US Supreme Court

Most cases that the supreme court hears are

appeals where it reviews a ruling that has already been made by a lower court

how many cases filed to SCOTUS a year

about 8000

how many cases heard a year

70 to 80

who decides what cases they hear

the court itself, if they chose not to hear a case then the decision of the highest court to already hear it will remain in place which means it can be significant even if it doesn’t hear a case

Hierarchy of courts in the US system

District courts, circuit courts and supreme court

makeup of the supreme court

9 judges in total, one chief justice and 8 associate judges

who can be nominated to be a judge

anyone the president wants, don’t even have to have a legal background but in practice they always do

what happens if chief justice retires or dies

president can either nominate a totally new person for the role or choose to elevate one of the associate justices and then hire a new associate

William Rehnquist

died in 2005 so bush nominated john roberts to replace him as chief justice

recent norm for presidential appointments to scotus

they chose justices based on their judicial philosophy which is the role they think that the law should play in society and how they interpret it

SCOTUS and POTUS legacy

appointing supreme court justices are one of the best ways a president can have a long lasting legacy so their ideological leanings and legal experience determine the president’s choice

who hears and confirms nominees

the senate judiciary committee

what happens during a senate judiciary hearing

the nominee is questioned over several days about their background, experience, character and judicial philosophy

what happens after the judicial committee’s hearing ends

they hold a vote about whether the nominee should be recommended to the full senate chamber, all 100 members then decide

last person to be rejected by senate judiciary commitee

robert bork in 1987 due to record on civil rights

Impeachment and scotus judges

can be impeached by the house of representatives and then removed from office if found guilty by the senate but this has only happened once to samuel chase in 1805

swing justice

a judge who is politically centrist and may vote in either direction

scotus until 2020

5-4 in favour of conservatives for 20 years but with Kennedy acting as a swing justice

scotus makeup since 2020

6-3 conservative majority

2 examples of current conservative justices

Amy Coney Barratt and Clarence Thomas

2 examples of liberal scotus justices

Sonia Sotomayor and Ketanji brown jackson

main constitutional role of the court

to clarify federal law based on previous rulings and the constitution

Brown v Board

1954 overruled Plessy v Ferguson which had established separate but equal precedent and outlawed segregation in schools

Roe V Wade

1973, ruled that the constitution’s right to privacy should extend to abortion rights so there was a federal right even though state’s interpretations did vary

United States V Nixon

1974, ordered Nixon to hand over the tapes that incriminated him in the watergate scandal

United States v Lopez

1995, ruled that the gun free zones law around schools violated the constitution as it indirectly prevented people from purchasing guns from areas within schools and the federal gov cannot regulate trade within states

Rasul v Bush

2004, ruled that terror suspects detained by the bush administration had a right to fair trial and couldn’t be detained indefinitely

DC v Heller

2008, found that the 2nd amendment’s ‘right to bear arms’ protected individual gun ownership outside of a well organised militia so it ruled columbia district’s handgun ban was unconstitutional

Citizens United v Federal election commission

2010, court ruled that 1st amendments freedom of speech should extend to political donations so limits on group or individual donations unconstitutional

National federation of independent business v Sibelius

The Supreme Court upheld the ACA’s rule that you would be fined if you didn’t have insurance as a tax, and ruled that forcing states to expand Medicaid by threatening all funding was unconstitutionally coercive

Shelby Country v Holder

2013, struck down laws that prevented certain congressional districts from changing their election procedures without authorisation which meant many districts introduced measures which allegedly were designed to supress voters from minority groups

Obergefell v Hodges

2015, upheld the constitutionality of same sex marriage meaning it became a federal right in all 50 states

Burwell v Hobby Lobby

2014, expanded idea of corporate personhood, ruling that closely held corporations could refuse to provide contraception as part of health insurance if it violated their religious beliefs,

Dobbs v Jackson Women’s health organisation

2022, overturned roe v wade which meant abortion rights back to being decided on a state by state basis

Roman Catholic Diocese of Brooklyn v Cuomo

2020, ruled limits on gathering for religious services during covid was unconstitutional

SFFA v Harvard

ruled that affirmative action policies in college admissions was unconstitutional in 2023

Clinton v Jones

1997, A sitting president can be sued in civil court for actions unrelated to official presidential duties.

