Alex Ki 1st Hour Final AP Government Report: The Federal Courts I. Establishment a.

The Judiciary was created under Article III of the United States Constitution II. Judicial Review a. Chief Justice Marshall established judicial review during the 1803 case, Marbury v. Madison. i. Gives the Court the power to strike down a law or executive action that they believe is unconstitutional. b. Writs of mandamus i. Orders directed to lower courts to perform some act required by law. ii. This has effectively expanded the Supreme Courts original jurisdiction c. Constitutional interpretation i. Process of determining the meaning of a law and the contexts in which the law applies. d. Statutory interpretation i. Process of determining the meaning of a law and the contexts in which that law applies. III. Fundamentals a. Plaintiff- The person who brings a case to the court b. Defendant- The person against whom a case is brought. c. Verdict- Final decision of the court. d. Differences between criminal and civil cases: i. In criminal cases, the amount of evidence to reach a decision, or standard of proof, is much higher than it is for civil cases. ii. In criminal cases, burden of proof is on the plaintiff, who must demonstrate that the defendant is not innocent. However, in civil cases, the burden of proof can apply to either party. e. The majority of our judiciary system is based on common law, which means that the law is based on previous court cases. f. Jurisdiction: The legal authority to hear and decide cases.

IV.

Courts and Federalism a. Judiciary system is broken up into 2 levels i. State and local courts ii. Federal courts b. There are 2 parts of the court system across each level of government i. Each involves trial courts, followed by intermediate appeals courts and ultimately the final appeals courts. c. The United States district courts are the trial courts of the federal court system. i. The district courts have jurisdiction to hear nearly all categories of federal cases, including both civil and criminal matters. ii. District courts are the workhorses of the legal system as the majority of legal action takes place there. 1. There are eighty-nine federal district courts, handling over 250,000 legal filings per year. iii. Appeals courts serve as an intermediate level of the courts, where appeals for lower court decisions are heard. 1. Most cases end here, though a very few decisions reached in the appeals courts can be appealed in the Supreme Court as well. iv. The Supreme Court is the court of last resort for cases appealing decisions at the district and appellate court levels. 1. The Supreme Court resolves conflicts between lower courts, or between state and federal law, or between states in an effort to make sure that the Constitution is consistently applied across the United States

V.

The Selection of Judges a. State-level judges can be selected a number of ways: i. Appointment by the governor ii. Appointment by the state legislature iii. Partisan elections iv. Nonpartisan elections v. Missouri Plan 1. The judge is selected by the governor from a list compiled by a nonpartisan steering committee.

b. Federal judges are appointed by the president with the advice and consent of the Senate. c. Presidents have a lot of variety when determining who they appoint, and often attempt to influence the ideological direction of the Court. i. However, the presidents guess is not always accurate. d. Senatorial Courtesy i. The president will consult with his or her partys senators from the relevant state in choosing a district court nominee. VI. Access of the Courts a. The Supreme Court receives roughly 9,000 cases a year, but fewer than 1 percent of appeals are actually heard by the Court. b. Those cases that the justices agree to hear constitute the Courts docket. c. Cases can reach the Supreme Court in one of four ways: i. The Supreme Court has original jurisdiction over cases involving conflicts between two states, foreign ambassadors, or foreign countries, and therefore gets to handle these cases first. ii. Cases on appeal 1. Cases that Congress requires the Supreme Court to hear. iii. A writ of certification 1. When an appeals court asks the Supreme Court for instructions on a point of law before deciding a case. iv. A writ of certiorari 1. When at least four of the nine justices agree to hear a case that has reached them via an appeal from the losing party in a lower courts ruling. 2. It is by far the most common route to the Court. d. There are three primary criteria for the selection of cases, requiring actual cases and controversies: i. Collusion 1. The litigants dont agree on the desired outcome of the case, indicating that they are not cooperating or conspiring. ii. Mootness 1. The controversy is still relevant when the Court hears the case. iii. Ripeness

1. Requires that the central issue or controversy has actually taken place. The Court will not act preemptively. e. Justices still have a great deal of personal discretion over what cases they will hear. i. Cert Pool 1. Law clerks screen cases that come to the Supreme Court and recommend to the justices which cases should be heard. ii. Justices place these relevant cases on the discuss list, where they are considered in conference with other justices. iii. While justices can pick and choose the cases they decide to hear, they can only choose the cases that come to them: they cannot seek out cases on which they want to rule. iv. Solicitor general, a presidential appointee in the Department of Justice who conducts all litigation on behalf of the federal government before the Supreme Court and supervises litigation in the federal appellate courts. VII. Hearing Cases before the Supreme Court a. Justices prepare for a case by reading briefs which outline the arguments of and are filed by both parties b. Amicus curiae or friend of the court briefs i. Offer arguments in defense of one side or another. c. Justices hear oral arguments from the lawyers from each party, each side generally getting a half an hour to present. d. Justices then meet in conference and discuss and vote on the cases. e. The most senior justice in the majority decides who will write the majority opinion f. Once the majority opinion has been drafted, it is circulated and the justices have the option of joining the majority, writing a separate concurring opinion, or dissenting VIII. Types of Supreme Court Decisions a. Majority Opinion i. The core decision of the Court that must be agreed by at least 5 justices b. Concurring Opinion i. Written by a justice who agrees with the outcome of the case but not with the legal reasoning c. Plurality Opinion i. Occurs when a majority cannot agree on the legal reasoning in a case. The plurality opinion is the one that has the most agreement.

d. Dissent i. Submitted by a justice who disagrees with the outcome of the case ii. There can be as many as four dissents e. Per Curiam Opinion i. An unsigned opinion of the Court or a decision written by the entire Court. ii. However, this is not the same as a unanimous decision that is signed by the entire Court. IX. Supreme Court Decision Making a. Legal Factors i. Precedent 1. Involve using previous decisions on similar cases to inform current decisions ii. Language of Constitution 1. Strict constructionists a. Constitution should be interpreted based on its language alone i. Judges should be guided by the original intent of the Founders. 2. Living Constitution a. Takes into account the changes in society and national circumstances rather than the text alone X. Political Factors a. Political Ideology i. Rather than following a neutral application of the law, justices are subject to political influence b. Strategic approach i. A strategic approach considers how justices calculate their actions based on their preferences of other justices, the president, and Congress. c. Separation of powers i. Justices clash on how the court should intervene in other branches of government 1. Judicial restraint a. The Court should be reserved and defer to democratically elected branches of government 2. Judicial activism

a. The Court should assert its interpretation of the law, even if it overrules other actions. d. Outside influence i. Public opinion influences Supreme Court because Court nominees are selected and approved by the president and Senate, popularly elected by the people XI. The Court as a Policy Maker a. The Court has difficulty enforcing decisions i. Sometimes it can force its views on other the branches of government. ii. Other times it requires their support. b. The Court relies on its reputation to gain compliance with its decisions i. It often relies on executive or congressional action to support them. ii. Without executive or congressional support, the Court is often powerless to enforce its rulings. c. The Court is careful not to mess with the power of either the president or Congress unless necessary i. It does strike down congressional or presidential action occasionally, as when it required Nixon to submit his secret tapes of the Watergate break-in.