A User's Guide to Democracy - 3. The Judicial Branch

Who appoints Supreme Court justices? For how long are they on the bench?

• Supreme Court justices are appointed by the president with the Senate's advice/consent.

• Supreme Court justice appointments are practically for life.

What does the Supreme Court do?

• It is an appellate court, meaning it hears appeals

• Hears cases involving:

  • Ambassadors

  • Public officials

  • States

What did the decision of Marbury v. Madison do?

It had Chief Justice John Marshall write that the Supreme Court wasn't the branch responsible for enforcing the law, but it decides whether a law or decision made by the government is/isn't constitutional.

What is the advantage of having a body to interpret the Constitution and to decide what could be law?

It makes our constitution a living document that grows with us.

What are the two main paths to the Supreme Court?

State Court Path:

• Most legal cases happen in state courts (issues like stealing a car or having trouble with a relative's will).

• About 10% of cases the Supreme Court hears come through state courts.

• But if there's a constitutional question about the statute (written law passed by a legislative body) that can be appealed to a higher court.

Federal District Court Path (more common):

• Most cases that get to the Supreme Court come from the Federal Court; there are 96 federal district courts

• If you lose in a district court, you can appeal to a circuit court

  • But you can't argue the facts again -- you can only argue that something went wrong during the trial (bad jury selection, unfair judge decision, unconstitutional law, etc.)

Federal District Court → Circuit Court Path

• Circuit courts review the legal process rather than the verdict itself

• The parties are the petitioner (the party that lost the case in the lower court) and the respondent (the party that won the previous case)

• Each side submits a written argument called a brief, and a panel of 3 judges reviews the briefs, sometimes holds a hearing and gives a decision, whether to affirm (the lower court was right), reverse (the lower court was wrong) or remand (send the case back for a new trial with specific instructions)

• This is usually where it stops because the circuit court's rulings are very powerful

What does a “cert petition” do? Why are cert petitions usually given?

• Usually submitted if a ruling was unfair

• It usually doesn’t exactly argue your case, but just explains why the Supreme Court should hear it

• They are usually given due to circuit splits, or when different circuit courts give opposite rulings on the same issue (which makes the law unclear across the country)

What is a writ?

A form of written command in the name of a court or other legal authority to act, or abstain from acting, in some way.

What does a typical case in the Supreme Court look like?

• A writ is granted.

• Petitioner files merits brief: The petitioner has 45 days to file another brief, called a merits brief, which is all about why they should win

  • Parties who aren't directly involved in a case but have a big interest in the outcome can file an "amicus brief"

• Arguments: each case gets about an hour of argument divided between the advocates (lawyers representing the petitioner and the respondent), with the petitioner talking first; advocates speak directly to the justices since there is no jury

  • The petitioner and the respondent each have 30 minutes to speak, reserving some of their time for rebuttal

What does the vote of the justices look like?

• The court meets for the Justices’ Conference to vote on the cases heard on the previous two days

• It is just the nine justices who do this

• The chief justice speaks first

• The justices in the majority are tasked with writing the opinion, and those in the minority can write the dissenting opinion

• Each justice can change their vote based on these opinions, so the opinions and dissents undergo many rewrites in an attempt to sway more votes to either side.

What does the court’s opinion consist of?

• Syllabus: summary of the facts of the case, how the court rules

• Main Opinion: outlines the legal reasoning and precedent for voting the way they did

• Concurring and Dissenting Opinions: arguing why a justice’s colleagues may be wrong

• Disposition: action the court is taking (affirm, reverse, or remand)