Supreme Court Justices Discussion

question 1) The President and the U.S. Senate play very large roles in what happens with the federal court system. What are these roles? How do politics come into play in these situations? question 2) How do Supreme Court justices make decisions? What do their decisions look like (opinions/dissents)? question 3) What was so special about the Marshall Court? How does the Marshall Court challenge the founding father’s ideas about the purposes of the judicial system in the United States? question 4) chose any current news article and give brief summary on what the article is about ( make sure to attach the link for the article you are writing about) question 5) define the following terms in terms or american government & politics
Chapter 13: The Courts
The Common Law Tradition
 American law stems from the English legal
tradition of common law.
 Common law is judge-made law based
initially on the prevailing custom and
eventually on legal precedent.
 Common law is based on stare decisis, which
means to stand on decided cases.
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The Supreme Court
Click on a picture to find out more information about that period in the Court’s history
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Sources of American Law
 Constitutions
 Statutes and Administrative Regulations
 Case Law
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The Federal Court System
 Basic Judicial Requirements
• The Constitution says that the federal courts have
jurisdiction in cases that meet one of the
following criteria:
• The case involves a federal question
• The case involves diversity of citizenship
• Standing to Sue
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The Federal Court System
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Types of Federal Courts
 U.S. District Courts
 U.S. Courts of Appeals
 The United States Supreme Court
 Specialized Federal Courts and the War on
Terrorism
• The FISA Court
• Alien “Removal Courts”
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Geographic Boundaries of Federal District
Courts and Circuit Courts of Appeals
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More on Courts and
locations
 U.S. District Courts- these are trial courtsthere are 94, based on population, multiple
judges but only 1 judge or jury decides a case
 U.S. Courts of Appeals- intermediate
appellate-hear cases decided by district courts
and then appealed by the losers- 12 based on
regions- called circuits. Panel of 3 decides
cases- no trials, just lawyers
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Federal and State
Court Systems
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Judicial Selection
 The President and Senate share the power to
select judges. The President nominates judges
and the Senate confirms or rejects them.
 Senatorial Courtesy- allows Senators of the
Presidents party to make recommendationscan limit Presidents power (Kennedy good
example)
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Judicial Selection Cont.
 After the President selects nominees, they are
sent to the Senate
 In the Senate they go to the Judiciary
Committee for hearings (questioning)
 After Committee then to whole Senatemajority required to confirm
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Criteria for Selection
 Political stuff matters- members of
Presidential party (82% of the time or more)
 Ideological views matter- Reagan, Bush I and
Bush II
 Diversity- Johnson and Marshall; Reagan and
O’Connor
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Development of the Court’s
Role in Government
 Judicial Review- authority
to declare laws or actions
unconstitutional. The Constitution
does not talk about this power
 Marbury v. Madison• When the S.C. claims
the power of judicial review.
 National Supremacy
Click to return to the timeline
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Supreme Court Historical Society
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The Supreme
Court
© Lester Lefkowitz /Corbis
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Which Cases Reach the
Supreme Court?
 When two lower courts are in disagreement
 When a lower court’s ruling conflicts with an
existing Supreme Court ruling
 When a case has broad significance (as in
desegregation or abortion decisions)
 When a state court has decided a substantial
federal question
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Which Cases Reach the
Supreme Court? (cont.)
 When the highest state court holds a federal
law invalid, or upholds a state law that has
been challenged as violating a federal law
 When a federal court holds an act of Congress
unconstitutional
 When the solicitor general is pressuring the
Court to hear a case
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Cases Before the Court
 Granting Petitions for Review.
Review is granted by a writ of certiorari.
To issue a writ, a minimum of four justices
must agree that the case should be heard by
the Supreme Court (the “rule of four”).
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Deciding Cases
 Once the Court has decided to accept a case,
both parties in the case will submit legal briefs
and (usually) make oral arguments.
 If the Court is unanimous in the ruling, one
justice will be assigned to write the opinion of
the Court. If the justices are divided on the
reasoning of the outcome, there will be a
majority opinion and dissenting opinions.
