FHN American Government

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FHN American Government

• The Judicial Branch

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The U. S. Supreme Court Building
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The Judicial Branch

• The U. S. Supreme Court- 2010

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The Judicial Branch

• The U. S. Supreme Court

Chief Justice John Roberts
Associate Justice Samuel Alito
Associate Justice Sonia Sotomayor
Associate Justice Anthony Kennedy
Associate Justice David Souter
Associate Justice Antonin Scalia
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The Judicial Branch

• The U. S. Supreme Court

Associate Justice Clarence Thomas
Associate Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg
Associate Justice Elena Kagan
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Appointed Appointed
By At Age John G. Roberts (Chief
Justice) 2005 G. W. Bush 50 Sonia
Sotomayor 2009 Obama 55 Samuel A.
Alito, Jr. 2006 G. W. Bush
55 Antonin Scalia 1986 Reagan
50 Anthony Kennedy 1988 Reagan
52 David Souter 1990 Bush
51 Clarence Thomas 1991 Bush
43 Ruth Bader Ginsburg 1993 Clinton
60 Elena Kagan 2010 Obama 50
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The U. S. Supreme Courtroom
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The Judicial Branch
Facts
Justices are appointed for life.
Current 2010 salary for the Chief Justice is
around 223,500 per year, while Associate
Justices make about 213,900.
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The Judicial Branch
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The Judicial Branch
The are 2 types of legal conflicts
1. Criminal Law-

• Crimes against another person or the state.
  Examples, theft, murder, burglary, etc ...

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The Judicial Branch
The are 2 types of legal conflicts
2. Civil Law-

• Cases involving money, when a person or
  organization sues another.

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The Judicial Branch
The United States judicial system is divided
between the State Courts and the Federal Courts.
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• Working Through the Court System

The Dual Court System
U. S. Supreme Court
Missouri Supreme Court
U.S. Appellant Court (12 circuits)
Missouri Appellant Courts (3)
Federal District Courts (94 districts)
Local County Courts
(Circuit)
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The Judicial Branch

• Court Jurisdictions

Foreign Affairs Interstate Bank Robbery
Kidnapping Patent Cases Mail Fraud Bankruptcy
Criminal Cases Civil Cases Probate Cases
Divorce Cases Custody Cases Commerce
Criminal Cases Civil Cases Commerce
State Courts
Federal Courts
Concurrent
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• Working Through the Court System

The Dual Court System
U. S. Supreme Court
Missouri Supreme Court
U.S. Appellant Courts
U.S. Special Courts
Missouri Appellant Court
Federal District Courts (94 districts)
Local County Courts
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• Organization of the Court System

U. S. Supreme Court
The Inferior Courts
The Constitutional Courts
The Special Courts
Courts of Washington D. C.
U.S. Courts of Appeals for the Federal Circuit
U.S. Courts of Federal Claims
94 District Courts
Courts of Appeals For Armed Forces
U.S. Tax Courts
U.S. Court of International Trade
12 U.S. Courts Of Appeals
Territorial Courts
Courts of Appeals For Veterans Claims
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• Federal-District (94 Districts)

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The Judicial Branch
3. The parties involved in the conflict are a.
Plaintiff - an individual or a group of people
who bring a complaint against another party to
court (civil). b. Defendant - the party who
defends against a complaint (civil). c.
Prosecution - the government body who brings a
criminal charge against a defendant (criminal).
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The Judicial Branch
4. Either a judge or a jury may hear a case 5.
Judges must be impartial. 6. The court may also
have to interpret law. 7. Court decisions
establish a precedent - guidelines for how
similar cases should be decided in the
future. 8. Most legal disputes and violations of
law are decided in district courts. 9. The court
to which a legal case first goes - original
jurisdiction (authority to hear a case
first) 10. A plaintiff (except the prosecution)
or defendant has the right to appeal a
case if they believe the decision made by the
court of original jurisdiction is unjust.
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The Judicial Branch
11. Federal Courts have jurisdiction over 2 kinds
of cases a. Subject matter - cases involving a
question concerning interpretation of federal
law or the Constitution admiralty law and
maritime law b. Parties - cases where one or
more of the parties are the United States, a
State suing another state, citizen of one state
suing a citizen of another state a citizen
suing a foreign government
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Section 2Organization if the federal courts
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• 1. The Constitution creates the framework for the
  federal court system in Article III.
• 2. There are 94 Federal District Courts

