GVPT 431 Law cornell edu 5103 Tydings Andrew Lugg TA office The Court System Deciding to Decide 09 04 2013 Issues dealing with the Constitution deal with law v morality Can you sue o If I insult your mother and your dog Yes Libel She can sue Not you Where do you sue State court Could be brought to a federal court if you claim it s a Constitutional right to say whatever you say o If I hit you Yes Where to sue MD District court o If I refuse to allow you in my class because of your religious beliefs Yes if is a public institution Where do you sue US District Court Federal principle Federal Courts being discussed Article III Sec 2 The judicial power shall extend to all cases in Law and Equity arising under this Constitution the Laws of the United States and Treaties made or which shall be made under their Authority Equity meaning what is fair in this case Cases should be decided via law But ultimately if there is no statute the case will be considered via what is fair and equitable Diversity Jurisdiction o Parties must be citizens of different states o Amount in dispute must exceed 75 000 Congress can determine the Court s subject matter jurisdiction o HYPOTHETICAL Can Congress pass a law that says the Court cannot decide any case involving abortion o What should the role of a Supreme Court in a constitutional democracy be Shouldn t we the people decide issues rather than an unelected court District Courts original jurisdiction FINDER OF FACTS present facts relevant of case and determines the legitimacy of fact Courts of Appeals 11 circuits plus DC and federal circuit o Is the way an appellate court looks at a case the same way an original jurisdiction hears the case No appellate courts only make arguments about whether a court made mistakes in the legality of the case cannot look at facts at all ARE ALL CIRCUITS CREATED EQUALLY No If there is any question regarding statutory interpretation of government it is filed in DC and nowhere else Circuit court for DC puts more people on the Supreme Court than any other Also things may be tried differently in different areas How do you get to the Supremes Be the United States Writ of Certiorari request to the court to review a lower court decision No guarantee that it will be heard It takes 4 votes to hear a case 5 votes to win a case Creates strategic decision making for the court You have enough to hear the case but not enough to win it What do you do Why do the Supremes grant cert Conflict among circuits Unsettled questions of law Key Questions Should justices only come from the legal academy court of What should the standard be for rejecting a Supreme Court appeals nominee Should the Senate be able to filibuster a Supreme Court nominee Should we have a specialized constitutional court Marbury v Madison Law or Politics 09 04 2013 Announcements Pizza w the prof Campus Diner Marbury v Madison Law or Politics o Wednesdays at 1 before class Gazebo room in South William Marbury speculator from PG County Bought bonds issued in Rev war Great grand father was the largest land owner in PG Co Father blew the inheritance Federalist Adams Federalist v Jefferson Democratic Republican v Burr Democratic Republican Jefferson and Burr tie and Congress decides on Jefferson Judiciary Act 1801 Allowed Adams to appoint midnight Justices by adding extra judges to a few courts Lame duck Congress Marbury appointed Justice of the Peace for D C Highest ranking judicial official within the district Had phenomenal power Secretary of State John Marshall is supposed to deliver commission to Marbury When the case is tried Marshall is a Supreme Ct Justice Marbury wants his commission Secretary of State after Marshall is Roy Lincoln Madison was in Virginia until this case was sorted out What does Marbury do Sues straight to the Supreme Court Files a writ of mandamus court issued writ that commands some official to do something Trying to get SC to mandate Sec of State to deliver commission There is a lower operational court in D C at the time James Marshall is head of the court He is John Marshall s brother First thing Supreme Court did was subpoena Lincoln He s asked where the document was who signed it all of this He pled the fifth The record tells us that what Jefferson told Lincoln was put the papers in a desk and make them go away Lincoln leaves Madison comes to D C Case moves forward Case was heard and decided in 1803 but this all happened in 1801 Another law was passed by Congress which eliminated all the posts the Federalists were trying to fill It also cancelled the 1802 term of the Supreme Court Case was heard on a day the opinion was released two days later Opinion was written before the case was even heard Actual Court Case Does Marbury have a right to a Commission o Yes Adams signed the commission The president s signing of the commission constituted the appointment as well The minute the president makes the sole voluntary act of signing the commission he s made that choice o Marshall is covering his ass here He says that when its signed its valid because its he who screwed up and didn t send it If that s the case why have delivery at all What if the president changes his mind Does Marbury have a remedy o Yes A right implies a remedy If there is a right the right wouldn t mean anything if there weren t a remedy to enforce that right o But do all rights imply remedies Is that remedy mandamus o Supreme Court doesn t have original jurisdiction to order a the mandamus You can t seek a writ of mandamus in the Supreme Court o Under Article III of Constitution it doesn t give Supreme Court original jurisdiction it gives it appellate jurisdiction o Article III Section 2 Paragraph 1 The judicial power shall extend to all cases in Law and Equity arising under this Constitution the Laws of the United States and Treaties made or which shall be made under their Authority Is this case about fairness or legality o 2 Paragraph 2 In all cases affecting Ambassadors other public Ministers and Consuls and those in which a State shall be a party the supreme Court shall have original jurisdiction In all other cases before mentioned the supreme court shall have appellate jurisdiction What if the case is not mentioned in all other cases is that term expandable or What about public ministers and consuls Is Marbury a Judiciary act of 1789 Sec 13 public minister The SC shall also have appellate jurisdiction from the circuit courts and courts of the several states in the cases herein
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