Midterm Study: Courts and Social Policy

Two elements of government

Monopoly of force and legitimacy

Types of government (5)

Anarchism, Minimal state, Liberal Welfare State, Socialism, Totalitarianism

Elements of a legal system (3)

institutions, procedures, substantive rules

Relationship of policy to government and law

law is usually the instrument that governments use to pursue policy objectives

Types of Justice (4)

Procedural, Retributive, corrective, and distributive

Four types of legal system

Civil, common, religious, and customary law

Which type of law is bottom up? Which is top down?

Common: bottom-up Civil: top-down

Role of Judges in Common vs. Civil Law

Common: judges interpret and develop law. Civil: Judges act as civil servants who administer the code

US founding (5)

Declaration of independance, Articles of Confederation, Constitutional convention, Constitution takes effect, Bill of rights ratified.

What is the tension between democracy and constitutionalism

Constitutionalism defines that some rights are off limits for a majority vote, white democracy says that the majority should govern.

What are the three functions of courts?

resolve disputes, create legal expectations, and act as guardians of individual rights

Explain courts in the U.S. federal system

State courts and federal courts operate as two parallel systems for dispute resolution. State courts have original jurisdiction for most cases. Federal courts have original jurisdiction only when there is a (1) federal issue or (2) diversity jurisdiction

Role of judges in trial courts

Judges = “legal umpire”

– Neutral arbiter of the legal process

– Provides jury instructions on law

– May act as factfinder in some trials (“bench trials”)

Role of attorneys in trial courts

-Counsel represents their clients

– A prosecutor represents government in criminal cases

Role of juries in trial courts

– Hears evidence and decides facts

– Makes final decision

The Trial Process: Pretrial (4 steps)

– Pleadings

– Pretrial motions

– Discovery

– Pretrial resolution

The Trial Process: Trial (5 steps)

– Jury selection

– Opening statements

– Evidence

– Closing arguments

– Verdict

Who can appeal a trial court decision?

loosing party can appeal verdict. In civil case, either party may appeal, but in criminal case, only defendant can appeal

What are the appellate outcomes? (3)

Affirm, Reverse, Remand

Trial courts vs. appellate courts

Trial courts resolve cases; appellate courts decide legal questions and

establish judicial precedents

Why is the Supreme Court called “the least dangerous branch”?

“The judiciary … has no influence over either the sword or the purse … It may truly be said to have neither FORCE nor WILL, but merely judgment” (Alexander Hamilton, Federalist No. 78)

What case established judicial review?

Marbury vs Madison, it allowed the Supreme Court to declare an act of Congress unconstitutional

What case established judicial supremacy?

In Cooper v. Aaron (1958), SCOTUS unanimously held that Brown v. Board of Education was binding on states

Limits to Judicial Review

Standing Requirement, political question docterine

Cases on Racial Segregation and Desegregation (4)

1857

– In Dred Scott v. Sanford, SCOTUS held that African Americans

cannot be U.S. citizens and cannot due in federal court

• 1868

– 14th Amendment states that all persons born in the United States

are citizens

• 1896

– In Plessy v. Ferguson, SCOTUS held that state law requiring racial

segregation on train cars did not violate 14th Amendment so long

as cars were “equal but separate”

• 1954

– In Brown v. Board of Education, SCOTUS held that public schools

segregated by state law violated the 14th Amendment

Cases on Affirmative Action in Higher Education (4)

1978

– In Regents of UC Davis v. Bakke, SCOTUS held that racial quotas in

admissions violate the 14th Amendment, but other uses of racial

preferences are permissible

• 2003

– In Grutter v. Bollinger, SCOTUS held that race-conscious admissions

survived strict scrutiny if aimed at increasing educational diversity

• 2016

– In Fisher v. University of Texas (II), SCOTUS held that racial preferences

can survive strict scrutiny if they are part of a “holistic” admissions

process that promotes diversity

• 2023

– In Students for Fair Admissions v. Harvard, SCOTUS held that racial

preferences in higher education violate the the 14th Amendment

Cases on Same-Sex Marriage (5)

1986

– In Bowers v. Hardwick, SCOTUS held that state sodomy laws did not violate the 14th Amendment

• 1996

– In the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA), Congress passed federal law that defined marriage as between one man and one woman

• 2003

– In Lawrence v. Texas, SCOTUS held that laws prohibiting same-sex intercourse violated the 14th Amendment

• 2013

– In United States v. Windsor, SCOTUS held that section 3 of DOMA violated 14th Amendment by not recognizing state same-sex marriages

• 2015

– In Obergefell v. Hodges, SCOTUS held that same-sex couples have right to marry at the state and federal level under 14th Amendment

Cases on Religious Free Exercise (5)

1878

– In Reynolds v. United States, SCOTUS held that law against polygamy did not violate the 1st Amendment

• 1963

– In Sherbert v. Verner, SCOTUS held that a state law that denied unemployment benefits for a person who would not work on the Sabbath violated the 1st Amendment

• 1990

– In Employment Division v. Smith, SCOTUS held that generally applicable laws that burden religious practice do not violate the 1st Amendment

• 1993

– Congress passed the Religious Freedom Restoration Act (RFRA), requiring strict scrutiny for laws that substantially burden religious exercise

• 1997

– In City of Boerne v. Flores, SCOTUS held that RFRA was unconstitutional as it applied to the states