THE COURTS

SHANG E. HASOGANG UNIVERSITY

POL3162Introduction to American

Politics

Overview

APT, Chapter 13

How did the federal judiciary become independent and powerful?

What is the nature of the American legal and judicial system?

How do cases reach the Supreme Court?

How does the Supreme Court make decisions?

The Supreme Court: Who’s Who?

Antonin Scalia (1936 - )Nominated by Ronald

Reagan (1986); confirmed by the Senate (98-0)

Georgetown University; Harvard Law School

Catholic

Ideologically conservative

Anthony Kennedy (1936 - )

Nominated by Ronald Reagan (1988); confirmed by the Senate (97 – 0)

Stanford University; Harvard Law School

Catholic

Ideologically conservative, but often a swing voter

Clarence Thomas (1948 - )Nominated by George H.

W. Bush (1991); confirmed by the Senate (52-48) – Anita Hill allegations

College of the Holy Cross; Yale Law School

Catholic

Ultra-conservative (the second African American justice)

Ruth Bader Ginsburg (1933 - )Nominated by Bill

Clinton (1993); confirmed by the Senate (96-3)

Cornell University; Columbia Law School

Judaism

Ideologically liberal (the second female justice)

Stephen Breyer (1938 - )

Nominated by Bill Clinton; confirmed by the Senate (87-9)

Stanford University; Harvard Law School

Judaism

Ideologically liberal

John Roberts (1955 - ): Chief Justice

Nominated by George W. Bush (2005); confirmed by the Senate (78-22)

Harvard University; Harvard Law School

Catholic

Conservative

Samuel Alito (1950 - )

Nominated by George W. Bush (2006); confirmed by the Senate (58-42)

Princeton University; Yale Law School

Catholic

Conservative/libertarian

Sonia Sotomayor (1954 - )Nominated by Barack

Obama (2009); confirmed by the Senate (68-31)

Princeton University; Yale Law School

Catholic

Liberal (the first Hispanic/third female Justice)

Elena Kagan (1960 - )Nominated by Barack

Obama (2010); confirmed by the Senate (63-37)

Princeton University; Harvard Law School

Judaism

The fourth female justice; the first female Dean of Harvard Law School

The Courts: Ideology of Supreme Court Justices, 2014

The Development of an Independent Federal Judiciary

The Founders’ View of the Courts: The Weakest Branch? Federalists (courts = weak; see The Federalist Paper,

#78) and Antifederalists (courts = strong) disagreed over how much power the courts would have.

Major Constitutional Convention debate was over the degree to which the courts would be independent. The Constitution was silent on judicial review.

The Development of an Independent Federal Judiciary

The Judiciary Act of 1789 The law in which Congress laid out the organization of

the federal judiciary The law refined and clarified federal court jurisdiction

and set the original number of justices at six (and then 10, 7, and now set at 9 in 1869)

Congress also created a system of federal district courts (13 – low-level trial courts of the federal judiciary system that handle most US federal cases) and circuit courts (3 – the intermediate-level courts that heard appeals from the district courts).

The Development of an Independent Federal Judiciary

Judicial Review The Supreme Court’s power to strike down a law or

executive branch action that it finds unconstitutional (constitutional interpretation)

Marbury vs. Madison (1803) The court has struck down about 170 congressional

laws and 1,400 state acts (ONLY about 0.25 percent of the congressional laws passed in the first 215 years of our country’s existence)

The American Legal and Judicial System

Court Fundamentals Plaintiffs bring cases to court; defendants are being

sued and/or charged with a crime Verdict: the final decision in a court case (heard before

a jury) Plea bargaining: the situations where the cases get

settled before going to a trial or in the middle of the trial A civil case: a monetary settlement A criminal case: the defendant agrees to plead guilty in

exchange for a shorter sentence or being charged with a lesser crime

The loser can appeal the case

The American Legal and Judicial System

Court Fundamentals (cont.) Standard of proof: the amount of evidence needed

to determine the outcome of a case In criminal court it is “beyond a reasonable doubt” In civil court it is the “preponderance of evidence.”

Burden of proof In criminal court there is a presumption of “innocent

until proven guilty” (the plaintiff must prove the guilt of the defendant)

In civil court it may be on the plaintiff or the defendant depending on the nature of the case

The American Legal and Judicial System

Court Fundamentals (cont.) Precedents (stare decisis – let the decision stand)

are previously decided cases/sets of decisions that serve as a guide for future cases on the same topic.

