Unit IV The Judicial Branch

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Unit IVThe Judicial Branch
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The United States Supreme Court
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Structure of the United States Court System
Photo The Courtroom of the U.S. Supreme Court
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• - Created by Article III of the Constitution
• Supreme Law of the land
• Deals almost exclusively with _________ Law
• 9 Members
• 1 _____ ___________
• 8 _________ ___________
• To become a Federal Judge or Justice
• Be __________ by the ______________
• Then be _________ by the ___________
• Federal Judges hold office for ______

Constitutional
Chief Justice
Associate Justices
nominated
President
confirmed
Senate
life
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Federal Court System
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Structure of the Federal Court System
Source www.catea.org/grade/legal/structure.html
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U.S. Courts of Appeal
Appellate Courts only review cases that
originated in another lower court. They have
appellate jurisdiction.
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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.

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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

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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

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State Court System
Most law occurs at this level
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Types of Law

• There are 3 main types of law
• - Constitutional Law
• - Criminal Law
• - Civil Law
• There are many sub-categories within these broad
  types such as tax law, juvenile law, family law,
  drug law, corporate law, and so on.

Involves interpreting the Constitution
Involve violations of laws the government
prosecutes
Lawsuits, or disputes between two parties
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Judicial Vocabulary

• Decision
• Opinion
• Majority Opinion
• Dissenting Opinion
• Concurrent Opinion
• Per Curiam Opinion
• Advisory Opinion (Note U.S. Supreme Court does
  not do these)

How the case was resolved
The reasoning of a judge or Justice
How the court decided. Most of the Justices
believed this way.
Justices that disagreed with the majority
Justices that agreed with the majority but for a
different reason.
A brief, unsigned statement
An opinion on an issue not yet challenged.
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• Jurisdiction
• Original
• Appellate
• Concurrent
• Appeal
• Stare Decisis
• Amicus Curiae
• Writ of Certiorari
• Subpoena
• Precedent
• De Jure
• De Facto

The authority to hear a case
for the first time.
and review it.
in more than one court.
A request for a case to be reviewed.
Latin for Let the decision stand.
Latin for Friend of the Court.
An order for case records to be sent up by a
higher court.
A court order to present yourself or documents
A previous court decision

By law
In reality
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• Grand Jury
• Petit Jury
• Indictment
• Remedies
• Damages
• Rule of 4
• Eminent Domain

16-23 people. Decides if there is enough evidence
for someone to stand trial.
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
Court ordered money awards
It takes 4 or more Justices to want to hear a case
The power of government to take and regulate
property for public good.
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• 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

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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)

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Current members of the United States Supreme Court
Steven G. Breyer
Samuel A. Alito
Sonya Sotomayor
Elena Kagan
Clarence Thomas
Ruth Bader Ginsburg
Chief Justice John G. Roberts
Anthony M. Kennedy
Antonin G. Scalia
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Landmark Supreme Court Cases
(Those marked with an are not covered by the
textbook in pgs. 799-806)
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• Marbury v. Madison (1803)
• Established Judicial Review the ability of the
  court to declare laws and actions
  unconstitutional.

William Marbury
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• McCullough v. Maryland (1819)
• The Federal Government does not pay state taxes.

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• Gibbons v. Ogden (1824)
• The Federal Government regulates interstate
  commerce.

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• Dred Scott v. Sanford (1857)
• Decided slaves were property and could not sue.
• Contributed to the Civil War.

Dred Scott
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• The Slaughterhouse Cases (1873)
• Established Eminent Domain the ability for
  government to seize and regulate private property
  for public good.

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• Plessy v. Ferguson (1896)
• Permitted state segregation laws the practice
  of separate but equal.

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• Brown v. The Board of Education (1954)
• Ended segregation in schools. Separate but
  equal is not equal.

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• Gideon v. Wainwright (1963)
• States must pay for an attorney in felony
  criminal cases if the Defendant cant afford one.

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• 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

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• Lemon v. Kurtzman (1971)
• Government cannot fund religious organizations.
• Created the Lemon Test to see if government
  policy overly entangles the government with
  religion.

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• Roe v. Wade (1973)
• Gives women the right to abortion.

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• New Jersey v. T.L.O. (1985)
• Schools may search students.

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• Texas v. Johnson (1989)
• Permits flag burning. Said it was free speech

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• Clinton v. The City of New York (1998)
• Struck down the line-item veto because the
  President does not make the law.

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• Santa Fe School District v. Doe (2000)
• Prohibits student-led prayer over the school PA
  system.

Santa Fe Indians
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• Owasso Independent School District v. Falvo
  (2002)
• Students may grade other students assignments.

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• Kelo v. New London (2005)
• Strengthened Eminent Domain.
• Allows government to take private property and
  give it to other private property owners.

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Thats all the notes for Unit IV! Good luck with
your research papers!