US Supreme Court and civil rights

what does the constitution say about the court?

-Article III only has 369 words, compared to over 1000 words for Article II and 2000 for Aritcle I

-this could be interpreted as the founding fathers wanting it to be the least powerful branch of government.

how many cases does the court take?

court receieves around 7000 to 8000 cases a year, of whichit will hear only 1%.

Independence of the court
how does life tenure ensure indepdence?

-judges are given life tenure, meaning congress cant remove them for decisions they dont like.

-Truma declared that “whenever you put a man on the supreme court, he ceases to be your friend”

Independence of the court
how does the system of vacancies secure independnece?

-vacancies only occur if a Justice dies, retires or is impeached.

-while the constitution allows congress to change the number of justices, there have only been 9 since the 1869 judiciary act.

Independence of the court
how does salary ensure inependence?

-the constitution prevents the salary of justices being lowered during their time in office.

-in 2022, associate judges were paid $274,000 a year, with the chief justice paid $286,000 a year. Judges therefore do not have to be concerned about repercurssions of ruling against congress/president.

Independence of the court
how does the appointments system ensure inependence?

-nominated by the president and approved by the senate.

-prevents one branch from dominating the court

-also adds legitiamcy as the court is confirmed by elected representatitve.s

Independence of the court
how does the seperation of powers protect court indepdene?

-the court has no power to enforce its rulings, relying on the other branches to carry out its rulings. this makes the 3 branches independent but co-dependent.

Independence of the court
how does the ABA rating ensure independnece?

-the American Bar Association (ABA) rates the suitabiility of Justices nominated.

-the ABA is made up of neutral experts, and ensures the court is made up by those who can carry out the will of the law rather than politicans.

Judicial review
what is judicial review?

-judicial review is the power of the court to review the laws and actions of Congress and the president.

-if they are found to be unconstitutional, they become null and void.

Judicial review
how did the court gain the power of judicial review?

-Article III makes no mention of judicial review.

-the court granted itself this power through Marbury v. Madison in 1803 over federal law, and Fletcher v. Peck in 1810 over state law.

Judicial review
how does this power therefore make the court extremely influential?

-in deciding whether certain acts are constitutional, the justices are responsible for interpreting the meaning of the sovereign constitution.

-the only way to overturn these decisions is via constitutional amendment, which is extremely rare.

Judicial review
what did a prior cheif justice say about the courts power?

Cheif Justice Charles Evans Hughes in 1907 stated “we are under a constitution, but the constitution is what the judges say it is”

The appointment proccess for supreme court justices
what is the first stage? what is an example?

-Vacancy arises via death, retirement or impeachment.

in January 2022, Justice Breyer announced he would retire at the end of the courts term.

The appointment proccess for supreme court justices
what is the nomination stage? with examples?

-the president chooses whoeever they like to fill a vacancy (often matches their ideology)

-Bush and Trump nominated conservative judges (roberts, alito, gorsuch, kavanaugh and barret) while obama appointed those with a more liberal outlook (sotomayor, kagan, jackson)

The appointment proccess for supreme court justices
what is the ABA stage? what are examples?

-while not a constitutional requirement, the ABA rating offers a rating of “unqualified” “qualified” or “well qualified” to judicial nominees.

-thomas is the only justice ot be deemed “qualified”, along with allegationso f sexual harrasement it made it very difficult for thomas to get confirmation in the senate".

The appointment proccess for supreme court justices
what is the judiciary committee stage? what are examples?

-while not a constituional requirement, the senate judiciary committee holds hearings in which it can question the nominee. it holds a vote to inform the whole senate vote.

-having been rejected by the committee 9-5, Robert Bork failed senate confirmation in 1987.

The appointment proccess for supreme court justices
what is the senate vote stage? what are examples?

-Following the recommendatory vote from the senate judiciary committee, the entire senate votes to cnfoirm appointmetns. following 2017 reforms, this cant be filibustered.

-votes of all nominees since 2006 have been on party basis, compaed to older votes such as Bader Ginsburg in 1993, who was confirmed 96-3.

presidential consideratino for a judicial nominee
how does a president consider judicial experience?

-it is expected that the nominee should have expierence as a judge, and be qualifiied in the law.

