JUDICIAL BRANCH

By Sreepradha Sreekesh & Adonis Mullins

What does the judicial branch do?

The judicial branch decides if laws the legislative branch makes are constitutional. Also they also see if the laws the president announces to the public are real and constitutional. The judicial branch also judge only the most important court cases like Brown v.s. Board of Education.

Intro to the Supreme CourtThe Supreme Court first met in 1790. The judges are appointed by the President and then confirmed by the Senate. The judges of the supreme court serve a life time term, they can also retire or quit if they want. The Supreme Court has only occupied its current building since 1935. Before then, they borrowed space from the Senate Chambers in the capitol building. The Constitution framers say that the Judicial Branch is the “weakest” or the “least dangerous” branch of government.

The levels of the judicial branch.

If someone sues a person they first go to the local trial courts, if the person that is suing does not like that courts opinion then they can appeal it and take it to the court of appeals, if the person that is suing does not like there opinion, then they go to the federal court of appeals if the person that is suing does not like their opinion they can take it to the state supreme and if they do not like their opinion then they can take their case to the U.S. supreme court and the U.S. supreme court opinion has to be like for all courts.

Checks & Balances

Checks and Balances is when the branches of government checks on other branches. The Judicial Branch checks the Legislative branch by making sure the laws they make are constitutional. Judges can take executive acts unconstitutional and can be put on trial for committing a crime. They can also determine ;aw acts to disposition of prisoners, and they can also determine how law acts to submit proof and the production of evidence. They determine which laws Congress wants to apply to any given case.

Without the Judicial Branch?

What would our country be like if we didn’t have the Judicial Branch? If we didn’t have the Judicial Branch then there would be plenty more crime in the U.S. than there is today. More innocent people will be accused of crime, and Laws wouldn’t be fair, because the Judicial Branch is not there to make sure that those laws are constitutional. Eventually, we might end up with a king again and everyone knows how that turned out.

Current Event

There have been protests in Libya, just like Egypt, to get rid their president, Muammar Gaddafi, who has been ruling for 41 years. Throughout the petitioning, that had started on February 22, the military have been shooting protesters. There has been unnecessary bloodshed. President Obama says the killing Libya was “outrageous” and “unacceptable”. Video:

http://www.c-spanvideo.org/program/ViolenceinL

How can this happen to the U.S?

It can’t happen in the U.S. We have a four year election, so nobody becomes king. There won’t be as much bloodshed. Most laws would become unconstitutional. If we petitioned to get rid of ice cream, (which hopefully you won’t do), the government wouldn’t come to shoot us. That’s not fair. Muammar Gaddafi:

Bibliography* http://www.whitehouse.gov/our-government *http://articles.cnn.com/2002-10-07/justice/scotus.works_1_justices-court-arguments-publicschools?_s=PM:LAW *http://americanhistory.about.com/od/usconstitution/a/checks_balances.htm *http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Separation_of_powers#Checks_and_balances *http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2011/02/22/AR2011022206935.html *http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2011/02/22/AR2011022206935.html *http://news.yahoo.com/s/dailybeast/20110222/ts_dailybeast/12546_libyaprotestsmuammargaddafidefiantasleadershipvacuumgrows

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