Characteristics of the Judiciary

• Jurisdiction

  • Original Jurisdiction refers to the first hearing of a case, where facts are presented

    • Trial Courts, Federal District Courts, Sometimes the SCOTUS

  • Appellate Jurisdiction refers to an upper court reviewing/revising the decision of a lower court

    • Court of Appeals, SCOTUS

    • Most of SCOTUS cases are brought up into the SCOTUS through Appellate Jurisdiction

  • Judicial Review

    • Principle established by the court case Marbury v. Madison

    • Gave SCOTUS the ability to review acts of Congress and of the Executive Branch to determine constitutionality

Types of cases the Supreme Court can hear

• Cases in which the Federal Government is a party

  • Solicitor General argues on behalf of the Federal Government

• Cases involving members of different states

• When there is a conflict among lower courts

• Cases involving important social issues

Federalist Paper #78

• Argued for Lifetime Tenure

  • Judges and Justices will stay in their position until they retire or expire

    • Subject to impeachment

  • Argued that lifetime tenure takes away political pressures, insuring a fair and just judiciary

  • Best device for insuring judicial independence

• Argued that the Judicial Branch is least powerful

  • Only have power to judge, not act

  • Depend on Executive branch to carry out laws

• Judiciary needs to be independent

  • To protect against government and from factions

Types of Law

• Criminal

  • Related to protection of property and individual safety

• Civil

  • Involves relationships between individuals or groups

The Federal Court System

• Judiciary Act of 1789’

  • Created 3-tiered court system with SCOTUS at the top, followed by the Courts of Appeal and District Courts

  • Established amount of SCOTUS justices

• Characteristics of Federal District Courts, jurisdiction

  • Only have original jurisdiction

  • 94 in total, all states have at least one

• Characteristics of Us Court of Appeals, jurisdiction

  • Appellate jurisdiction (appeals) meaning they review decisions from District Courts

  • 11 courts, 12th is for Federal Regulatory Commissions and 13th regards patents

• Characteristics of the SCOTUS, jurisdiction

  • Mostly appellate jurisdiction, although can have either

  • 8 associate justices, one chief justice

  • Chief justice is the spokesperson, does not have any extra votes or privileges

  • Justices are appointed by the current president and approved by the Senate

  • Each justice has four clerks that can assist in choosing which cases to recommend that they hear based on the criteria above

  • Once a case is suggested, four out of the eight remaining justices must vote to hear the case creating a 5-4 majority

    • Rule of Four

Legislative Checks on the Judiciary

• Can impeach justices

• Propose amendments which cannot be reviewed by the SCOTUS

• Control amount of SCOTUS justices

  • Judiciary Act of 1789

• Control amount of Federal Courts

Executive Checks on the Judiciary

• Executive can ignore to implement unpopular laws

• Appointing justices, having a direct impact on the political and ideological makeup of the Judicial Branch

SCOTUS Nomination Process

• Nominating Criteria

  • Competence

    • Most nominees have had some judicial, legal, or governmental experience, for example as a clerk for a SCOTUS justice

    • Do not need experience as a judge or lawyer

  • Ideology / Policy Preference

    • Most presidents seek to appoint individuals who share policy preferences with themselves

  • Pursuit of Political Support

    • Choosing nominees in order to help reelection efforts

• Nomination/Confirmation Process

  • Potential candidates are chosen by White House staff members and sent to FBI for background checks

  • Qualified (according to ABA) members are sent to the Senate Judiciary Committee for an investigation and testimony

    • Only been a practice seen the 80s

  • Nominee must receive a majority vote in order to pass to Senate vote

  • Rejections can be predicted quite easily, as the Senate Judiciary Committee holds a lot of power

• Controversy over picks to the Bench

  • “Bait and Switch” - Justice not voting with party preferences of the president that appointed them

  • Issues of Diversity

  • Media Coverage

How a case gets to the Supreme Court

• Role of Clerks

  • Clerks help choose the most important cases for the Discuss List

  • 4 per justice

• Rule of Four

  • Four justices, along with the justice who suggested it, must agree to hear a case

    • Results in 5-4 majority in favor of hearing a case

• Granting Certiorari - conditions

  • Cases in which the federal government is a party

    • Solicitor general argues on behalf of the government

  • Conflict among lower courts

  • Constitutional questions

  • Involves important social issues

• Amicus Curiae Briefs

  • From interest groups or individuals, stating why a certain case should be heard

• Types of Opinions

  • Majority Opinion

    • Opinion of the majority of the justices, winning opinion in the case

  • Concurrent Opinion

    • Agrees with majority opinion

  • Dissenting Opinion

    • Disagrees with the opinion of the majority

Decisions

• Precedent

  • A decision that serves as a rule for settling future cases of a similar nature

• Stare Decisis

  • Reliance on past decisions (precedents) to formulate new decisions

Judicial Philosophies

• Judicial Activism

  • Judges using power broadly

  • It is appropriate to correct injustices committed by other branches

• Judicial Restraint

  • Courts should allow decisions of other branches to stand

    • Strict Constructionism

Models of Judicial Decision Making

• Behavioral

  • Differences in background

    • Experiences

    • Religious values

    • education

• Attitudinal

  • Preferences towards issues of public policy

    • Party identification

    • their interpretations

    • political leanings

• The Strategic Model

  • Thinking about how internal/external variables will be affect by their decision