Supreme Court

• Decide whether laws are constitutional

  • JUDICIAL REVIEW

• Highest court in the land

• Jurisdiction: Original and Appellate

• Powers:

  • Judicial Review (Marbury v. Madison)

  • Interpret meaning of laws

• Final authority on:

  • Legal question when dealing with constitution

  • Acts of Congress

  • US treaties

• Cases heard (very few)

  • Cases that come through appeal

  • Cases that deal with the Constitution

    • Hear oral arguments, study written briefs, reach majority decision

• 9 Justices

  • 1 chief justice, 8 associate justices

  • Justices for life (retire, resign, die)

• Original jurisdiction

  • Cases involving two or more states

  • Affecting ambassadors and public ministers

• Checks on powers of other branches

  • Can require change in law/executive action to fit the Constitution

  • Require change in Constitution to fit the law if Congress presses issue

• Checks on court:

  • President appoints judges, Senate approves

  • Congress can impeach and remove judges from office

  • Can only rule in cases that come to Supreme Court

• 8,000 cases come to Supreme Court - only a few hundred were accepted

  • 4 justices have to agree to accept a case

    • Over ½ of these = remanded (returned to a lower court without the Court ruling on them)

• Either party in a case can petition SC to issue a writ of certiorari agreeing to review case

  • Writ of certiorari - an order by SC telling lower court to send it specific case to review

• OR cases can reach SC by certificate - lower court asks the SC to rule on a confusing issue

  • Certificate - request by lower court for SC to certify answer to question about proper procedure or rule of law in a case

• Term - October to June/July

• Steps:

  • Receive written briefs (sometimes interested parties also submit briefs with permission or on request)

  • Hear oral arguments - typically 30 minutes per side

  • Recess to consider case; conference with each other 

  • Issues opinion

    • Majority opinion - official ruling of SC; explains decision

    • Concurring opinion - agrees with majority but for different reasons

    • Dissenting opinion - written by justice(s) who disagree with Court’s decision (does NOT become president)

  • Will release at least 1 opinion, sometimes 2, rarely 3, majority opinion and reasons matter

Solicitor general = USG representative 

• Decides what case the USG should ask the court to review

Restraint

• Courts should defer to the policy decisions of the legislative and executive branch

• Judges should decide cases based upon

  • Intent of framers and Congress when it was originally written

  • Precedents set by rulings in similar cases

Activism

• Judges should take into account how social values and conditions may have changed over time when they interpret the law

• Judges can and should make independent decisions when their interpretation of the law differs from that of legislative and executive branches