Supreme Court strongly honored precedents in first 100 years of its existence; modern court is more willing to overturn precedents.

Supreme Court Cases Overruling Precedent and Acts of Congress,

1789–2011

The American Legal and Judicial System

Structure of the Court and Federalism District Courts

The workhorses of the federal judicial system Handle more than a quarter of a million filings a year 89 district courts in 50 states + 5 more in other areas

(e.g., Puerto Rico) = 94 district courts (with 678 judges) Appeals Courts (“Circuit Courts” until 1948)

The intermediate courts of appeals (but in practice the final court for most federal cases)

11 appeals courts across 50 states + one more in DC = 12 appeals courts (179 judges + 91 “senior judges” as of 2009)

The workload keeps growing

Map of the Federal Appeals Courts

The American Legal and Judicial System

Structure of the Court and Federalism (cont.) The Supreme Court

The “court of last resort”: resolve conflicts between lower courts, or between a state law and federal law, or between the state, and ensure that the application and interpretation of the Constitution is consistent across the US

Contrary to popular belief, the Supreme Court does not always have the final word. The Court can strike down a law, but Congress can

always rewrite it

The American Legal and Judicial System

How Judges Are Selected State-level Judges

Gubernatorial appointment (2 states) State legislative appointment (2 states) Partisan elections (9 states) Nonpartisan elections (17 states) Nonpartisan screening committee gives list to governor

and then the governor makes appointment (so-called the Missouri Plan – 17 states + 3 states with some modification)

The American Legal and Judicial System

How Judges Are Selected (cont.) Federal Judges

No law degree is required!!! Nominated by the president with “advice and consent”

from the Senate These nominations can be contentious.

The American Legal and Judicial System

The Role of the President in Selecting Judges Presidents have always tried to influence the direction of

the federal courts (particularly the Supreme Court) by picking people who share their views on important issues

In the Senate, the Supreme Court justice nominees are rarely rejected because of their qualifications, but rather for political reasons

Senatorial courtesy: a norm in the nomination of district court judges in which the president consults with his party’s senators from the relevant state in choosing the nominee

The Demographics of the Federal Bench

Confirmation Delay for Federal Judges,

1981–2012

Supreme Court Caseload: The Court Sees More Opportunities … But Hears Fewer Cases: Cases

Available for Review

Supreme Court Caseload: The Court Sees More Opportunities … But Hears Fewer Cases: Cases

Argued before the Court

Access to the Supreme Court

Four Ways to Get Your Case Heard by the Supreme Court Original jurisdiction

Cases involving foreign ambassadors, countries, or cases where a state is a party (particularly disputes between two or more states)

Cases on appeal Those that Congress has determined to be so important that

the Supreme Court must hear them A writ of certification (almost never used)

When an appeals court asks the Supreme Court to clarify a new point of federal law in a specific case

A writ of certiorari Those who lost in lower court can file a petition to the Supreme

Court explaining why it should hear the case (If four justices agree, the case will get a full hearing) - comprises about 95% of the workload; usually pick around 1 % of the cases received

Access to the Supreme Court

The Court’s Criteria When Choosing Cases Internal politics

Cert pool: whereby law clerks – usually top graduates from elite law schools - take a first cut at the cases

The chief justice has an important agenda-setting power (deciding the “discussion list” for a given day)

About three-quarters of the cases that are submitted to the Supreme Court are never even discussed by the Supreme Court!!!

Hearing Cases

Briefs: written documents prepared by both parties in a case, and sometimes by outside groups, presenting their arguments in court

Oral arguments: spoken presentations made in person by the lawyers of each party to a judge or court outlining the legal reasons why their side should prevail

Conference

Opinion writing

Types of Supreme Court Decisions

Majority opinion: the core decision of the Court that must be agreed upon by at least five justices

Concurring opinion: written by a justice who agrees with the outcome of the case but not with the legal reasoning

Dissent: submitted by a justice who disagrees with the outcome of the case

Supreme Court Decision Making

Legal Factors Precedents The language of the Constitution

Political Factors Political ideology The strategic model: Since one justice can’t just magically get

what he or she wants, it is useful to consider how justices work to build coalitions when making decisions

Separation of power Judicial restraint: Judges ought to defer to the executive and

legislative branches. Judicial activism: Judges ought to play an active role in

interpreting the Constitution even if it means overturning actions from the other branches.

Outside influences: interest groups and public opinion