GOVT

1. GOVT CHAPTER 14 The Judiciary

2. Learning Objectives

3. The Origins and Sources of American Law

4. The Common Law Tradition • Common law is a body of general rules prescribing social conduct that was applied through out the entire English realm. This was established in England after the Norman conquest in 1066. • Trial by jury is a famous part of this tradition.

5. The Common Law Tradition • Early English courts developed the common law rules from the principles underlying judges’ decisions in actual legal cases. Each interpretation served as a legal precedent. • The practice of deciding new cases with reference to former decisions forms a doctrine called stare decisis – “to stand on decided cases.”

6. The Common Law: Departures from Precedent • In 1954, in Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka, the U.S. Supreme Court expressly overturned precedent when it concluded that separate education facilities were inherently unequal and violated the equal protection clause. • In a 2003 case, the U.S. Supreme Court departed from precedent in Lawrence v. Texas, concluding that a Texas sodomy law violated the U.S. Constitution.

7. Sources of American Law • The primary sources of law are the sources that establish the law. • Constitutional law • Statutory law • Administrative law • Case law

8. Constitutional Law • Consists of the rights and duties set forth in the constitutions of the states and the U.S. Constitution. • The U.S. Constitution is the supreme law of the land and is the basis of all law in the United States. • Any law that violates the Constitution is invalid and unenforceable. • Each state has its own constitution. Unless they conflict with the U.S. Constitution or a federal law, state constitutions are supreme within the borders of their respective states.

9. Statutory Law • Statutes enacted by legislative bodies at any level of government are referred to as Statutory law. • Federal statutes apply to all of the states. • State statutes apply only within the state that enacted the law. • Any state statute that conflicts with the U.S. Constitution, with federal laws enacted by Congress, or with that state’s constitution will be deemed invalid.

10. Administrative Law • The rules, orders, and decisions of administrative agencies are administrative law. • Typically, when Congress establishes an agency, it authorizes it to create rules that have the force of law. • Government agencies exist at the state and local levels, as well as federal. • Federal agency regulations take precedence over conflicting state regulations.

11. Case Law • The rules of law announced in court decisions, or case law. • These include interpretations of constitutional provisions, statutes, and regulations. • Even though a legislature passes a law, how that law is interpreted and applied depends on the courts.

12. Civil and Criminal Law • Civil law spells out the duties that individuals in society owe to other persons or to their governments. • Typically, in a civil case, a private party sues another private party to make the defendant comply with a legal duty or pay money. • Criminal law has to do with wrongs committed against the public as a whole. • Criminal defendants are prosecuted by public officials on behalf of the government, not by their victims or private parties.

13. Basic Judicial Requirements • Jurisdiction – applies either to the geographic area in which a court has the right and power to decide cases or to the right and power of a court to decide matters concerning certain persons, property or subject matter. • A state’s highest court, usually supreme court, has jurisdictional authority over all residents within the state. • Federal courts have jurisdiction over cases involving the U.S. Constitution, a treaty, a federal law, or cases involving diversity of citizenship.

14. Basic Judicial Requirements • To bring a lawsuit before a court, a person must have standing to sue, or a sufficient “stake” in the matter. • The party bringing the suit must have suffered a harm or been threatened with a harm, and the issue must be justiciable. • A justiciable controversy is one that is real and substantial. • Both state and federal governments can specify by law when an individual or group has standing to sue.

15. Basic Judicial Requirements • Both the federal and state courts have established procedural rules designed to protect the rights and interests of the parties, ensure that litigation proceeds in a fair and orderly manner, and identify the issues that must be decided. • Parties involved must comply with procedural rules or risk being held in contempt of court. • A party who is held in contempt can be fined, taken into custody, or both.

16. The Federal Court System

17. The Federal Court System

18. The U.S. District Courts • The lowest tier of the federal court system. • Cases in these courts are decided by a judge or a jury. • There is at least one federal district court in every state, and one in D.C. • Currently there are 94 judicial districts.

19. U.S. Court of Appeals • Appellate courts do not hear evidence or testimony, but review transcripts of the trial court’s proceedings, other records, and attorney arguments. • The task of the appellate court is to determine whether the trial court erred in applying the law to the facts and issues involved in a particular case. • There are 13 federal courts of appeals in the U.S. • The decisions of the federal appellate courts may be appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court.

20. The United States Supreme Court • The U.S. Supreme Court consists of nine justices – a chief justice and eight associate justices. • Most of the Court’s work is as an appellate court; rarely does a case originate at the Supreme Court level.

21. U.S. Courts of Appeals and U.S. District Courts

22. The U.S. Supreme Court • To bring a case before the Supreme Court, a party may request that the Court issue a writ of ceriorari, an order issued to a lower court requesting it to send the record of the case in question. • The court will not issue a writ unless at least 4 of the 9 justices approve.

