THE JUDICIAL BRANCH POSC 1010 Spring 2022 Establishment Review Article III of Constitution Only provides for Supreme Court Lower federal courts left to Congress to form organize SCOTUS only given power as highest court of appeals Court of Last Resort no mention of judicial review Establishment Review Article III of Constitution Federal courts given original jurisdiction in cases involving Conflicts between states Where an ambassador or other public official is a party Federal laws are an issue i e laws made pursuant to Constitution Citizens of different states or citizens of one state against another state U S citizens and foreign citizens or states Judiciary Intro Some terms Jurisdiction literally speak the law legal authority to enforce law or in case of judiciary to hear cases Original jurisdiction authority to initially hear a case Appellate jurisdiction authority to hear appeals of a lower court s decision Prosecution plaintiff the one lodging the complaint against another can be the state i e the gov t or individual s Defendant respondent the one against whom complaint is made i e the one being tried Judiciary Intro Court Originally referred to the king his entourage King decided on disputes between subjects Famous historic example King Solomon 1 Kings 3 16 28 Gradually developed into separate institution with judges Judiciary Intro Court Framers based U S system on British Common Law Concept of stare decisis Latin let the decision stand Past decisions on specific matters form precedent for future decisions Accumulation of precedent forms the common law informs how laws are enforced by executive branch judged Judiciary Intro Court Role of court judges juries is to apply law without bias Are to maintain detachment in decision as much as possible Including cases that involve the government Rule of Law people in government should be held to same legal standard as ordinary citizens Judges should recuse selves where conflict of interest Cases Decided by Courts Criminal involving violation of a local state or federal statute Misdemeanor held to be a less serious offense usually punishable by fine occasionally brief jail time Felony a more serious offense punishable by jail time often loss of liberties much larger fines and or capital punishment Cases Decided by Courts Civil involving disputes between individuals that do not constitute violation of a statute Contract law failure of one party to fulfil their part of a legally binding agreement Tort law damage done due to negligence or malfeasance ex medical malpractice Cases Decided by Courts Public Law When a criminal or civil case leads to the questioning of the validity of a law or governmental action Constitutional law branch of public law examining the constitutionality of laws or gov t actions Also a pretty fun but tough 4000 level POSC class Administrative law adjudication of regulatory matters carried out by executive branch agencies appealed to federal courts Cases Decided by Courts Public Law Federal court decisions in public law can have wide ranging implications E g Roe v Wade Brown v Bd of Ed etc Levels of State Federal Courts SCOTUS Request for Review U S Court of Appeals State Supreme Court State Appellate Courts U S District Courts State Trial Courts Federal Courts Lower Courts Federal district courts located in every state 94 districts some states subdivided Have original jurisdiction for cases that have federal court standing Districts are assigned number of judges magistrates based on workload e g district containing NYC will have more judges than district in SC Federal Courts Lower Courts Federal district courts located in every state Procedures Grand jury for indictments required under BOR Single judge presides over a case 12 member jury for trials unanimity required for conviction Source www flmd uscourts gov you are here Federal Courts Appellate Courts est 1891 12 circuits where is 12 on map Hint not numbered as 12 Appellate court in each circuit covers all districts therein Handles 10 of lower court decisions One of the parties must request an appeal Court decides which cases to review Federal Courts Appellate Courts est 1891 Barring successful appeal to SCOTUS appellate court decisions are final Therefore there are safeguards Multiple judge panels on each case not a single judge SCOTUS justice assigned to each circuit to review each decision Doesn t necessarily mean full Court will take up review of decision Typically appellate courts don t retry case they make sure original trial was done fairly and that law was correctly applied Supreme Court of the U S SCOTUS Chief justice C J and 8 associate justices Current Court C J John Roberts J Clarence Thomas J Samuel A Alito Jr J Sonia Sotomayor J Elena Kagan J Neil M Gorsuch J Brett M Kavanaugh J Amy Coney Barrett J Ketanji Brown SCOTUS Justices as are all fed court judges appointed by prez approved by Senate Senatorial courtesy senators from potential nominee s home state consulted prior to formal nomination of a fed judge Note currently 9 justices but no constitutional requirement for that number Number can be changed by Congress originally 6 current number established in 1869 Recall FDR s threat to stack the court in 1937 Senate Democrats threat to add justices to get liberal majority 2020 SCOTUS Chief Justice presides over SCOTUS proceedings but gets same vote has no more power than other justices Some CJ s have exercised strong leadership over Court others haven t Judges serve indefinitely once appointed confirmed During good behavior can be impeached Otherwise remain on the bench until they retire or expire SCOTUS Presidents of course appoint judges that will agree with their view of the Constitution Doesn t always work out once on the bench they often do their own thing Recent examples somewhat liberal to liberal parts of Obamacare J Sandra Day O Connor ret appointed by Reagan turned out to be J David Souter ret appointed by Bush I turned out to be moderate C J John Roberts appointed by Bush II led Court decision upholding SCOTUS Liberal Conservative in judicial terms Liberal judges are loose constructionists Interpret Constitution as a living document flexible with the times Tendency to read between the lines Net effect is to give government relatively more power that is explicitly stated in Constitution Also tends to take broader interpretation of rights ex Griswold decision SCOTUS Liberal Conservative in judicial terms Conservative judges tend to be