Intro to Judicial Branch

1. Intro to Judicial Branch

2. Civil vs. Criminal Cases • Civil Cases • Relations between private citizens. (corporate citizens) 81 year old woman awarded millions of dollars for spilling her coffee on her self

3. Criminal Cases • Criminal Cases • Criminal law regulates individual conduct. Laws, state or federal, determine what is legal or illegal • Most laws are states but some are federal. • Kidnapping or Bank robbing (federal) Some crimes are considered against society and the government is usually the plaintiff in Criminal Cases The People of the State of California v. Michael Jackson

4. A Few Criminal Definitions… • Felony- one of the several grave crimes, like murder, rape or burglary, aggravated assault, punishable by a harsher sentence than a misdemeanor. • Simple battery/assault vs. aggravated- simple is when you make intentional contact of an insulting or provoking nature; when you cause intentional harm to another. • Aggravated- when a person attempts to cause serious bodily injury to another purposefully with little regard for the value of human life. (intent to murder, rape, or with a weapon) • Misdemeanor- a misdeed, an offense less serious than a felony. Generally punishable by a fine, penalty or imprisonment. • Capital Offense- a crime so serious that capital punishment is considered appropriate.

5. Drugs and the Law… • Possession of Less than an Ounce- Felony or not? • In most instances, possession of less than on ounce of marijuana is a misdemeanor. However, its possible to possess less than an ounce and still be guilty of a felony- if you intend to sell or distribute it, even sharing a joint with a friend- felony If possess more than an ounce, sell or grow or intend to distribute any quantity of marijuana, you can go to prison for 10 years.

6. There are many Lawsuits and Crimes…. • …But most cases never get to court. • Most Civil Disputes are Settled out of Court • Most Criminal Cases are settled due to plea bargains or dismissals • http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WaSy8yy-mr8

7. There are 2 separate court systems in the US. • National • State; most cases heard today are heard in state courts, not National courts.

8. 2 Types of Federal Courts • The Constitution creates the first, and Congress creates the inferior federal courts. • Two types of inferior courts- Constitutional and Special Courts. Supreme Court Special Courts- US Court of Federal Claims, Territorial Courts, Courts of the District of Columbia, US Tax Court, US Court of Appeals for the Armed Forces, US Court of Appeals for Veterans Constitutional Courts- District Courts, 12 US Courts of Appeals, US Court of International Trade and US Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit.

9. Jurisdiction- the authority of a court to hear a case (most cases tried in Federal Courts, happen in the Constitutional Courts) • Exclusive Jurisdiction- these cases can only be heard in federal courts. • Concurrent Jurisdiction- cases that can be tried in either federal or state courts. • Original Jurisdiction- court in which a case is first heard. • Appellate jurisdiction- court that hears a case on appeal from the lower court, can uphold, overrule or modify the lower court decision.

10. District Courts • District Courts are federal trial courts. • Have original jurisdiction over most cases that are heard in federal courts. • They hear criminal (broke the law) and civil cases (non criminal matters, like territorial disputes) • Most cases heard here are final, but some are appealed to the court of appeals or directly to the Supreme Court.

11. Appeals Court • Gate keepers- to relieve the Supreme Court of to much burden of hearing lower court appeals. • There are a total of 12 Courts of Appeals in the US. • They only have appellate jurisdiction. Most cases they hear come from the US Federal courts, but some do come from the special courts. • Their decisions are final unless the Supreme Court chooses to hear appeals taken from them.

12. Dual US Court System Supreme Court Highest State Court State Appellate Court US Court of Appeals US District Courts State Trial Court

13. Becoming a Federal Judge • Candidates for federal judgeships are suggested to the president by the Justice department, senators, other judges, the candidates and lawyers’ and interest groups. • President considers their experience, political philosophy and ethnicity. • President makes the nomination, goes to the Senate, the Senate confirms or reject, decision made by the Senate Judiciary Committee.

