AP Gov Unit 3 Judicial Branch

Trial (district court)

Witness give testimony, judge/jury decide guilty or not (criminal case), liable or nor (civil case)

Original jurisdiction (district court)

Power to hear a case for 1st time

Appellate Jurisdiction (Circuit Courts Appeal)

Review case originating from lower court

Don’t retry case

Only review procedures, decision in lower court to see if proceeding was fair, law was applied properly, and no constitutional rights were violated.

SCOTUS

Created by Article 3 in Constitution

Deals almost exclusively with constitution laws

Decisions are supreme law of the land - Article VI (6) Supremacy clause

How do cases get to SCOTUS 

1. Case of national importance

2. Lower courts invalidates federal law

3. lower court split on issue               

Law applied differently in different part of country

Rule of four

If four justices want to hear case, they will hear oral argument

Precedent

Court decision considered authority for deciding subsequent case involving similar legal issue or facts

Stare decisis “Let the decision stand”

Judicial activism

Willingness to overturn precedent and laws

Court should be active in resolving disputes

Judicial restraint

Courts should resist overturning precedent and laws unless clearly violates constitution 

Originalism (strict construction)

Interpret by looking at text and farmers’ intent

More literal interpretation

Living constitution

Apply values and principles of constitution to modern problems