Chap. 7**,** Lesson 3 – “The Supreme Court”

A. Jurisdiction and Organization

Main job -- Power of judicial review --> Final authority: 1) interpreting the

meaning of the Constitution; 2) determine whether laws, treaties, etc. are constitutional.

Jurisdiction – Original jurisdiction (authority to hear a case for the first time) in two instances:

cases involving foreign diplomats; b) disputes between states.

All other cases -- appellate jurisdiction --> cases come up from the lower courts;

1. Organization and Duties – a) eight associate justices, one Chief Justice (John G. Roberts);

2. currently four women (Amy Coney Barrett replaced Ruth Bader Ginsburg in 2020; Sonia Soto Mayor – third woman and first Hispanic, and Elena Kagan; Ketanji Brown Jackson -- first Black woman, 2022) and five men;

c) main duties -- to select, hear, decide appealed cases; issue written opinions.

1. Selecting Justices – a) presidents appoint justices with Senate approval; they serve for life;

b) presidents choose justices with likelihood of Senate confirmation;

c) they're always lawyers;

d) some have taught law, served as judges, or held other public positions;

e) nominees often support the president’s party, but follow their own consciences and understanding of the law once appointed.

B. Powers of the Court

Leg./Exec branches -- obey Court rulings. Independent judiciary – The Court is not elected, so it’s not

involved in politics, so it’s free from the influence of special-interest groups; it will more likely give cases a

fair hearing.

1. Judicial Review – Remember: “The most important thing the Supreme Court will do is

exercise its power of judicial review.”

Meaning: a) Supreme Court has the final authority to nullify, or cancel, unconstitutional laws, leg. /exec. actions; b) judicial review --> a check against the other two branches.

1. Limits on the Supreme Court –

a) the Court depends on federal, state, and local executive branches to enforce their rulings;

b) new laws/Constitutional amendments can get around court rulings;

c) the Court only rules on challenges to laws or actions brought to it and only if it involves a

federal question;

d) the Court traditionally stays out of political arguments better left to the other two branches.

Chap. 7, Lesson 4 – “Supreme Court Procedures and Decisions”

C. Court Procedures

Sessions – first Monday in October to June; “Recess” – new cases are studied and other paper

work is done in between sessions – it's not a vacation!

1. How Cases Reach the Court – a) thousands of appeals; only a few hundred are accepted; fewer yet may be heard/decided (ex: 2006 – 8,900 appeals, but only 67 actually heard with written opinions given).

2. four of the nine justices must agree to hear a case; it goes on the Court’s docket, or calendar;

3. Selecting Cases – Four guiding questions:

a) Is it an important Constitutional question, e.g. free speech?;

b) Is it a legal (law-related) and not a political issue?;

c) Does this issue affect the entire nation, not just a couple of individuals?

d) Are there two opposing sides? (Cases fitting these criteria are granted a “writ of certiorari” (sir-she-a-

RAH-ree), meaning a written request for its lower court records.)

1. Steps in Decision Making –

a) written arguments received – in the form of briefs, summaries of both sides' positions;

b) oral arguments – 30 minutes per side; argue with the justices, answer questions;

c) justice conference – Fridays; justices have secret meetings; debate and vote on cases; at least six

justices needed to decide a case;

d) opinion writing – majority, concurring, and dissenting opinions (see previous notes). Unanimous

opinions, which are rare, mean all the justices agree;

e) announcement – announcements of rulings/majority opinions become precedents and law followed by

all lower courts and governments.

1. Reasons for Decisions – how justices reach their decisions and often disagree…

a) legal precedents from previous cases are often followed, making the law predictable;

b) social conditions change – as public ideas and attitudes and technology change, Court decisions

are influenced. (Example – Plessy v. Ferguson established the “separate but equal” doctrine in 1896

for the next 58 years, but by the 1950s, views on racial segregation changed due to blacks fighting and

dying in WWII. In 1954, Brown v. Board of Education overturned Plessy, ending segregation in

schools);

c) differing legal views – some feel differently about how involved the Court should be in promoting new

ideas or policies by making certain rulings (often called “legislating from the bench”); justices’ legal

philosophies may vary as well.

d) personal beliefs – no matter how objective a justice tries to be, his/her personal beliefs will get involved

at times.