-Bushes nomination of Harriet Miers in 2005 faced criticsm as she lacked expierence as a jduge. the only corrent SCOTUS member who did not serve in circuit courts when appointed is Elena Kagan, who was Obamas solicitor general.

presidential consideratino for a judicial nominee
how does the president consider the outgoing justice?

-it is tradition for Presidents to replace justices on a ‘like for like’ basis, rather than their own personal ideology.

-however, since 2005, nominations have been more partisan and less common. Alito in 2006, Kavanaugh in 2018 and barret in 2021 were not ‘like for like’ replacements, as they were more conservative than their predecessors.

presidential consideratino for a judicial nominee
how does the president consider the demograpgics of the court?

-a president may wish to make the court more representatitve.

-obama appointed 2 women, doubling the number that have ever served in the court, and appointed the first hispanic justice, Sonia Sotomayor.

-Biden appointed the first african american woman to the court, Kentanji Brown Jackson.

presidential consideratino for a judicial nominee
how does the president consider the ideology of the nominee ?

-as most nominees have been a judge on lower courts, it is possible for presidents to ascertain their ideology based on their rulings. This is not always successful however.

-Justice kennedy remained a conservative, just a moderate one.

The current court
how has the neutraility of the court changed?

-traditionally, the justice who was in the middle of the 9 would be the ‘swing justice’ in cases which have an ideological split. the majority decision is often reliant on the way the swing justice votes.

-the court now has a substantial conservative majority of 6 justices.

The current court
how has life tenure raised concerns?

-current court includes justices appointed by 5 different presidents. Clarence Thomas has served since 1991, appointed by H.W Bush, who died in 2018.

-this raises concern over the legitimacy of justices whose president has long lost their mandate.

The current court
is the court divided in practice ?

-despite ideoloigcal devisions, only around 20% of cases are decided in a 5-4 vote, and the most common decision is 9-0.

ideology of the court
what is a liberal vs a conservative?

-a conservative judge is more likely to give rulings that produce limited government, and uphold conservative ideals such as pro gun/pro life.

-a liberal justice is more likely to give rulings that prouce greater equality, larger federal gvoernment, gun control and gay rights.

ideology of the court
what is a loose constructionist vs a strict constructionist?

-a loose constructionist is more willing to interpret the constitution broadly, and is likely willing to give more power to the government.

-a strict constructionist sticks to the wording of the constitution, and often protects state power.

ideology of the court
what is judicial restraint vs activism?

-judicial restraint is when judges believe in a limited role for the supreme court in interpreting the constitutoin.

-judicial activism is when a judge makes use of their posistion to acheive rulings in favour of their ideology.

ideology of the court
what is a living constitution vs orginalism?

-living constitution is the idea that the constitution is a living, organic document that can be chagned via interpretation over time.

-originalism is the belief that the meaning of the constitution is set by the organic princciples of the document, and should be subject to broad intepretation.

Strengths and weaknesses of the appointments proccess
how is the appointments proccess long?

-the process, from nomination to the senate vote usually takes between 2-3 months.

-this is not a problem when a judge decides to retire, and remains on the court in the process. However, when a judge suddenly dies, the court is left with 8 justices, and in the event of a tie, the decision from the lower court stands.
8 justices.

Strengths and weaknesses of the appointments proccess
how was obama effected by a long appointments proccess ?

-Obamas exeucitve order regarding DAPA was challenged in SCOTUS, but the death of Justice Scalia left only 8 justices to hear the case.

-the 4-4 tie resulted in Obamas executive order being struck down by the lower court.

-had he been able to appoint Garland to the court, perhaps Obamas policy would have been saved.

Strengths and weaknesses of the appointments proccess
how was the proccess been politicised?

-appointments since 2006 have seen party line voting in the senate, with relatively few alterations.

-statistics show that nominations put forward by republicans are favoured by republicans, opposed by democrats, and vice versa.

-senate judiciary committee harings have also become poltiicsed. For the hearings of Alito, Gorsuch, Sotomayor and Kagan, nominees spoke for around 33% of the time, which the rest of the time taken up by partisan debate.

Strengths and weaknesses of the appointments proccess
how has a president failed in the politicisation of the proccess?

