The Judicial Branch

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The Judicial Branch
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The Constitution and the National Judiciary

• Article III of the Constitution establishes
• a Supreme Court in which the judicial power of
  the United States is vested
• life tenure or 'good behaviour' for judges
• judges receive compensation that cannot be
  diminished during their service
• such inferior courts as Congress may choose to
  establish
• the original jurisdiction of the Supreme Court
• The intent of Article III was to remedy the
  failings of the Articles of Confederation which
  left judicial matters to the states.

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Judicial Review

• Judicial review is the power of a court to decide
  if a law or other legal issue disregards the
  Constitution, and overturn it.
• This power is not mentioned in the Constitution.
• Judicial review was established by the Marshall
  Court in Marbury v. Madison (1803).
• Marbury's long-term effect has been to allow the
  Court to have the final say in what the
  Constitution means.

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The American Legal System

• The American legal system is a dual system
• state courts--actually 50 different 'systems'
• federal courts
• Both systems have three tiers
• Trial courts (a.k.a. District Courts) litigation
  begins and courts hear the facts of the case at
  hand (original jurisdiction)
• One judge, witnesses, presentation of evidence,
  jury or judge decides the case
• Appellate courts (a.k.a. Circuit Courts) decide
  questions of law, not fact reviews decisions of
  lower courts (appellate jurisdiction)
• Several judges (3-9), no witnesses (lawyers
  argue), no evidence presented
• Court of Final Appeals Supreme Courts

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What circuit is Michigan in?
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Who are Federal Judges?

• Typically federal judges have
• held previous political office such as prosecutor
  or state court judge
• political experience such as running a campaign
• prior judicial experience
• traditionally been mostly white males
• been lawyers

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Federal Selection Process
President
Dept. of Justice
Senators
ABA
Interest Groups
Senate Jud. Comm.
Senate
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The U.S. Supreme Court

• Highest court in the land
• 9 Justices (all but 5 have been white men)
• Thurgood Marshall and Clarence Thomas African
  American Sandra Day OConnor, Ruth Bader
  Ginsburg Sonya Sotomayor women
• Chief Justice John Roberts
• Selects about 100 of the over 7000 cases that are
  submitted to it each year chooses cases that
  involve signification Constitutional questions
  and are important to the entire country

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2 Types of Jurisdiction for the Supreme Court

• Original Jurisdiction the Supreme Court hears
  the case directly, without the case going through
  an intermediate stage.
• The Supreme Court has original and exclusive
  jurisdiction to hear disputes between different
  states -- meaning that no other federal court can
  hear such a dispute.
• "Original jurisdiction" cases are rare, with the
  Court hearing one or two cases each term
• Appellate Jurisdiction - A party seeking to
  appeal a decision of a circuit court can file a
  petition to the Supreme Court for a writ of
  certiorari.
• "Certiorari" is a Latin word meaning "to inform",
  in the sense that the petition informs the Court
  of the request for review.
• The Supreme Court gets thousands of petitions for
  certiorari, but only issues a writ in a fraction
  of cases. The Court will only issue a writ if
  four of the nine Justices vote to do so.

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Supreme Court Decisions

• Majority vote required to determine outcome of
  case
• Write opinions
• Majority opinion states courts decision
• Dissenting opinion states reasons why judge(s)
  disagreed with majority opinion
• Concurring opinion states reasons why a judge
  agrees with the decision but for a different
  reason
• Courts do not have the power to implement their
  decisions. The executive branch must enforce the
  Courts decisions.

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How Supreme Court Decisions are Made
Case on the Docket Approx 95
Briefs and Amicus Briefs submitted
Oral Argument
Justices Conference Cases discussed Votes
taken Opinion Assigned
Opinions Announced
Opinions Drafted and Circulated
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How the Justices Vote

• Legal Factors
• Judicial Philosophy
• Judicial Restraint - advocates minimalist roles
  for judges
• Judicial Activism - feels that judges should use
  the law to promote justice, equality, and
  personal liberty.
• Precedent
• Prior judicial decisions serve as a rule for
  settling later cases of a similar nature.
• Precedents can change over time
• Ex. Plessy vs. Ferguson and Brown vs. Board of
  Education

Plessy vs. Ferguson
Brown vs. Bd. of Ed.
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How the Justices Vote

• Extra-Legal Factors
• Behavioral Characteristics
• The personal experiences of the justices affect
  how they vote. Early poverty, job experience,
  friends and relatives all affect how decisions
  are made.
• Ideology
• Ideological beliefs influence justices' voting
  patterns.
• The Attitudinal Model
• A justice's attitudes affect voting behavior.
• Public Opinion
• Justices watch TV, read newspapers, and go to the
  store like everyone else. They are not insulated
  from public opinion and are probably swayed by it
  some of the time.

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Important Civil and Criminal Law Terminology

• Criminal Law Laws that regulate public conduct
  and set out duties owed to society
• Criminal Case Court determines whether person
  accused of breaking law is guilty or innocent
• Prosecution (government) vs. defendant
• Standard of Proof Guilt beyond a reasonable
  doubt (must not have any doubt that defendant
  committed crime)

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• Civil Law Laws that regulate relationship
  between individuals/groups of individuals
• Civil Case Court settles a disagreement over
  issues such as contracts, divorce, accidents
• Plaintiff (individual bringing complaint) vs.
  defendant
• Standard of Proof Preponderance of evidence
  (more likely than not the plaintiffs version of
  case is true)

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Which type of case has a higher standard of
proof?Why?