The Role of Judicial System in Democracy

1. UNIT 6THE JUDICIAL BRANCH

2. FEDERAL AND STATE COURT SYSTEMS Chapter 13

3. JUDICIAL SYSTEM IN OUR DEMOCRACY Chapter 13.1

4. What is the role of the judicial system in our democracy?

5. Principles of Democracy in the Judiciary • The purpose of the judicial branch is to provide an interpretation of the law • The court system of our government does two things: • Help resolve conflicts • Determine what the laws mean • The judicial branch is able to do this through judicial review • A key element of a democracy is that the courts must act impartially and make fair decisions without undue influence by outside forces. • One way that this is accomplished at the federal level is that judges are appointed for life. • The idea is that it allows judges to make decisions without being concerned about how it might affect their chances at reelection.

6. TRIALS AND APPEALS Chapter 13.2/13.3

7. What are the purposes of trials and appeals in our court system?

8. The Function of Trial Courts • Criminal vs. Civil Trial Court • Criminal trial-hears cases like murder where we try and determine guilt • Civil trial-hears cases where one person/group thinks another person/group has caused harm • Trial courts in the United States uses an adversarial system where the case is a contest between opposing sides as opposed to an inquisitorial system where a judge plays more of an active role in the case • Jurisdiction • All trial courts have original jurisdiction • The authority of a trial court to be the first to hear a case

9. CHAPTER 13 POWER-POINT ACTIVITY • With a partner, use the previous slide the answer the following: • What are three pro’s and three con’s of the adversary system? • What are three pro’s and three con’s of the inquisitorial system? • What system would you choose? Explain.

10. The Trial Process Roles in a Trial Juries Juries serve to protect the rights of the parties and make it more likely that justice is impartial. They promote a sense of fairness and give voice to the people The 5th, 6th, and 7th Amendments of our Constitution protects the right to a jury trial 5th-Grand Jury is required for federal crimes 6th-Right to trial by jury in federal and state criminal cases 7th-Right to trial by jury in federal civil cases The Constitution protects the right to trail by jury, but this does not mean that it is required in every case • Trial courts listen to testimony, consider evidence, and decide the facts in a dispute • In a trial there are two parties • In civil cases it’s the plaintiff vs. the defendant • In criminal cases it’s the prosecutor (representing the government) vs. the defendant • Judges preside over the trial to make sure that both sides present their evidence in a fair manner • Attorneys represent both sides by presenting the evidence collected before the trial • Most legal cases never make it this far. • Civil cases usually result in out-of-court settlements • Criminal cases usually end in a plea bargain

11. Appeal Courts • An individual who loses a case in a trail may wish to appeal that decision. • How could a case be appealed? • Legal questions that arise in the trial • Examples: judge gave wrong instructions, improper evidence was shown • Issues with due process • Examples: constitutional rights are violated • Procedures at an Appeals Court • There are no juries or witnesses in an appeals court, only lawyers on both sides appear before the judges (3-5 judges) to make legal arguments. • The court of appeals may decide an appeal in one of three ways: • Uphold the trial court’s decision • Reverse the trail court’s decision • Send it back to the trial court to be tried again • If the judges disagree about a decision, two or more written “opinions” may be issued • Majority Opinion- states the decision of the court • Dissenting Opinion-states the reason for the disagreement • Concurring Opinion-states the agreement with the majority, but with different reasoning

12. Precedent • When an appeals court decides a case, one of the things judges consider is precedent. • These are legal principles created by an appellate court decision that lower court judges must follow when deciding similar cases • Precedents apply to all the courts below the court that rules in the case • Appellate courts have the power to overrule one of their earlier precedents • Reasons? • Changing times and circumstances • New judges selected

13. LOCAL, STATE, AND FEDERAL COURTS Chapter 13.4

14. How are federal, state, and local courts organized?

15. Creation of a National Judiciary • Alexander Hamilton argued the need for a national court system. • Laws are dead without courts to interpret and define them • Constitution created a national judiciary under Article III

16. Dual Court System • Two separate court systems in America • National judiciary spans the country with more than 120 courts • Each state (50) has its own court system • Number runs into the thousands • State courts hear most of the cases in the country Federal Courthouse in Tampa Pinellas County Courthouse in Clearwater