14. The Supreme Court

15. Judicial Review • Most courts, both federal and state, may exercise the important power of judicial review. • The power to decide if an act of government is constitutional or not. • The Supreme Court has the ultimate say in this matter. • Judicial Review isn’t mentioned in the constitution, derives from Marbury vs. Madison. • Marbury had been appointed as a justice of the Peace by President Adams, senate confirmed him but his orders weren’t delivered. The next day Jefferson became President and refused to deliver them. • Marbury went to the Supreme Court who ruled • NOT IN FAVOR OF MARBURY because the law he based his argument on, the Judiciary Act of 1789, the court found to be unconstitutional and therefore void. • From this point on, the Supreme Court ha the power to declare acts of Congress unconstitutional.

16. SC Jurisdiction • Has both original and appellate jurisdiction. Most of its cases come from appeals from the lower federal courts or the highest state courts. • Article III, sec 2 spells out what two cases can be heard by the SC. • Those to which a state is a party • Those affecting ambassadors, other public ministers and consuls. • Over 8000 cases appeal to the SC each year, but the SC only hears a few hundreds a year. • Rule of 4 gets a case on the docket • Most cases reach the SC by writ of certiorari

17. The Rule of Four • If four justices vote to grant cert, it is granted • Designed to prevent tyranny of the majority • If a case does not gain four votes, a justice may write a “dissent from denial,” but this is extremely rare. • All votes are secret • Deny cases usually because they agree with the lower courts decision or they think no important point of law is involved.

18. Writ of Certiorari • The Supreme Court is mainly an APPELATE COURT • If you want the Supreme Court to review your court case, you will need to have the supreme court grant you a • WRIT OF CERTIORARI • An order issued by a higher court to a lower court to send up the record of a case for review.

19. ~ 95 cases are granted a Writ of Cert each year Original Jurisdiction ~80% of cases accepted come from federal system <1% of cases accepted are original jurisdiction U.S. Supreme Court U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals: 12 circuits + Federal Circuit State Supreme Court – highest state court Intermediate Appeals Court U.S. District Court – 94 districts Federal Trials Trial Courts – municipal or county Local Trials FEDERAL: 1 million cases/yr STATES: 30 million cases/yr

20. The Supreme Court • The court sits from the first Monday in October to sometimes the following June/July. • Once the SC accepts a case, it sets a date for the case to be heard. • They hear oral arguments on cases for 2 weeks, lawyers are limited to 30 min a piece and then take 2 weeks to consider those cases and make decisions. • Briefs must be filed before oral arguments begin, detailed statements supporting one side of a case. • Twice a week the Justices meet in conference and they consider the cases they have heard. • 1/3 of the courts decisions are unanimous but most find the court divided. • OPINIONS- The court’s opinion is called the majority opinion, announces the courts decision and reasoning/precedent. Dissenting opinions are also written by justices not supporting the decision.

21. Elected by the President, confirmed by the Senate, appointed for LIFE. Most SC justices were previously judges or worked in the legal system. One Chief Justice- John Roberts- head of the other 9 justices and head of the bureaucracy that runs the court systems. Oversees the 5.5 billion dollar justice budget

22. Restraint or Active? • SC Justices are usually characterized by either being activist or restraintist. • Judicial Restraint- a doctrine holding that the Supreme court should defer to the decisions made by the elected representatives of the people in the legislative and executive branches. Usually linked with conservatism. • Judicial Activism- a doctrine holding that the Supreme Court should take an active role in using its powers to check the activities of the other branches or bodies who exceed their authority. Usually linked with liberalism. • Most active period has been under Judge Earl Warren during the Civil Rights movement.

23. Checks on the Supreme Court • Executive Branch is in charge of implementing laws- judicial implementation- the enforcement of judicial decisions in a way that they translate into policy. • President rarely does, but can refuse to enforce a Supreme Court decision. It means a huge loss of political support from the people, so it is rare. • More commonly Presidents appoint new judges and justices as seats become vacant that will rule in their political philosophy favor. Legislative Branch- courts make rulings but it is up to Congress to give funds to carry out the court’s rulings. Court Rulings can also be overturned by constitutional amendments at both the federal and state levels (the 14th, 15th and 26th amendments are examples) Finally Congress can rewrite laws or enact new ones to overturn the SC rulings if the legislature concludes that the court’s rulings if the legislature concludes that the court is interpreting laws or intentions erroneously.