Judicial Branch

Credit: John Burkowski

Edited by J. Gelber
Unit IVD
 American Legal System
 Criminal Law Cases  Basic Structure of a Court
 Misdemeanor  Litigants
 Less serious crime; less than 1  Plaintiff – brings up charges,
year incarceration (jail); fines sues
 Felony  Burden of proof
 More serious crime; more than  Defendant/respondent –
1 year incarceration answering charges
 Civil Law Cases  Lawyers
 Involving a perceived  Prosecution – government
violation of civil rights or lawyers accusing of criminal
legal relationships charges
 i.e. contracts
 Public defenders – government-
 Monetary damages (not jail
paid lawyers for criminally-
time) charged individuals
 Lawsuits
 Jury
 Class action involves a one
 Trial by jury; one may request
or a few representing a bench trial or trial by jury
many affected  Judge
 Presides over the case; rules on
objections; final ruling; passes
sentence
 Constitutional Structure
 Article III establishes the judicial branch
 United States Supreme Court
 Congress establishes lower federal courts
 Judiciary Act of 1789
 Also set number of SC justices, position of Chief justice
 Constitutional Courts
 District Courts (original jurisdiction) – 1789
 Each state has at least one district court
 94 district courts
 Courts of Appeals (appellate jurisdiction) – 1891
 13 Courts of Appeals separated by geographic circuits
 Legislative Courts
 Agency reviews (taxes, trade, bankruptcy)
 Not subject to Article III parameters
Court of Appeals
 Jurisdiction
 Original Jurisdiction
 Court is the first to hear the case; conducts trials
 Appellate Jurisdiction
 Reviewed by a higher/alternate court
 Supreme Court’s Jurisdiction
 Original jurisdiction involving cases with ambassadors,
foreign ministers, consuls, state is a party (small % of
docket)
 Appellate jurisdiction in all other cases
 From federal district or appeals courts, or state supreme
courts involving federal law or Constitution
 Concurrent Jurisdiction
 Cases may be tried in state or federal courts
 Dual Court System
 Federal Court  State Court
System Systems
 Federal-Question  Circuit court system
cases with original and
 Arising under the appellate
Constitution, the law jurisdiction courts
of the U.S., and
treaties
 State supreme
court decisions final
 Diversity cases law in respective
 Involving different state
states or citizens of
different states
 May be appealed to
U.S. Court of Appeals
and Supreme Court
if a constitutional
question
 Federal Judges
 Serve “during good behavior” – Article
III
 Life terms
 Appointment
 Not elected – therefore, not directly
subject to political pressures
 President appoints with advice and
consent from the Senate (simple majority
vote)
 Senatorial courtesy = input from home
state Senator(s)
 Nominating a Supreme Court Justice
 Presidential appointments
politicized
 Party Affiliation
 Political Ideology
 ‘Litmus Test’
 Asking questions about
stance on major issues, i.e.
abortion
 Race, Gender, Religion,
Region
 Judicial and Legal
Experience and Record
 --usually served on lower
federal court
 Political Acceptability
 Legal organizations
 American Bar Association
 Interest groups
 U.S. Senate
 Checks and Balances on Federal
Judges
 Must be a “Justiciable” Dispute
 Based on an actual situation and not a hypothetical test
 Cannot be a “Political Question”
 Dispute between Congress and the President or a matter left to a branch of
government
 [What about Bush v. Gore 2000 presidential election!!]
 Appointments
 President appoints with Senate approval
 Impeachment
 House of Representatives may impeach a federal judge and the Senate tries
 Structure of the Courts
 Congress may alter the number of district or appellate courts, number of SC
justices & jurisdiction of courts
 Constitutional Amendments
 Overrule a federal court decision by amending the Constitution (BUT …3/4
states must still ratify)
The U.S. Supreme Court

 Currently 9 justices, including a Chief Justice

and 8 associate justices
 Congress determines the number of justices
 The Supreme Court
Accepting Cases
 Original Jurisdiction
 Cases involving ambassadors, foreign ministers,
consuls, or state a party
 Very few cases are reviewed by the SC
 Only a 100 out of 10,000 cases a year
 Lower court decision stands if SC refuses to hear case
 Justices may recuse themselves if conflict of interest
 Rule of Four
 Four of the nine justices must agree to hear/review a
case
 Writ of Certiorari
 Granted when SC agrees to hear case
 The Supreme Court
Reviewing and Hearing a Case
 Case Briefs
 Written arguments provided to SC prior to oral
arguments
 Cites legal arguments, legal precedents, previous
court decisions
 Amicus curiae brief (friend of the court)
 Used by interest groups with a vested interest in case
providing an additional legal perspective
 Solicitor General (Justice Dept official)
 Represents the United States gov’t position
 The Supreme Court
Deciding a Case
 Majority opinion
 The official opinion of the court, the supreme ruling
 Dissenting opinion
 Justices who disagree with the majority opinion write
a dissent
 Concurring opinion
 When justice or justices concurs with the majority but
on different grounds (legal reasons)
 The Supreme Court
Policymaking and Philosophy
 Judicial Restraint - Originalism
 Limit the initiative on social and political questions
 Passive on policymaking
 Strict interpretation of the Constitution
 “stare decisis”

 Judicial Activism – Living Constitution

 Active role in society and politics
 Esp when other branches are not acting
 Judicial intervention, sometimes based on judges’
personal views
 Loose interpretation of the Constitution