Biden v Nebraska

2023, court ruled against Biden’s plan to cancel $10,000 worth of student debt for low and middle income families

New York State Pistol and Rifle Association v Bruen

2022, NY state’s requirement that people who wanted to carry firearms in public had to show a special need for self protection was unconstitutional

Trump v Thompson

2022, ruled Trump couldn’t block the release of white house docs about the january 6th riots and could have consequences for future presidents and executive privilege

judicial activism

a way of operating as a judge which seeks to actively expand the interpretation of the law to promote a social cause

judicial restraint

a way as operating as a judge which focuses on existing legal precedents often resisting attempts to expand the law

Example of SCOTUS being seen as effective

they refused to hear trump’s challenge to the validity of 2020 election result despite a third of its members having been nominated by trump and 2/4 by republican presidents

Example of SCOTUS ruling against congress laws as unconstitutional

FEC v Ted Cruz for senate 2021, court ruled against a section of the bipartisan campaign finance reform act

supreme court as a check on the power of states

usually protects them from federal government overreach but does also rule against them too like the brown v board and the catholics in NY one

How do judges decide which cases to hear

rule of 4, 4 have the agree the case is worth hearing

scotus as an effective way of protecting the framers aims

prevent abuses of power

allows states to regain control from the federal gov

stops federal gov from encroaching

Imperial judiciary

because it granted itself such extensive power under Marbury v Madison and few checks and balances on SCOTUS as only 1 justice has been impeached in its entire history

filibuster and scotus

filibuster for supreme court appointments banned in 2017 which means that justices can be confirmed by just one party in times of united government

average time between nomination and conformation 1789-1965

13 days

average time between conformation and nomination 1965-2020

54

politicisation of the supreme court

partisan at every stage, presidents only nominate people who agree and conformation is conditional on the party’s majority support

all six conservative scotus members are members of

the federalist society, a right wing judicial pressure group

Justices voting along ideological lines

out of the 15 highest profiled cases, Brett Kavanaugh and John Roberts voted with the conservative majority 14 times and Kagan and Sotomayor voted along liberal lines in all 15

Bloc vote example

Dobbs, all 6 conservatives voted for and 3 liberals against

disagreement over the scope of civil rights

some think emphasis should be on individual rights and others a balance between individual and collective rights

negative freedoms

protected by legal measures like constitutional rights and legislation

positive freedoms

offered by access to services

civil rights debate

should they offer equity or equality

equity

belief that some individuals and groups may require different treatment to address historical inequalities

liberals v conservatives on civil rights

most liberals argue they should extend to positive freedoms but conservatives consider these individual responsibilities

gun related deaths in 2021

almost 49,000

example of civil right evolving over time

right to bear arms was relatively uncontroversial when it was written but has become so as technology has developed

constitution and social change

no national debates over key social issues like abortion and same sex marriage when constitution was written

constitution and limits on its use for racial equality

most of the framers were either slave owners or financially benefitted from it so how can it be effective in upholding it as rights all have to be based on it

when did congress pass its first law on native american rights

180 years after it started

3/5 compromise

principle set out in the original constitution that when determining the size of a state’s population, an enslaved person should count for 3/5 of an enslaved person

UK v US supreme court power

In the US, power of judicial review has no limit but in the UK the supreme court cannot issue binding rulings that overrule statute law passed by parliament and ultra vires rulings and decs of incompat can both be ignored

Declarations of incompatibility leading to law change since 1998

17 of 34

Parliament overriding supreme court

Safety of Rwanda Act 2024 overruled R v home sec in 203 which ruled rwanda wasnt a safe third country

Examples of both supreme courts checking executive power

US v Nixon, Biden v Nebraska and the two Miller rulings

supreme courts expanding civil rights

obergefell v hodges and steinfield and keidan v sec of state for international development allowing all people to have civil partnerships in 2019

examples of both courts clarifying the limits of decentralised power

• indyref 2 case in 2022

• DC v Heller

both supreme courts failing to protect environmental rights

friends of the earth v heathrow airport 2020 ruled 3rd runway plan legal

ohio v environmental protection agency 2024 limited extent to which federal environment agency could regulate pollution caused by the states

tensions between individual and collective rights usually occur in areas like

policing and immigration, Trump v Hawaii and R v home sec 2017 which argued that home office’s deport first appeal later policy was beyond legal authority

less consensus over what in the US than UK

how rights should be defined, guns, abortion and marriage rights all differed across the US but UK has cohesive opinion on them