CHAPTER 11 AND 12

SUMMARY

How does the Constitution define the powers of the federal courts, and how are the various courts related to one another?

Lower Federal Courts: Constitutional courts• Established by Congress under the provisions

of Article III of the Constitution• Include federal district courts, federal courts

of appeals, and United States Court of International Trade

Lower Federal Courts: Legislative courts• Created by Congress under provisions in

Article I of the Constitution to help Congress carry out its powers

• Include United States Tax Court, U.S. Court of Appeals for the Armed Forces, Court of Appeals for Veterans, and others

The Supreme Court• Original jurisdiction in cases involving

representatives of foreign countries and certain cases in which a state is a party

• Appellate jurisdiction in cases that are appealed from lower courts of appeals or from a state’s highest court, as well as certain cases from federal district courts in which an act of Congress was held unconstitutional

• Justices appointed by president with Senate approval

Development of Supreme Court Power• 1801–1883: Marshall Court extended

power of Supreme Court and strengthened federal power over the states

• 1803: Marbury v. Madison established power of judicial review

• 1953–1969: Warren Court adopted a more liberal view on civil rights and public-policy issues

How do cases come before the Supreme Court, and what factors influence the decisions the Court makes?

Getting Cases to the Court

• Most cases reach the Supreme Court as appeals from lower court decisions. They come to the courts in one of two ways:

– writ of certiorari—an order from the Court to a lower court to send up the records on a case for review.

– appeal—a request made to review the decision of a lower federal or state court.

Influences on Supreme Court Decisions• Existing laws: Court interprets and applies laws to

individual cases• Personal views of the justices: Political ideology• Justices’ ability to work together• Social forces and public attitudes• Congress and the president: Judicial branch

works as part of the system of checks and balances

Limits on the Court’s Shaping of Public Policy• Types of issues: Court deals mostly with civil

liberties, economic issues, federal laws, and suits against government officials

• Types of cases: Court hears only cases that meet certain criteria

• Agenda: Generally can decide only cases that come to it from elsewhere in the legal system

• Enforcement power: Court has limited ability to enforce its rulings

How the Court Shapes Public Policy• Judicial review: Court may decide whether

government laws are constitutional• Interpreting the meaning of laws: Court takes the

general language of laws and applies it to specific cases

• Overruling or reversing previous Court decisions to reflect changing social values and laws

• VOCAB FOR BOTH--

• District courts use two types of juries in criminal cases:

– A grand jury, which usually includes 16 to 23 people, hears charges against a person suspected of having committed a crime.

• If a grand jury believes sufficient evidence exists to bring the person to trial, it issues an indictment—a formal accusation charging a person with a crime.

Constitutional Courts (cont.)

– A petit jury, which usually consists of 6 or 12 people, is a trial jury.

• Many appointed officials provide support services for district courts, including:

– a U.S. attorney

– a U.S. magistrate

– a bankruptcy judge

– a U.S. marshal

Constitutional Courts (cont.)

– deputy clerks

– bailiffs

– a stenographer

• The courts of appeals may decide an appeal in one of three ways:

– uphold the original decision;

– reverse that decision; or

– send the case back to the lower court to be tried again.

Constitutional Courts (cont.)

Supreme Court Justices

• The Supreme Court is comprised of nine justices: the chief justice of the United States and eight associate justices.

• The Supreme Court’s duty involves them in three decision-making tasks:

– deciding which cases to hear from among the thousands appealed to the Court each year;

– deciding the case itself; and

– determining an explanation for the decision, called the Court’s opinion.

• The chief justice’s duties include:

– presiding over sessions and conferences at which the justices discuss cases;

– assigning the writing of the Court’s opinion to one of the justices who voted for the ruling; and helping administer the federal court system.

Supreme Court Justices (cont.)

Appointing Justices

• Justices reach the Court through appointment by the president with Senate approval.

• Political considerations often affect a president’s choice of a nominee to the Court.

• Presidents prefer to nominate a candidate whose political beliefs are similar to their own.

Getting Cases to the Court

• Most cases reach the Supreme Court as appeals from lower court decisions. They come to the courts in one of two ways:

– writ of certiorari—an order from the Court to a lower court to send up the records on a case for review.

– appeal—a request made to review the decision of a lower federal or state court.

Supreme Court Caseload

Section 1

Getting Cases to the Court (cont.)

• When justices accept a case, they decide whether to ask for more information from the opposing lawyers or to rule quickly on the basis of materials already available.

• If the Court rules without consulting new information, the ruling may be announced with a per curiam opinion—a brief, unsigned statement of the Court’s decision.

Steps in Deciding Major Cases

• After the Court accepts a case, the lawyers on each side of the case submit a brief—a written statement setting forth the legal arguments, relevant facts, and precedents supporting one side of a case.

• Parties not directly involved in a case but who have an interest in its outcome may submit amicus curiae—or “friend of the court”—briefs.

Steps in Deciding Major Cases (cont.)

• After briefs are filed, lawyers from each side are given 30 minutes to present an oral argument.

• A majority of justices must be in agreement to decide a case, and at least six justices must be present for a decision.

Tools for Shaping Policy

• As the Supreme Court decides cases, it determines policy in three ways:

– judicial review

– interpretation of laws

– overruling or revising its previous decisions

• Judicial review—the Supreme Court’s power to examine the laws and actions of local, state, and national governments and to cancel them if they violate the Constitution.

Steps in Deciding Major Cases (cont.)

• The Court issues four kinds of opinions:

– About one-third of the Court’s decisions are unanimous opinions.

– A majority opinion expresses the views of the majority of the justices on a case.

– One or more justices who agree with the majority but do so for different reasons write a concurring opinion.

– A dissenting opinion is the opinion of justices on the losing side of the case.