Background
•In the late 1700’s there were no national courts in place, each state interpreted the law in their own way. There was no consistency across the board
•Often decisions by Courts in one State were ignored by courts in other States
•The framers of the Constitution finally in Article III:
oThe Judicial Power of the United States shall be vested in one Supreme Court, and in such inferior courts as the Congress may from time to time ordain and establish
What you need to remember is that there are 2 SEPARATE COURT SYSTEMS
•National judiciary spans the country with 100 courts
•Each of the 50 States has their own separate court
oState courts hear most of the cases
•Supreme Court
•Federal Court
oConstitutional Courts
•Court of Appeals
•District Courts
•Court of International Trade
oSpecial Courts- created by Congress to hear cases arising out of some of the expressed powers given to Congress in the Constitution, they hear a much narrower range of cases… sometimes called Legislative Courts
•Military Appeals
•Court of Veterans Appeals
•Claims Courts
•Tax Courts
Jurisdiction
•The authority of a court to hear and decide a case
•Literally: the power “to say the law”
Judicial Review
•Power of the courts to determine the constitutionality of the actions of the legislative and executive branches of government
•The ultimate exercise of this power rest with the Supreme Court
This is the single fact that makes the Supreme Court the final authority on the meaning of the Constitution
Appointment of Judges
•The President appoints
oFree to name anyone the Senate approves
•Most are drawn from the ranks of leading attorneys, legal scholars, and law professors, former members of Congress, and from the State Courts
•Political considerations
oLook at their own political party in making appointments
•Republican president will pick republicans
•Democratic president will pick democrats
oEvery president knows that most of the judges he/she appoints will serve for decades
oAlso look for judges who share their own legal and political outlook- the presidents ideology
Terms and Pay of Judges:
Appointed for life
oUntil they resign, retire, or die in office
oMay only be removed through the impeachment process
•Only 13 federal judges have been impeached
oCheck the footnote on page 465
Congress sets the salary of all federal judges
oChief justice $202,900
oAssociate justices $194,200
Congress provides a very generous retirement package
oThey may retire at the age of 70 after they have served at least 10 years, receive full salary for the rest of their lives
oThey may retire at the age of 65 after they have served 15 years
The Chief Justice may call any retired judge back to temporary duty in a lower federal court at any time
Primary Job: Hear and decide cases
Lower Federal Courts
•District Courts are the Federal trial courts
o649 judges handle some 250,000 cases a year (80% of the federal caseload)
oThere are 91 district courts
oThe 50 states are divided into 89 judicial districts- with one court in each district
oWashington DC
oPuerto Rico
•Each state forms at least one district- no matter the size or population… larger more populous states are divided into 2 or more districts
•At least 2 judges are assigned to each district… but many have several
•Cases heard in the district courts are most oven heard by a single judge
•Jurisdiction
oHave original jurisdiction over most cases that are heard in the federal courts… they are the principle trial courts in the FEDERAL COURT SYSTEM
1.Criminal: is one in which a defendant is tried for committing some action that congress has declared by law to be a federal crime, a wrong against the public
a.Bank robbery, kidnapping, mail fraud, counterfeiting, tax evasion, narcotics violations
2.Civil: involves some non-criminal matter, such as a dispute between two parties over the terms of a contract of a claim of patent infringement
a.Bankruptcy, postal, tax, labor relations, public lands, civil rights, and other laws
oThe only federal courts that regularly use juries to indict defendants and petit juries to try defendants
oMost of the decisions in the 91 federal courts are final and proceed no further through the judicial system
oSome cases are appealed to the court of appeals in that judicial circuit, or in a few instances, directly to the Supreme Court
•Court of Appeals
oEstablished as the gate keepers to relieve the Supreme Court of much of the burden of hearing appeals from the district courts
oThere are 12 court of appeals in the judicial system
oThe US is divided up into 11 judicial circuits, with one court of appeals for each of those circuits
Washington DC has one
o179 circuit judges sit on the appellate courts
oIn addition each justice is assigned to one of the appellate courts
oThe court of appeals only has appellate jurisdiction
They hear cases on appeal from the lower federal courts
They also hear appeal from the decisions of several federal regulatory agencies
oThey handle 40,000 cases a year
oTheir decisions are final, unless the Supreme Court chooses to hear appeals taken from them
How cases reach the Supreme Court
•Some 4,500 to 5,000 cases are appealed to the Supreme Court each year
•Of these, the court only accepts a few hundred for decision
•The rule of 4
oAt least 4 of the 9 justices must agree that a case should be put on the Courts dockets
•More than half the cases decided by the Court are disposed of in brief orders
oFor example: an order may return a case to a lower court for reconsideration in the light of some other recent and related cases decided by the high court
•The court decides, after hearing arguments and with full opinions, only about 120 cases a year
•Most cases reach the Supreme Court by WRIT OF CERTIORARI, Latin for “to be made more certain”
oThis writ is an order by the Courts directing a lower court to send up the record for a given case for its review
oEither party can petition the court to issue a writ
oA cert is granted in only a limited number of instances
1.Typically only when a petition raises some important constitutional questions or a serious problem of statutory interpretation
oWhen certiorari is denied, the decision of the lower court stands in that particular case- so the case is done, it can’t go any further
2.All this means is that at least 4 justices could not agree that the Supreme Court should accept that case for review
•A few cases do reach the Supreme Court in another way- certificate
oThis process is used when a lower court is not clear about the procedure or the rule of the law that should apply in a case
oThe lower court asks the Supreme Court to certify the answer to a specific question in the matter
•Most cases that reach the court do so from the highest state courts and the federal court of appeals
•A few do come from the federal district courts and a few come for the Court of Military appeals
The Supreme Court at Work
The court sits from the first Monday in October to sometime the following June or July
Once the Supreme Court accepts a case, it sets a date on which lawyers on both sides will present oral arguments
As a rule the justices consider cases in two week cycles
oThey hear oral arguments in several cases for 2 weeks, then the justices recess for 2 weeks, to consider those cases and handle other court business
Briefs
oWritten documents filed with the Court before an oral argument
oDetailed statements that support one side of a case and are largely built of relevant facts and the citation of previous cases
Solicitor General
oThe principle officer in the Department of Justice- the Federal Governments Chief lawyer
oThey represent the US in all cases to which it is party in the Supreme Court, and may appear in any federal or state court
oThey decide which cases the government should ask the Supreme Court to review and, also, what position the US should take in cases before the High Court
Conference
oWhen justices consider cases and decide which new cases they will accept
oAbout a third of the decisions are unanimous
Opinions
oMajority opinion
The opinion of the court
Announces the courts opinion and sets out the reasoning on which it is based
oConcurring opinion
To make or emphasize a point that was not made in the majority opinion
oDissenting opinion
Written by justices that do not agree with the Court’s majority decision
One of the last steps that a case goes through we have not visited yet
The last concept is PRECEDENT
STARE DECISIS-->LET THE DECISION STAND
