Supreme Court
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District Courts
◦ Original Jurisdiction: courts that determine
the facts about a case- the trial court.
◦ Federal crimes
◦ Civil suits under federal law / across state
lines
◦ Supervising bankruptcy / naturalization
◦ Reviews some federal agencies
◦ Admiralty and maritime law cases
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Courts of Appeal
◦ Appellate Jurisdiction: reviews the legal
issues in cases brought from lower courts.
◦ Hold no trials and hear no testimony.
◦ 12 circuit courts
◦ U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal
Circuit- specialized cases
◦ Focus on errors of procedure & law
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The Supreme Court
◦ President relies on attorney general and
DOJ to screen candidates.
◦ 1 out of 5 nominees will not make it.
◦ Presidents with minority party support in
the Senate will have more trouble.
◦ Chief Justice’s position can be a sitting
justice, or a new member.
Accepting Cases
 Use the “rule of four” to choose cases.
 Issues a writ of certiorari to call up the case.
 Very few cases are actually accepted each
year
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What is ‘Rule of 4” mean?
The rule of four is a Supreme Court practice that
permits four of the nine justices to grant a writ of
certiorari.
It is a custom that has been observed since the Court
was given discretion over which appeals to hear. It is
not in the Constitution.
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What is a writ of certiorari?
A writ of certiorari is an order a higher court
issues in order to review the decision and
proceedings in a lower court and determine
whether there were any irregularities.
Certiorari is the common method for cases to
be heard before the U.S. Supreme Court
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The "rule of five." means the decisions in a
Supreme Court case result from this desire to
get a majority of five votes.
Making Decisions
Oral arguments may be made in a case.
Justices discuss the case.
One justice will write an opinion on the case
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Making Decisions
Opinion: Statement of legal reasoning behind
a judicial decision.
◦ Stare decisis: basically to let the previous
decision stand unchanged.
◦ Precedents: How similar past cases were
decided.
◦ Original Intent: The idea that the
Constitution should be viewed according to
the original intent of the framers.
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A Historical Review
◦ John Marshall and the Growth of
Judicial Review
◦ The “Nine Old Men”
◦ The Warren Court
◦ The Burger Court
◦ The Rehnquist Court
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What Courts Should Do: The Scope of
Judicial Power
◦ Judicial restraint: judges should play a
minimal policymaking role- leave the policies
to the legislative branch.
◦ Judicial activism: judges should make bold
policy decisions and even charting new
constitutional ground.
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First coined by FDR during the Depression and
his New Deal Programs:
Stocked with philosophical and
economic conservatives, the U.S.
Supreme Court proved to be
the most consistent opponent
to President Franklin Roosevelt’s
New Deal programs.
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Brown V, Board of Education, Topeka Kansas
- 1954 - Civil Rights
Mapp v Ohio - 1961 - Search and Seizure
Gideon v. Wainright - 1963 - Right To
Counsel
Escobedo v Illinois - 1964 - Right To
Counsel
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Miranda v Arizona - 1966 - Rights of the
Accused
Engle v Vitale - 1962 - Separation of Church
and State
Tinker v Des Moines - 1969 - Symbolic
Speech
What type of court was the Warren Court?
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NY Times v United States - 1971 - Freedom of the
Press
United States v. Nixon - 1972 - Presidential
Privilege
Bakke v University of California Bored of Regents 1976 - Civil Rights
Roe v Wade - 1973 - Right To Privacy
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Texas v. Johnson - 1989 - Freedom of
Speech