17. Jurisdiction • Jurisdiction • The authority or power to decide a case • Each court system has jurisdiction to decide certain kinds of cases • There are many courts in the United States • Each state has a court system; there is a federal court system; military courts, as well as tribal justice systems • Types of Jurisdiction • Original Jurisdiction-where the case first began (trial court) • Appellate Jurisdiction-ability to address the rulings of a case (appeals/Supreme Court) • Limited Jurisdiction- federal courts can only hear cases involving federal law • General Jurisdiction-ability to hear a wide variety of cases (state courts) • Exclusive Jurisdiction-case only to heard in federal court • Concurrent Jurisdiction-cases can be heard in federal or state courts

18. Two Kinds of Federal Courts Constitutional Courts Special Courts Do not exercise the broad “judicial Power of the United States” Hear a much narrower range of cases AKA the legislative courts • Inferior courts that Congress has formed • Together with the Supreme Court the now include the courts of appeal, the district courts, and the U.S. court of International Trade • AKA regular courtsor Article III courts

21. Federal District Courts • The United States district courts are the federal trial courts • 677 federal judges handle more than 375,000 cases per year • These are commonly referred to as “inferior courts” • These courts generally hear cases that raise questions about federal law or the federal constitution • They may also hear cases involving citizens from different states

22. The Court of Appeals • Created by Congress in 1891 • Established to relieve the Supreme Court of much of the burden of hearing appeals from the district courts • There are 13 federal courts of appeals in the United States • 12 are grouped into regional circuits • 1 is a special Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit hears only appeals dealing with specific legal topics, primarily international trade, patent law, veteran’s issues and money claims against the federal government.

24. Federal Judges • The President of the United States names federal judges • The Senate, however, has to confirm the President’s nomination • The Constitution does not: • Set an age limit for judges • Set requirements for residence or citizenship • Require that a judge have a professional background in law • Appointed for life • They serve until they resign, retire, or die in office • Federal judges may be removed, however, through the impeachment process • Only 15 judges have been impeached, with only 7 out of the 15 have been removed by the Senate

25. State and Local Courts • State courts decide most cases involving state law, which include most criminal, family, contract, and juvenile law cases. • 3 Types of courts • Minor Courts (municipal courts) • Specialize in a specific type of legal issue such as family law, traffic law, or juvenile law • General Trail Courts (district or county courts) • Hear a wide range of topics from civil to criminal cases • Appeals Court • This includes the court of appeals or supreme court of the particular state • Local courts are part of their state court system and decide cases involving local laws, like littering or parking violations. Judges • In most states judges are elected • In all states, judges serve a limited term, but may be reelected • If judges are not elected by the people they may be elected by the state legislature, appointed by the governor, or by a combination of appointment and popular election.

27. Chapter 13 Review Questions • What is original jurisdiction and which courts have it? • An appeals court can make one of three decisions. What are the three decisions? • Why were federal appeals courts created? Who created them? • What type of cases can be appealed? • How is the federal court system structured? • Identify whether federal courts, state courts have jurisdiction over the following cases

28. THE SUPREME COURT OF THE UNITED STATES Chapter 14

29. SELECTING AND DECIDING CASES AT THE SUPREME COURT Chapter 14.1 /14.2

30. What influences how the Supreme Court selects cases, decide cases, and interprets the Constitution?

31. The Supreme Court • Article III of the Constitution • Created the Supreme Court as one of the three branches Is… • The last resort in all questions of federal law • The final authority in any case involving the Constitution, acts of Congress, and treaties with other nations • The decisions of the Supreme Court are binding on all lower courts • The creator of making federal law in the United States uniform everywhere in the country • The only court created by the Constitution

32. The Supreme Court • The Court is made up of the Chief Justice of the United States and eight associate judges • The number of justices is NOT mentioned in the Constitution, it is up to Congress to set the number. • The head of the Supreme Court is called the Chief Justice Duties of the Chief Justice • Presides over sessions and conferences at which cases are discussed • Carries out a leadership role in the court’s judicial work • Helps administer the federal court system

34. Chief Justice John Roberts

35. Supreme Court Justices Neil Gorsuch (newest member) Elena Kagan

36. Supreme Court Justices Brett Kavanaugh Clarence Thomas

37. Supreme Court Justices Ruth Bader Ginsburg Stephen G. Breyer

38. Supreme Court Justices Samuel Alito, Jr. Sonia Sotomayor

40. Duties of the Supreme Court • The main duty of the justices is to hear and rule on cases. • Three decision making tasks: • Decide which cases to hear from among the thousands appealed to the Court each year • Decide the case itself • Determine an explanation for the decision, called the Court’s opinion.

