Judicial Branch Guided Notes
Basic Terminology
 Judicial: relating to
and
 Trial: a legal
positions to an
in which the disputing groups meet in court and present their
decision maker
 Defendant: the person
of the
or
 Plaintiff: the person or designated government

accusing the defendant
: facts that support their position
 Jury: a
of citizens not involved in the
 Case: a
that has been brought into court
 Criminal law cases: disputes in which the
with
law that protects another’s safety
charges an
a crime and violating a
 Civil law cases: disputes among
individual citizens and
or money
or
over property
The State Court System
*Each state has its own court system that settles disputes involving its own state laws
 The state court system is organized into three levels of authority
Level One:

Superior or district courts
 Trial courts that handle cases

State courts of appeals
 Separated into
Level Two

a superior or district court’s decision when requested
 Presided over by a panel of judges (usually three)
 Three options



with the lower court
with and
Order a
the lower court
in the lower court
Level Three

State
court
 Reviews courts of appeals
 Also involves a
of judges
 Decision is final unless the losing party is able to
Federal Supreme Court to take the case
the
Federal Courts
 Established by
of the Constitution; left the development up to Congress
 The
circuit courts of appeals
 Have





established the federal district courts and the
(authority to hear cases) over such federal crimes as
Fraud
Counterfeiting
Bank robbery
 Separated into

Each state has at least

Each court has 2-28 judges, appointed to
 The US is divided into

district
by the president
judicial circuits, each with its own court of appeals
Ohio belongs to the
judicial circuit
 Each circuit court has between 6 and 28 permanent judges that hear cases in panels of three
The U.S. Supreme Court
The
authority for interpreting the Constitution

the Judicial Branch

court cases
 Reviews legislative and executive decisions that raise

questions
Justices
 Appointed by the
to
 The Chief Justice is in
justices
of the court; the other eight are
 Current justices:
 John Roberts (current
 Antonin Scalia—1986
 Anthony Kennedy—1988
 Clarence Thomas—1991
 Ruth Bader Ginsburg—1993
 Stephen Breyer—1994
 Samuel Anthony Alito—2006
 Sonia Sotomayor—2009
 Elena Kagen—2010
The Current Supreme Court
)—2005
The Early Supreme Court
John Jay was the
Supreme Court chief
First met in
in
Important Facts
 A writ of certiorari is a request for review based on important
issues raised by the court’s decision.
 Under the
and
, only four justices must agree to place a case on the
(their schedule of cases to review)
 The Supreme Court receives more than
on their docket.
requests each year, but places fewer than
In Court
 Begins the first Monday in
each year
 Lawyers for both sides file briefs,
legal issues involved in the appeal; often hundreds of pages long
 Present their case directly through oral arguments; only have
 The court’s decision is the
that contain facts and
minutes
—what five or more justices thought
 The minority is the
Important court cases
Roe v. Wade (1973)
 Jane Roe was an
wanted an abortion
and
 In 1970s Texas, abortions were
unless the mother’s life was in jeopardy
resident of Texas who
 Henry Wade was the Dallas County district attorney
 The Supreme Court ruled in Roe’s
 They said her rights were guaranteed in the 1st, 4th, 5th, 9th, and 14th Amendments
 This also
any state laws that prohibited first trimester abortions
 Norma McCorvey later came forward and admitted she was Jane Roe
Marbury v.
(1803)
 William Marbury was commissioned
District of Columbia at the end of President John Adam’s term.
of the
 New President Thomas Jefferson instructed his Secretary of State James Madison not to deliver the orders—
keeping the opposing party from taking office.
 The Supreme Court evaluated this based on the foundation of
 This established the concept of judicial review.
Brown v. Board of Education (1954)
 The parents of Linda Brown wanted their daughter to attend the
in Topeka, Kansas—not the black school that was farther away.
.
 They argued that this
violated the
amendment
 While segregation was legal under Plessy v. Ferguson (1896), the Court sided with the Brown family.
 Linda was able to attend the school closest to her and the
.
movement was
Dred Scott v. Sandford (1857)
 Dred Scott was a
owned by Army Major John Emerson
 Scott travelled with Emerson to various states, including several free states
 Upon the death of Emerson, Scott
for his freedom
 Emerson’s widow Eliza’s brother John Sandford was in charge of the will
 The Supreme Court ruled
Dred Scott
 He was
and therefore could not sue
a
 They also determined Scott was not a
 Obviously this is a black mark for the Supreme Court.
Korematsu v. United States (1944)
 Fred Korematsu was a
that was ordered into
an internment camp through President Roosevelt’s executive order after the attack on Pearl Harbor.
 Korematsu
to avoid being interned.
 Korematsu argued he was being
against based on his race.
 The government argued they needed to
the country
 The Supreme Court agreed that the need to protect the country
protecting an
.
than
Miranda v. Arizona (1966)
 Ernesto Miranda was arrested, but was not informed of his
 He and his lawyer eventually
and
amendment rights.
the state of Arizona.
 The Court agreed and now all police must take the proper steps by issuing the Miranda Warning.
New Jersey v. T.L.O. (1985)
 Do schools have the right to search a student’s private property? What reasons do they have to have to search?
 This case was based on two girls that were caught smoking in the bathroom—instead of in the designated area.
 T.L.O. was the pseudonym for Tracy Lois Odem who denied smoking and had her purse
.
 In addition to the cigarettes, the assistant vice principal also found
items that showed T.L.O. was dealing marijuana.
 The Court sided with the
needed to perform a search.
and other
, although they agreed a “reasonable suspicion” was
Texas v. Johnson (1989)
 Gregory Johnson doused an American flag with kerosene and set it on
protest and demonstration in Texas.
 Is this protected under the
during a political
?
 Johnson offended a lot of people by burning this symbol of America.
 The Supreme Court sided
and said this symbolic speech was protected
Tinker v. Des Moines
 Defined the Constitutional rights of students in U.S.
.
 Students John F. Tinker, Mary Beth Tinker, and Christopher Eckhardt worn black armbands to school,
the Vietnam War
 Before wearing the arm bands, the school found out and created a policy stating anyone wearing an armband
would be removed immediately
 All three wore armbands and were
from school
 7-2 majority opinion stating that First Amendment rights
unless
sound reasons were given to limit the First Amendment
 Your First Amendment right is
.
in school as long as it does not cause a
,