-In January 2022, a short unsigned note from the Supreme Court defied Trumps request to prevent Congress from accessing White House documents from 6th January 2021. the only dissent was Thomas , not any of the 3 appointments of the court.

Strengths and weaknesses of the appointments proccess
how has the media and outside groups contribiuted to the politicisation of the proccess? give 4 examples.

-protests against Kavanaughs nomination gained mass media coverage.

-Donors to the Judicial Crsis Network gave $10 million to support Gorsuch’s nomination, while giving $7 million to oppose Garland a year earlier.

-Demand Justice launched a 1 million dollar campaign to support Jacksons nomination

-the role of the ABA can be questioned, as it lacks constitutional authority.

Supreme Court and public policy
how can the supreme court create new policy?

Citizens United v. FEC [2010] allowed for the creation of Super PACs, which were previously impossible due to the Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act.

-Unelected justices therefore overturned a law created by elected representatives here.

Supreme Court and public policy
how can the court uphold legislation or policy?

in NFIB v. Sebelius [2011] and California v. Texas [2020] SCOTUS upholded Obamacare.

-this gave a degree of sovereignty to the law.

Supreme Court and public policy
how can the court impcat public policy in choosing not to hear a case?

-the court can choose not to hear cases, allowing the ruling of the lower court to stand.

-in 2018, the court refused to hear the case of Planned Parenthood of Arkansas v. Jegley which challenged Arkansa’s abortion regulations. SCOTUS therefore allowed this law to come into force.

-in 2020, the court refused to hear challenges to the electoral result, allowing Biden to be inaugurated in 2021.

Supreme Court and the protection of rights
which ruling protected free speech?

Snyder v. Phelps [2011]

-in an 8-1 ruling, the court ruled that free speech cannot be limited in public, even if considered offensive or causes emotional distress.

Alito dissented, arguing that the constitution is not a free pass for “vicious verban assault”

Supreme Court and the protection of rights
what ruling protected gun rights?

Caetano v. Massachuessts [2016]

-court ruled that the second amendment extends to “all instruments that constitute bearable arms”

Supreme Court and the protection of rights
what ruling protected gay rights?

Obergefell v. Hodges [2015]

-Court ruled that the right to marry is guaranteed to same sex couples by the 14th amendment.

-made this legal in all 50 states, overturning laws in 12 states which banned it.

Supreme Court and the protection of rights
how did the supreme court harm womens rights, while also enforcing state rights?

Dobbs v. Jackson [2022] overturned constitutional protection of abortion in Roe v. Wade [1973]

-favoured right of the states over the rights of women.

the effectiveness of rights protection
how can the court protect the rights of one group, to the detriment of another?

Obergefell v. Hodges [2015] protected the rights of the gay community.

-however, Kim Davis, a clerk in kentucky refused to issue a marriage licence to gay couples, due to her religious beleifs. she was briefly jailed for this by a district court.

On the other hand, in Burwell v. Hobby Lobby [2014] the religious rights of employers were placed above the rights of women.

the effectiveness of rights protection
how is there a debate on the amount of power the court has to protect rights in terms of the amount of cases it hears?

-court can only hear around 1% of the cases put to it every year. this means the vast majority of people who feel their rights have been infringed will never get protection from SCOTUS.

-In June 2018, the court refused to hear an appeal from a florist who had refused to make an arrangement for a gay couple, allowing hte lower court decision to stand.

the effectiveness of rights protection
how does the court have no power to enforce its rulings?

-the court has to rely on the power of the other branches to enforce rulings.

-Despite this, rulings which a president has disagreed with have still been enforced such as Citizens United v. FEC [2010]

-However, court rulings can often be circumvented/ignored. 4 cases regarding Guantanamo bay rose between 2004 and 2008, with SCOTUS always ruling in favour of the detainees. the fact that cases kept returning highlights weakness of its rulings.

the effectiveness of rights protection
how is the effectiveness of rights protection bound by the constitution?

-the court may find it difficult to protect rights as it rulings must be rooted in the wording of the constitution,

in Snyder v. Phelps [2011] the actions of the Westboro Baptist church may have appeared insensitive to the rights of the grieving family, but the constitution clearly protects free speech.

how should the constitution be interpreted?
why should the constitution be interpreted as a living document in terms of avoiding an outdated constitution?

