federal courts

what is the role of the courts in a democracy

to interpret the law including the constitution and protect minority rights

how long do federal judges serve

life terms

how are federal judges selected according to the constitution

nominated

how do term lengths and selection process contribute to the courts being counter-majoritarian

because life tenure and a politicized selection process allows unelected judges to overturn the will of the majority

does the court strike down more federal laws or more state and local laws

state and local laws

what is the difference between original and appellate jurisdiction

original jurisdiction is the authority to hear the case for the first time and appellate jurisdiction is the authority to review the decision of the lower courts

which federal courts have primarily original jurisdiction

district courts

how many district courts are there

91 with at least one in each state

how many courts of appeal are there

12 regional circuits and 1 federal circuit

why is precedent important in the judicial system

ensures the law is applied consistently and predictable across similar cases

what major decisions have overturned supreme court precedent

brown v. board, lawrence v. texas, dobbs overturned roe v. wade 2022

who nominates federal judges and supreme court justices

the president

how does senatorial courtesy work on lower court nominations

senators from the state served by the court recommend nominees to the president and if the president chooses a different nominee the senator can block the nominee from coming to the floor for a confirmation vote

what are recent trends in the time it takes to confirm court nominations

increasing time

what are the trends in the failure rate of court nominations

increasing failure

historically how often are supreme court nominations rejected

20%

how successful are presidents at molding or packing the supreme court through nominations

2/3 Bush, 2/3 Obama, 3/3 Trump, 1/1 Biden

why is molding and packing the supreme court through nominations difficult

nominee may be under qualified, ideologically extreme, scandals arise, party polarization

who are the 9 supreme court justices

Gorsuch, Alito, Roberts, Thomas, Kavanaugh, Barret, Kagan, Jackson, Sotomayor

who is the chief justice

John G. Roberts

which justices are on the right (conservative)

Gorsuch, Alito, Roberts, Thomas, Kavanaugh, Barrett

which justices are on the left (liberal)

Kagan, Jackson, Sotomayor

what is the current ideological split on the supreme court

6-3 conservative-liberal

how many cases are appealed to the supreme court annually

7k

what percentage of cases are heard in the supreme court annually

2.5%

how many justices must agree to hear a case (grant certiori)

4

what happens when the court decides not to hear a case

stare decisis (the previous decision stands)

what happens with a tie vote on the court

lower courts decision is upheld, ruling has no precedential effect