Transcript Unit IV The Judicial Branch

Unit IV
The Judicial Branch
The United States Supreme Court
Structure of the United States
Court System
Photo: The Courtroom of the
U.S. Supreme Court
- Created by Article III of the Constitution
- Supreme Law of the land
Constitutional Law
- Deals almost exclusively with _________
- 9 Members:
Chief Justice
- 1 _____
___________
Associate Justices
- 8 _________
___________
- To become a Federal Judge or Justice
nominated by the ______________
President
- Be __________
Senate
- Then be confirmed
_________ by the ___________
life
- Federal Judges hold office for ______
Federal Court System
U.S. Supreme Court
U.S. Courts
of Appeal
Federal District Courts
Structure of the Federal Court System
Source: www.catea.org/grade/legal/structure.html
U.S. Courts of Appeal
Appellate Courts only review cases that originated in
another lower court. They have appellate jurisdiction.
Federal District Courts
• Most Federal cases are handled by
Federal District Courts
• Only 2% ever go to trial
• Hear about 250,000 civil cases per year
• Because cases begin in District Court,
they have original jurisdiction.
Other Specialty Courts
• Additional inferior Federal Courts with original
jurisdiction include:
– Bankruptcy Courts
– Tax Courts
– Veterans Affairs Courts
– Maritime Courts
– Social Security Courts
• Most Judges on these courts serve fixed
terms of office (typically 15 years), not life
State Court Systems
• Because of Federalism, States have their own
court systems
• They are patterned after the U.S. Federal
Court system
– Every State has a State Supreme Court
• Top court of the state
• Handles State Constitutional Law
• Must obey the U.S. Supreme Court
– States also have State Courts of Appeal,
State District Courts, and Specialty Courts
– States allow Municipal Courts
State Court System
State Supreme Court
State Courts
of Appeal
Most law occurs
at this level
State District Courts
Municipal Courts
Types of Law
There are 3 main types of law:
- Constitutional Law
Involves interpreting the Constitution
- Criminal Law
Involve violations of laws; the government prosecutes
- Civil Law
Lawsuits, or disputes between two parties
There are many sub-categories within these
broad types such as tax law, juvenile law,
family law, drug law, corporate law, and so on.
Judicial Vocabulary
• Decision How the case was resolved
• Opinion The reasoning of a judge or Justice
– Majority Opinion How the court decided. Most of the
Justices believed this way.
– Dissenting Opinion
Justices that disagreed with the majority
– Concurrent Opinion
Justices that agreed with the
majority but for a different reason.
– Per Curiam Opinion A brief, unsigned statement
– Advisory Opinion (Note: U.S. Supreme Court does not
do these) An opinion on an issue not yet challenged.
• Jurisdiction
The authority to hear a case…
– Original
… for the first time.
– Appellate … and review it.
… in more than one court.
– Concurrent
• Appeal A request for a case to be reviewed.
• Stare Decisis Latin for “Let the decision stand.”
• Amicus Curiae Latin for “Friend of the Court.”
• Writ of Certiorari An order for case records to be sent
up by a higher court.
• Subpoena A court order to present yourself or documents
{
• Precedent A previous court decision
• De Jure By law
• De Facto In reality
• Grand Jury 16-23 people. Decides if there is enough
{
evidence for someone to stand trial.
• Petit Jury
• Indictment
• Remedies
Means “small jury” 6-12 people listen to facts and
evidence of a case & decide the case
a formal accusation of a crime, handed
down by a Grand Jury
Court ordered an action by one party in a case
• Damages Court ordered money awards
It takes 4 or more Justices to want to hear
• Rule of 4
a case
• Eminent Domain
The power of government to take and regulate
property for public good.
• Plaintiff - person or group called who
files a lawsuit
• Defendant - person or group called
who is being sued
• Municipal Courts – hear cases such
as traffic tickets and curfew violations
Legislating from the Bench
Legislating from the Bench is where Judges,
through the rulings they make, create or abolish
laws in order to affect changes in public policy
Constructionists v. Activists
- Constructionists believe that the court should strictly
interpret the Constitution and not attempt to change
or create laws from the bench; it is the role of
Congress to create or change law, not Judges
- Activists believe that it is the proper role of the
Judiciary as a 3rd and co-equal branch of government
to be able to shape public policy, laws, and culture
through Judicial fiat (ruling)
Current members of the United States Supreme Court
Steven G. Breyer
Sonya Sotomayor
Samuel A. Alito
Elena Kagan
Clarence Thomas
Antonin G. Scalia
Chief Justice
John G. Roberts
Ruth Bader Ginsburg
Anthony M. Kennedy
Landmark Supreme Court Cases
(Those marked with an * are not covered by the
textbook in pgs. 799-806)
• Marbury v. Madison (1803)
– Established Judicial Review – the ability of the
court to declare laws and actions
unconstitutional.
William Marbury
• McCullough v. Maryland (1819)
– The Federal Government does not pay state
taxes.
• Gibbons v. Ogden (1824)
– The Federal Government regulates interstate
commerce.
• Dred Scott v. Sanford (1857)
– Decided slaves were property and could not sue.
– Contributed to the Civil War.
Dred Scott
• The Slaughterhouse Cases (1873) *
– Established Eminent Domain – the ability for
government to seize and regulate private
property for public good.
• Plessy v. Ferguson (1896)
– Permitted state segregation laws – the practice of
“separate but equal”.
• Brown v. The Board of Education (1954)
– Ended segregation in schools. “Separate but
equal” is not equal.
• Gideon v. Wainwright (1963)
– States must pay for an attorney in felony criminal
cases if the Defendant can’t afford one.
• Miranda v. Arizona (1966)
– The accused must be informed of their rights to
an attorney and the right to remain silent before
being questioned by police.
– Called the “Miranda Rights”
• Lemon v. Kurtzman (1971)
– Government cannot fund religious organizations.
– Created the “Lemon Test” to see if government
policy overly entangles the government with
religion.
• Roe v. Wade (1973)
– Gives women the right to abortion.
• New Jersey v. T.L.O. (1985)
– Schools may search students.
• Texas v. Johnson (1989) *
– Permits flag burning. Said it was free speech
• Clinton v. The City of New York (1998) *
– Struck down the line-item veto because the
President does not make the law.
• Santa Fe School District v. Doe (2000) *
– Prohibits student-led prayer over the school PA
system.
Santa Fe Indians
• Owasso Independent School District v. Falvo
(2002)*
– Students may grade other students’ assignments.
• Kelo v. New London (2005) *
– Strengthened Eminent Domain.
– Allows government to take private property and
give it to other private property owners.
That’s all the notes for Unit IV!
Good luck with your research papers!