Judicial Branch

1
Judicial Branch

• National Level
• I. Why was it created?
• -To solve disputes between states
• One Supreme Court which was created by the
  Constitution
• Several lower courts created by Congress

2
II. Types of Courts

• Constitutional Courts
• Supreme Crt, Crt of Appeals, District Crt.
• They have Broad Judicial Power
• Special Courts
• Tax Court, Military Appeals Court
• Hear only specific types of cases.
• Dual System
• 100 Federal courts and 1,000s of State courts
  work together

3
III. Jurisdiction

• Exclusive- Heard in Fed. Courts only
• Concurrent- Heard in State OR Fed. Crts
• Original- Hear cases for the first time
• Appellate- Hear cases on appeal
• Federal courts have original jurisdiction
• Subject Matter
• Parties (state vs. state person vs. state)

4
IV. U.S. Supreme Court

• One Chief Justice
• Eight Associate Justices
• Number set by Congress, can be changed
• Judicial Review- Judging the constitutionality of
  a law.
• Last resort in ALL questions of federal Law

5
Judicial Review

• Not mentioned in the Constitution!!
• Thus, no check against Judicial Review
• John Marshall gave himself the power in the case
  of Marbury vs. Madison
• These 9 people have TONS of power
• Only way to overturn a Supreme Court decision is
  for them to change their minds.

6

• John Roberts
• Chief Justice

7

• Clarence Thomas
• Only current African
• American Justice

8

• Ruth Bader Ginsburg
• Only Current Woman
• on Court

9

• Antonin Scalia
• Assoc. Justice

10

• John Paul Stevens
• Oldest member of
• Court

11

• Steven Breyer
• Associate Justice

12

• David Souter
• Associate Justice

13

• Sam Alito
• Associate Justice
• Newest member

14

• Anthony Kennedy
• Associate Justice

15
V. Jurisdiction of Supreme Court

• Both original and appellate, but most come from
  appeals.
• Two types of cases fall under original
• State vs. a state
• Cases involving ambassadors, emissaries, etc.

16
VI. Cases Reaching the Supreme Court

• 5,000 are appealed, only 150 get heard.
• Turned away for two reasons
• Denial- Justices agree with lower court decision
• Remand- Returned to a lower court citing a recent
  Supreme Court decision (precedent)

17
VII. Three ways cases come to Supreme Court

• Writ of Certiorari- claiming an error was made in
  the lower court
• Appeal- asking to review a lower court decision
• Certificate- A lower court is confused and asks
  Supreme Court for help

18
VIII. Meet the Justices

• Chief Associate
• John Roberts John Paul Stevens- Oldest
• Ruth Bader Ginsburg-Woman
• Stephen Breyer
• Clarence Thomas- A-A
• Antonin Scalia
• Anthony Kennedy
• Samuel Alito
• David Souter

19
IX. Appointed to Sup. Crt.

• Appointed by Pres, approved by Senate
• Picked from leading State Justices or lower
  Federal Court Justices
• Pres. picks ones with same ideaology
• They serve a life term with good behavior
• Can be impeached (13 w/ 7 being removed)
• CompensationCongress sets salary
• Full retirement

20
X. Lower Federal Courts

• 1. District Courts-
• Federal trial courts-- 80 of workload
• 89 courts in 50 states- 563 Judges
• Created by Congress
• Each district has at least 2 Judges, some more
• Jurisdiction is original in most cases
• Hear both civil and criminal cases

21
(No Transcript)
22
Lower Federal Courts (cont.)

• 2. Court of Appeals
• Created by Congress to relieve Supreme Court of
  heavy workload
• 12 Court (11 Circuits and 1 in D.C.)
• Judges sit on a panel of three mostly
• Jurisdiction is appellate only!

23
(No Transcript)
24
XI. Special Courts

• 1. U.S. Claims Court
• If you want to sue the U.S., you go here
• We can only sue for certain reasons
• 2. Court of Military Appeals
• Hear appeals of court marshals
• 3. U.S. Tax Court
• Hear cases involving tax laws- I.R.S.

25

• Court of Veterans Appeals
• Hear cases where veterans feel their benefits
  have been mishandled
• Territorial Courts
• Courts for our U.S. territories
• All judges serve 15 year terms
• Appointed by President approved by Senate

26
XII. Opinions

• Majority Opinion- written for the majority
  detailing why they voted in favor
• Dissenting Opinion- written for the minority
  stating why they voted against
• Concurring Opinion- (majority or dissenting )
  written to agree with one side BUT for different
  reasons