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The Warren Court
(1953–1969)
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 Outlawed official racial segregation in public
schools.
 Set strict national standards to protect the rights of
criminal defendants.
 Required the equal apportionment of state
legislatures and the House of Representatives.
 Ruled that prayers and Bible reading in public
schools were unconstitutional.
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The Burger Court
(1969–1986)
 Narrowed the reach of the Fourth Amendment’s
protections against unreasonable search and seizure.
 Restored the death penalty.
 Most decisions shifted toward the conservative,
yet, many of its decisions still protected individual
liberties and minority groups.
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The Rehnquist Court
(1986–2005)
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 By 1988, the Court shifted in a conservative
direction, giving public school officials the right to
censor school newspapers and plays, for example.
 The Court also made it more difficult for workers to
sue employers for discrimination.
 Decisions were often hard to categorize, and the
conservative did not always prevail.
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Policymaking
and the Courts
 Judicial Review
 Judicial Activism and Judicial Restraint
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 The Roberts Court
Chief Justice Roberts (Bush
2)- 56
Justice Thomas (Bush 1)- 63
Justice Scalia (Reagan)- 75
Justice Kennedy (Reagan)- 75
Justice Ginsburg (Clinton)- 78
Justice Sotomayor (Obama)57
Justice Breyer (Clinton)- 73
Justice Alito(Bush 2)- 61
Justice Kagan (Obama)- 51
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Ideology and the Courts
 The ideology of the
justices determines
the kinds of policy
that the courts will
make.
Lynn Johnson/Aurora Photos
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What Checks Our Courts?
 Executive Checks- president enforces
decisions by using the bureaucracy
 Legislative Checks
• Constitutional amendments
• Revision of laws
 Public Opinion
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Judicial Traditions
and Doctrines
 To a certain extent, the courts also check
themselves
 Hypothetical and Political Questions
 The Impact of the Lower Courts
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Criminal Justice
in America
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A Profile
of Crime
in America
Crime
Offenses
Estimated
Number of
Crimes
Rate per
100,000
Inhabitants
Total
11,695,264
3,982.6
Violent
1,367,009
465.5
Property
10,328,255
3,517.1
Murder
16,137
5.5
Forcible
Rape
94,635
32.2
Robbery
401,326
136.7
Aggravated
Assault
854,911
291.1
Burglary
2,143,456
729.9
Larcenytheft
6,947,685
2,356.9
Auto theft
1,237,114
421.3
Arson
63,215
48.8
SOURCE: Adapted from Crime in the United States 2004, Uniform Crime Reports,
Federal Bureau of Investigation, tables 1, 2.30, and 2.31.
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Crime Clocks 2003
www.fbi.gov/ucr/cius_04/summary/crime_clock/index.html
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Death and Guns
Around the World
Gun Deaths
Country
Population
2
New Zealand
3,3547,983
15
Japan
125,449,703
30
Great Britain
58,489,975
106
Canada
28,820,671
213
Germany
83,536,115
9,390
United States
265,562,845
Source: Center to Prevent Handgun Violence. Data for 1996.
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The Prisons
 Overcrowding
 Riots
Attica, 1971
© 2004 AP/Wide World Photos
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The Police
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Crime
and Law
Enforcement
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The FBI
 Jurisdiction is the
suspected violation
of federal law
 Led by J. Edgar
Hoover for 48 years
 Controversial use of
power
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© Yoichi Okomoto/Photo Researchers, Inc.
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The Criminal Courts
 Plea Bargaining
 Court Delay
 Bail Reform
 The Trial
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Capital
Punishment:
Public Support
for the Death
Penalty
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Organized Crime
 1970 Racketeer
Influenced and
Corrupt
Organizations Act
(RICO)
 John Gotti’s
conviction in 1992
© Ezio Petersen /Corbis
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Justice and
the American
Political System
 Although each specific case decided by the
Supreme Court may affect only one person
directly, the Court’s rulings often affect
society as a whole.
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