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Fed. District Courts

• a. Each state has at least 1 district court
• b. Federal District Courts are courts of original
  jurisdiction and obtain evidence by witness
  (trial).
• c. Exclusive jurisdiction - jurisdiction over
  cases that only can be heard in Federal Court
• d. Concurrent jurisdiction - jurisdiction over
  cases that can be heard either in Federal or
  State Courts (sharing power to hear these kinds
  of cases). In this situation, the plaintiff may
  choose to bring its case in either state court or
  federal court.

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Appeals

• 3. There are 12 United States Courts of Appeals,
  which handle appeals from Federal District
  Courts. The Courts were created in 1891 as
  gatekeepers to lighten the Supreme Courts docket
• a. Circuit Court - appeals taken from a group of
  district courts within a geographic area
• b. Issues are decided by arguments by counsel in
  front of a panel of 3 judges

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Other Courts

• 4. The Supreme Court is the highest court in the
  federal court system.
• 5. The Court of Federal Claims, United States Tax
  Court, Court of Appeals for the Armed Forces,
  Territorial Courts are all examples of Special
  Federal Courts.

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Jffs

• 6. All federal judges are appointed by the
  President and confirmed by the Senate.
• a. They serve life terms and can be removed from
  office only by the impeachment process.
• b. They must balance the rights of the
  individual with the interests of the nation as a
  whole.

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Section 3 The Supreme Court
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What gives them the right?

• Only the supreme court has the final say about
  what the Constitution means and what laws it will
  allow.
• There are 9 Judges
• Judicial review is the power of the Supreme Court
  to overturn laws.
• Marbury v. Madison did the three things

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• a. The Constitution is the Supreme law of the
  land.
• b. All legislative acts and other actions of
  government are subordinate to the supreme law and
  cannot be allowed to conflict with it.
• c. Judges, sworn to enforce the Constitution must
  refuse to enforce any government action they find
  to be in conflict with it. By doing so, Justice
  Marshall defined the role of the judicial brand
  in the development of the American system of
  government.

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What types of cases?

• What kind of cases must the Court hear?
• a. Appeals from federal and state courts that
  involve the federal government or federal laws.
• b. Those cases for which it is the Court of
  original jurisdiction.

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The Supreme Court has over 8,000 requests for
appeals each year. A request for appeal
must be made by a writ of
certiorari.
A Writ of certiorari - is Latin for to be
made more certain.
Of those 8,000, most are denied because
the justices agree with the lower courts
decision.
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Also, If less than four(4) justices want to
review a case, the case will not be reviewed -
this is called the rule of four .
Most cases come to the Supreme Court from a state
Supreme Court or an U. S. Appellate Court
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The Supreme Court has both original and appellate
jurisdiction.
The Supreme Court has original jurisdiction
when a. a state is a party b. issues
affecting ambassadors, public
ministers and consuls
The Supreme Court has appellate jurisdiction
when a. a case comes from a state Supreme
Court or a U.S. Appellate Court.
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Appellate jurisdiction - when the losing party to
a case in a lower Federal Court or highest state
court appeals its case to the Supreme Court.
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Once the Supreme Court chooses to hear a
case
a. each side submits briefs - written arguments.
b. hearing and oral arguments are heard.
c. Justices meet in private conference to discuss
case and vote - a simple majority decides
the case.
d. most decisions come with written opinions.
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When deciding a case, the Court considers
a. the law and how it has been applied
b. past precedents
c. the intentions of lawmakers at the time
they made a particular law.
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There may be 3 types of opinions issued by the
Supreme Court
a. Majority opinion - announcing the Courts
decision in the case.
b. Concurring opinion - one or more justices
adds emphasis to a point not covered in the
majority opinion.
c. Dissenting opinion - written by the
justices who do not agree with the majority
opinion.
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Changes in the court

• 15. The Supreme Court has gone through changes
  resulting from
• a. shifts in public opinion
• b. Justices own personal beliefs
• 16. Each court has its own personality.
• a. judicial activism - an effort by judges to
  take an active role in policy making by
  overturning laws relatively often