-constitution will quickly become out of date if it is not interpreted in the light of modern developments, such as changing views on slavery, womens rights and gay rights.

-elected and accountable branches will favour the will of the majority, so interpreting the constitution as a living document will protect minority rights.

how should the constitution be interpreted?
why should the constitution be interpreted as a living document in terms of principles, founding fatehrs and teh amendment process?

-the founding fathers could not have predicted the modern world (2nd amendment is not about semi automatic weapons)

-amendment process is too difficult

-principles are still upheld despite the wording of the docuemnt.

how should the constitution be interpreted?
why should the constitution be interpreted as the original document in terms of a political court and the roles of the other branches?

-broad interpretation makes the court a poltiical body, undermining independence and impartilaity

-changes should be made by elected president and congress, rather than 9 unelected judges.

how should the constitution be interpreted?
why should the constitution be interpreted as the original document in terms of the amendment process and principles?

-amendment process exists and has been used successfully 27 times.

-principles of the constitution are not as significanta s the words of the text.

Judicial activism
what did obama say about judicial activism ?

“an activist judge was somebody who ignored the will of congress [and] ignored democratic processes”

Judicial activism
what is an example of liberal activism?

Obergefell v. Hodges [2015] created new policy by making gay marriage nationally lega, ignoring the laws of the 13 states in which it was banned.

-also struck down the congressional Defence of Marriage Act.

-court therefore overruled by congress and the state legislatures.

Judicial activism
what is an example of conservative activism?

Citizens United v. FEC [2010] overturned parts of the Bipartisan campaign Reform Act 2002. By allowing money to be a form of free speech, this advances conservative ideals.

-it also overruled another decision from the supreme court 7 years earlier, which had upholded the reforms.

Judicial restraint
what is the principle of allowing rulings to stand?

stare decisis - let the decision stand, the principle that judges should refer to previous court rulings and avoid overturning them

Judicial restraint
what is an example of liberal restraint?

Whole Womens Health v. Hellerstedt [2016] upholded 1973’s Roe v. Wade (overturned in 2022 however)

Judicial restraint
what is an example of conservative restraint?

Glossip v. Gross [2015] consolidated previous rulings which allow lethal injections as a form of capital punishment.

-

Checks and balances
what is the relationship between the court and other branches?

-the courts only power is judicial review, and while this allows it to strike down presidential and congressional actions, it hears only a few cases a year.

-the presidents power to appoint judges is something the court cant control. Congress in theory could alter the number of justices, or pass an amendment to overturn a court decision.

-constitutional amendments are however arre, and the last time the number of justices was changed was in 1869.

Checks and balances
how is there tension between the court and other branches in terms of Obama, and the voting rights act?

-Obama expressed anger at the court numerous times, noteably after Citizens United and his DAPA executive order.

-in 2018, the court struck down parts of the 1965 Voting Rights Act, stating “our country has changed in the past 50 years” while Congress could pass legislation to recognise changing political circumstance, this is unlikely due to hyperpartisanship.

Checks and balances
how is there tension between the court and other branches in terms of abortion?

-in 2020, while SCOTUS held an abortion case, Senator Schumer held a pro choice rally outside the court, stating “you wont know what hit you if you go forward with these awful decisions”

-in 2021, Biden accused the court of an “unprecedented assault on women’s constitutional rights” following its unwilllingness to strike down a Texas abortion law.

Checks and balances
how has the court still extended the powers of the other branches in terms of Congress’s money powers, and the presidents national security powers/

NFIB v. Sebelius [2011] the court defined hte individual mandate as within Congress’ pwoer to levy tax.

-The court upholded Trumps first term travel bans, noting that “the proclamation is squarely within the scope of presidential authority”

what is an imperial judiciary?

-an imperial judiciary is a court which is subject to very few checks and balances.

Legal action to bring change
how can appealing to SCOTUS bring change ?

-Groups can appeal cases to SCOTUS.

-The Coalition to Defend Affirmative Action, Integration and Immigrant Rights, And Fight for Wquality By any Means Necessary (BAMN) brought a case in 2014 to challenge a Michigan state ban on affirmative action.

Legal action to bring change
how can the impact of supreme court rulings bring change?

Supreme court rulings traditionally have a wide ranging impact.