23. The U.S. Supreme Court • Typically, the Court grants petitions for cases that raise important policy issues that need to be addressed. • Examples from 2007-2008 term include: • The right to own guns for private use • Whether lethal injection constitutes cruel & unusual punishment • Whether alleged terrorists at Guantanamo Bay have habeas corpus rights

24. The U.S. Supreme Court • The Court’s decision in a particular case is based on the written record of the case, written arguments submitted by attorneys, and oral arguments presented by attorneys. • The chief justice, if in the majority, assigns the task of writing the Court’s opinion to one of the justices. • When one or more justices agree with the decision but for different reasons, they may write a concurring opinion. • Justices who disagree with the Court’s conclusion may write dissenting opinions.

25. Federal Judicial Appointments

26. The Nomination Process

27. The Nomination Process • When judges are nominated to district courts, a senator of the president’s political party from the state where there is a vacancy traditionally has been allowed to veto the president’s choice – this is known as senatorial courtesy. • At times, senatorial courtesy even permits senators from the opposing party to veto the president’s choice.

28. Confirmation or Rejection by the Senate • Almost 20% of presidential nominations for the Supreme Court have been either rejected or not acted on by the Senate.

29. Recent Judicial Appointments • During George W. Bush’s second term, the death of Chief Justice William Rehnquist and the retirement of Justice Sandra Day O’Connor allowed Bush to nominate two new justices. • On May 26, 2009, President Obama named Sonia Sotomayor to replace Justice David Souter.

30. The Courts as Policymakers

31. The Impact of Court Decisions • How the courts interpret particular laws can have a widespread impact on society. • When the Supreme Court interprets law, it establishes national policy.

32. The Power of Judicial Review • The federal judiciary can exercise a check on the actions of either of the other branches through judicial review. • The Constitution does not specifically mention judicial review. The Supreme Court claimed the power in Marbury v. Madison. • In Federalist Paper No. 78, Alexander Hamilton stressed the importance of the “complete independence” of federal judges and their special duty to “invalidate all acts contrary with the manifest tenor of the Constitution.”

33. Judicial Activism versus Judicial Restraint • Activist versus Restraintist Justices • Activist justices believe that the courts should actively use their powers to check the legislative and executive branches. • Restraintist justices generally assume that the courts should defer to the decisions of the legislative and executive branches, because they are elected by the people. • Judicial activism has often been linked with liberalism, though neither is necessarily linked to a particular political ideology.

34. Ideology and the Courts

35. Ideology and Supreme Court Decisions • There are numerous examples of ideology affecting Supreme Court decisions. • Judicial decision making can be very complex. The Supreme Court often must consider any number of sources, including constitutions, statutes, administrative agency regulations, etc. • It is only natural that a justice’s life experiences, personal biases, and intellectual abilities and predispositions will touch on the reasoning process.

36. Ideology and the Roberts Court • Today’s court is strongly divided ideologically. • In the 2008-2009 term, 23 out of 82 cases were decided by five-to-four votes

37. Approaches to Legal Interpretation • Strict versus Broad construction • Strict constructionists look to the letter of the law as written when trying to decipher its meaning. Often linked with conservative views. • Broad constructionists look more to the purpose and context of the law. Often linked with liberal views. • How justices view the role of the Supreme Court also affects decision making.

38. Constitutional Interpretation: Original Intent versus Modernism Original Intent Modernism • The Court should look to the intentions of the founders, what the framers themselves intended. • To discern the intent, should look to sources such as contemporary writings by the founders, newspaper articles, the Federalist Papers, and notes taken during the Constitutional Convention. • The Constitution is a living document that evolves to meet changing times and new social needs. • Looks at the Constitution in the context of today’s society and considers how today’s life affects the words in the document. • The founders intentionally left many provisions vague so that future generations could interpret in a manner that meets their needs.

39. Assessing the Role of the Federal Courts

40. Criticisms of the Federal Courts • Some contend that policymaking by unelected judges and justices has upset the balance of powers envisioned by the framers of the Constitution. • From the mid-1990’s until 2007, a number of bills to restrain the power of the federal judiciary were introduced in Congress.

41. The Case for the Courts • Others argue that such efforts violate the Constitution’s separation of powers and that there are already sufficient checks on the courts. • Judicial restraint – making decisions regardless of personal values and policy preferences and keeping the focus of the ruling on just one aspect of an issue. • Stare decisis – obligates the Supreme Court to follow its own precedents. • Courts cannot force federal and state legislatures to appropriate funds necessary to carry out those rulings. • Congress may also propose amendments to the constitution to reverse Supreme Court rulings.

42. The Case for the Courts: The Public • The American public holds a high regard for the Supreme Court and the federal courts in general. • When the Court issued its decision to halt the manual recount of Florida votes following the 2000 elections, Americans respected the Court’s authority, although many disagreed with the decision.

43. POLITICS ON THE WEB www.whitehouse.gov www.bartleby.com/124 www.Millercenter.org/academic/americanpresident www.4ltrpress.cengage.com/govt