The Supreme Court of the United States

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The Supreme Court of the United States
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John Roberts

• Mr. Chief Justice,
• and may it please the court

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Antonin Scalia
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Clarence Thomas
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Samuel Alito
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Anthony Kennedy
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Ruth Bader Ginsburg
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Stephen Breyer
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Sonya Sotomayor
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Elena Kagan
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SCOTUS
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neither force nor will but only judgment.
-Alexander Hamilton
Fed. No. 78
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The Roberts SCOTUS

• Judges from states on East Coast or West Coast
• No Protestants
• Three Women
• No Former Elected Officials
• Little Practical Experience
• 4 of 5 NYC Boroughs Represented

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Judicial RestraintversusJudicial Activism
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Judicial Restraint

• The view that the Supreme Court (and other lesser
  courts) should not read the judges' own
  philosophies or policy preferences into the
  constitution and laws and should whenever
  reasonably possible construe the law so as to
  avoid second guessing the policy decisions made
  by other governmental institutions such as
  Congress, the President and state governments
  within their constitutional spheres of authority.
  On such a view, judges have no popular mandate to
  act as policy makers and should defer to the
  decisions of the elected "political" branches of
  the Federal government and of the states in
  matters of policy making so long as these
  policymakers stay within the limits of their
  powers as defined by the US Constitution and the
  constitutions of the several states.

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ConservativeJudicial RestraintStrict
InterpretationOriginalism
Antonin Scalia
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There are four justices who have sat beside me
who believe that the death penalty is now
unconstitutional...and they believe it to be
unconstitutional because they think it ought to
be" - Antonin Scalia
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ConservativeJudicial Restraint
John Roberts Antonin Scalia Clarence
Thomas Samuel Alito
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Once the justices depart, as most of them have,
from the original understanding of the principles
of the Constitution, they lack any guidance other
than their own attempts at moral philosophy Yet
when it rules in the name of the Constitution,
whether it rules truly or not, the Court is the
most powerful branch of government in domestic
policy. -Robert Bork, 2005
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LiberalJudicial Activism Loose or Broad
InterpretationActivist
Earl Warren
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Judicial Activism

• The view that the Supreme Court justices (and
  even other lower-ranking judges as well) can and
  should creatively (re)interpret the texts of the
  Constitution and the laws in order to serve the
  judges' own considered estimates of the vital
  needs of contemporary society when the elected
  "political" branches of the Federal government
  and/or the various state governments seem to them
  to be failing to meet these needs. On such a
  view, judges should not hesitate to go beyond
  their traditional role as interpreters of the
  Constitution and laws given to them by others in
  order to assume a role as independent policy
  makers or independent "trustees" on behalf of
  society.

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We must never forget that it isa Constitution
intended to endure for ages to come, and,
consequently, to be adapted to the various crises
of human affairs.- John Marshall, 1819
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LiberalJudicial Activism
Stephen Breyer Ruth Bader Ginsburg Sonia
Sotomayor Elena Kagan
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"The words of the Constitution. are so
unrestricted by their intrinsic meaning or by
their history or by tradition or by prior
decisions that they leave the individual Justice
free, if indeed they do not compel him, to gather
meaning not from reading the Constitution but
from reading life." -Justice Felix Frankfurter,
1949
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Laws are dead letters without courts to expound
and define their true meaning and operation.
-Alexander Hamilton
Fed. No. 78
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ConservativeSwing Vote
Anthony Kennedy
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Dual Court System
The Structure of the Courts
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Federal Court System
and
50 State Court Systems
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How do cases get to the
80 Decisions
Original Jurisdiction
80 of cases accepted come from federal system
lt1 of cases accepted are original jurisdiction
U.S. Supreme Court?
State Supreme Court highest state court
U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals 12 circuits
Federal Circuit
Intermediate Appeals Court
U.S. District Court 94 districts Federal Trials
Trial Courts municipal or county Local Trials
FEDERAL 1 million cases/yr
STATES 30 million cases/yr
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SCOTUS
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Federal Level
U.S. Supreme Court Circuit Courts of Appeal
Federal District
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SCOTUS Docket

• Federal Question Cases
• Constitution
• Federal Laws
• Treaties
• Diversity Cases

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OHIO State Courts
Ohio Supreme Court
Supreme Court
District Court of Appeals
Appellate Courts
Court of Common Pleas
Municipal Court
Trial Courts
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State Level
State Supreme Court State Courts of Appeal
Common Pleas
Municipal
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Dual Court System
State Supreme Court State Courts of Appeal
SCOTUS
Appellate
Common Pleas
Municipal
Federal District
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Dual Sovereignty Doctrine
Rodney King 1992 State Court Ruling Federal
Court Ruling
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Getting to Court
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Standing

• Actual controversy
• Real adversaries
• Actual harm

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The Supreme Court in Action
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10th Justice
The Supreme Courts Docket
The Solicitor General
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The Judges in Conference
Bi-Weekly
Conference Protocol
Stare Decisis
Rule of 4
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The Supreme Court in Action
Writ of Certiorari
In Forma Pauperis
Rule of Four
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Lowering Court Costs

• In Forma Pauperis
• Interest Group pays
• Fee Shifting

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Amicus Curiae Briefs
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Oral Arguments Made in Open Court
Quorum
Recusal
Oyez, Oyez, Oyez
Protocol
Law Clerks
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Opinion Writing
Per Curiam
Concurring Opinion
Opinion of the Court
Dissenting Opinion
Slip Opinion
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