-schools were desergregated in 1954 via Brown v. Topeka Board of Education

-Univeristy admission affirmative action in Fisher v. University of Texas in 2013 and 2016.

Legal action to bring change
how can groups directly express opinions to the supreme court?

Groups can submit amicus curiae breifs, which express their opinions on a case directly to the supreme court.

More than 60 amicus curiae Briefs from groups such as the NAACP were filed in Trump v. Hawaii [2018] regarding his travel ban. (the court still upheld the ban)

Mass demonstrations and direct action to bring change
how can mass demonstrations be organised to bring change?

Mass demonstrations can achieve change by showing the breadth of public opinion.

-in a representattive democracy, these protests encourage politicans to listen tin order to gain votes.

Mass demonstrations and direct action to bring change
which extremley famous demonstration led to concrete change?

The 1963 March On Washington for Jobs and Freedom was one of the largest ever protests in teh capital, and MLK gave his famous I have a dream speech.

-The march was followed by a meeting between President Johnson and King

-ultimately helped lead to the 1964 Civil Rights Act and the 1965 Voting Rights Act.

how has the voting rights act been harmed since?

in Shelby v. Holder [2013] the court ruled that section 5 of the Voting Rights Act was unconstitutional.

-state can now therefore change voting procedures without approval from the US attorney general.

Mass demonstrations and direct action to bring change

what event led to a resurgance in BLM? what are the statistics of the growth of teh movement?

in 2020, the murder of African American George Floyd led to a resurgance of the black lives matter movement.

-an average of 3.7 BLM tweets per day in 2020.

Mass demonstrations and direct action to bring change
how did the president respond to BLM protests?

Trump implemented an aggressive rather than compromising approach, hitning that the National Guard was ready to shoot protestors at any given moment.

what are statistics on police brutality on black people?

2020 Harvard studies show that African Americans are still 3.23 times more likely to be killed by police officers than white americans.

Mass demonstrations and direct action to bring change
what is an example of a major womens march?

The 2017 womens March involved around 200,000 people in Washington, to protest trumps inauguration and fight for womens rights.

Mass demonstrations and direct action to bring change
why can it be argued that this march was unsuccessful?

Trump continued to appoint conservative judges Gorsuch, Kavanaugh and Barret who ruled in favour of overturning Roe v. Wade in Dobbs v. Jackson.

Affirmative action
when did affirmative action originate?

Originated from Kennedy’s Executive Order 10925, which required government contractors to “take affirmative action” to ensure that employees are treated equally despite their demographics.

Affirmative action
how can it be argued that affirmative action has recently gotten worse?

Donald Trump campaigned strongly against ‘DEI’ policy in the 2024 election

-he continued to use executive orders to end government DEI policy in 2025.

Immigration reform
how did obama fail to pass immigration reform?

-Obama failed to reform immigration through Congres, sand passed neither the DREAM Act or the Bipartisan Border Security, Economic Opportunity, and Immigration Modernization Act 2013.

-these acts would have reformed the immigration system and gave undocumented immigrants a path to citizenship.

Immigration reform
how did obama use executive action to achieve some reform?

-deffered action for childhood arrivals (DACA) in 2012 allowed illegal immigrants who met a criteria to remain in the US.

-Obama extened this in 2014 through Deferred Action for Parents of Americans (DAPA)

-key aspects however struck down by the judiciary in 2016.

Immigration reform
how has executive action been used to impede on reform?

Trump in 2025 used executive orders to take a less liberal stance on immigration.

-Executive Order 14160 even challenged the 14th amendment, attempting to end birthright citizenship.

representation
how have elections increased in representation?

-2008, 2016, 2020 and 2024 presidential elections all saw female candidates on the presidential ballot.

-Kamala Harris in 2024 and Hillary Clinton in 2016 led the democratic nomination.

representation
how has there been increased representation in government office?

-Obama was the first African American President.

-Harris was the first female vice president

-Jackson was the first african american woman nominated to SCOTUS.

representation
how is representation still an issue in terms of the presidency?

over the past 236 years of the presidency, there has not been a single elected female president.

-there has also only been 1 african american president.

representation
what do statistics show about the US demographics?

2022 US census showed that 13.6% of hte population identiified as African American, women also make up the majority of the population at 50.5%.