41. Judicial Review • Federal and State courts have extraordinary power to decide the constitutionality of an act of government, whether executive, legislative, or judicial • Ultimate power lays with the Supreme Court • Marbury v. Madison stated the following • Constitution is the supreme law of the land • All legislative acts and other actions of government are inferior to the supreme law and cannot be allowed to conflict with it • Judges are sworn to enforce the provisions of the Constitution, and therefore must refuse to enforce any government action they find to be in conflict with it • John Marshall as leader of the Supreme Court helped established the idea of judicial review and was the first justice to increase the power of the Court

42. Choosing Cases • About 9,000 cases are appealed to the Supreme Court every year • The justices only decide on about 80 cases each term, which is less than 1% of the cases appealed to them • There are three ways cases can reach the Supreme Court • Original Jurisdiction • These cases involve two states or a state and the federal government involved in a dispute • These are a small part of the Court’s workload-about 1 a year • Appeals Through State Court Systems • These cases come from the state’s highest court, however the Supreme Court can only rule on federal issues that might apply • Appeals Through Federal Court Systems • The most common cases heard by the Supreme Court

43. Appeals Through Federal Court System • The justices are looking for several things when they choose which case to hear each year. • They may choose cases where lower courts have decided the same issue in different ways • Looking for uniformity • They may also choose cases that raise major questions about the law that will have a national impact • Such as abortion, gay marriage, the death penalty • They may also choose cases from people in prison who are appealing their criminal conviction • These people must show that their case raises a question about a federal law or the Constitution and that question was answered differently by a lower court • Writ of Certiorari • An order from the Supreme Court to a lower court to send up the records on a case for review • This is the main way a case reaches the Supreme Court • To appeal, the losing party sends the Court a petition for a writ of certiorari • The document will ask the Supreme Court to hear the case and give them reasons why

44. Selecting Cases to Hear • It is impossible for the Supreme Court to carefully review all of the petitions sent to the Court. • As a result, the justices use law clerks, an attorney who assists a justice in reviewing cases, to help them find cases that clearly present a federal legal issue. • The law clerks give the justices a summary of the cases that meets this criteria. • The justices then meet to decide which cases they will hear. • If 4 of the 9 justices agree to hear a case, then the petition for certiorari is granted, and the case is scheduled for argument • This is called the rule of four

45. Arguing and Deciding Cases • Compared to most trials, the Supreme Court hearings are typically short. • They do not hear witness testimony, accept evidence, or have a jury • Once the Supreme Court decides to hear a case, each side must submit a written brief, a written statement setting forth the legal arguments, relevant facts, and precedents supporting one side of a case • Oral Argument • Each side has a total of 30 minutes to present its case to the justices because the justices already have read the briefs and have studied the case • Most of time is made up questions asked by the justices to the lawyers. • Deciding the Case • The Court in Conference • Justices meet Wednesday and Fridays (from October-July) to consider the cases in which they have heard oral arguments • Chief Justice presides over the conference (speaks first and usually indicates how he intends to vote) • Each associate judge will then summarize his/her views • Presentations are made in order of seniority

46. Deciding the Case • Opinions • Majority Opinion • The courts opinion, announces the Court’s decision in a case and sets out the reasoning on which it is based • Unanimous Opinion • When all of the justices agree on the case • Precedents • Examples to be followed in similar cases as they arise in the lower courts or reach the Supreme Court • Concurring opinion • To add or emphasize a point that was not made in the majority opinion • Dissenting opinion • Often written by those judges who do not agree with the majority decision • Decisions of the Supreme Court become the law • Lower courts are expected to follow its rulings, and if a law is overturned as unconstitutional, the executive branch must stop implementing that law.

47. SELECTING SUPREME COURT JUSTICES Chapter 14.3

48. What affects the selection process for Supreme Court justices?

49. Nomination and Confirmation • Since the Supreme Court decisions have a wide ranging impact on the country and because justices serve for life, the selection of a new justice is given a lot of debate and discussion. • The Constitution does not say much about who should serve. It does have an age or citizenship requirement. • There are only two requirements: • The president appoints federal judges • The Senate must confirm • The Senate confirms about 80% presidential nominees • Today, the confirmation hearings in the Senate have become very political and a large media event. • In fact, the selection of a Supreme Court justice can be a major topic in a presidential campaign.

50. The Selection of Supreme Court Justices • Presidents consider several factors when nominating a justice. • Experience • Expertise • Integrity • Shared Ideological perspective • Past rulings • Gender and racial representation