 1953
• Brown v. Board of Education decision
• Overturned Plessy v. Ferguson
• Fulfilled cold war imperative
• Major facilitator of nationalizing criminal
  procedure see handout
• Group Rights over Individual Rights

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After Warren

• Warren Burger 1969
• Delivered majority opinion in Nixon v. U.S.
  forcing the president to hand over the tapes.
• Advocate of judicial restraint
• Conservative reformer
• William Rehnquist 1986
• As a law clerk to Justice Jackson, Rehnquist
  suggested the Court uphold Plessy in the Brown
  case.
• His record shows support for law enforcement,
  strict incorporation, states-centered federalism.

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The Roberts Court

• What will be his legacy?
• Read Time article