 The federal judiciary of the United States was established by Article III of the Constitution.
 Divided into 2 levels
 Federal Courts
 State Courts
 There are 94 Federal District courts
 Have original jurisdiction over cases involving
Constitutional law, Federal officers, treaties, and maritime law.
 There are 12 Courts of Appeals
 Hear cases appealed from the district courts

 Cases heard by the federal courts can be criminal or civil cases.
 Each case is put on a docket and will be heard by the Court in the order it appears on that list.
 Most cases are heard and decided by one of the district courts, but can be appealed to the Court of Appeals, or directly to the Supreme Court.

 The Supreme Court is the highest court in the judicial system.
 The last resort in all cases involving questions of federal law.
 Its decisions overrule any decision made by a lower court.

 9 Justices
 1 Chief Justice
 8 Associate Justices
 These Justices are appointed by the
President and approved by the Senate.
 The Justices serve for LIFE unless they die, retire, resign, or are removed from office through impeachment.

 The Supreme Court has original jurisdiction over a small number of cases.
 Cases involving two or more states
 Cases against ambassadors
 The Supreme Court is mostly an appellate court – reviews the decisions of lower courts.

 One of the six basic principles
 Established by the case of Marbury v.
Madison.
 Gives the Supreme Court the right to review laws or acts and make sure that they do not violate the Constitution.
 No decision made by the Supreme Court can be changed unless there is an amendment to
Constitution, or a future Supreme Court overturns the decision.

 John Adams tried to appoint all new Justices on his last day as President.
 Thomas Jefferson becomes President and tells
James Madison not to grant the appointments.
 William Marbury was not sworn in as a Justice.
 William Marbury filed a suit with the S.C. saying that they should hear the case first because of the Judiciary Act of 1789.
 Chief Justice John Marshall declared the judiciary act unconstitutional, therefore the S.C. could not hear the case.

 This was the first time the Supreme Court declared an act of Congress unconstitutional.
 John Marshall said that the Supreme Court had the right to declare things unconstitutional because they are required to protect the Constitution.
 Showed that the Supreme Court is VERY powerful and that its decisions can shape
American government.

 The Supreme Court meets from the first
Monday in October to the following June or July.
 Between 8,000 and 12,000 are appealed to the S.C. each year.
 Use the “rule of four” to decide which cases will be heard.
 4 of 9 Justices must agree to hear the case

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Most cases reach the Supreme Court by a writ of certiorari – an order for a lower court to send up records so the Supreme Court can review them.
A few cases come to the Supreme court through certificate – a lower court sends a case to the Supreme Court because they are unclear about the laws that should apply to the case.
The Supreme Court will only issue decisions in about 100 cases (out of 8-12,000) that it hears each year.

 Once the S.C. accepts a case they will set a date to hear the case.
 On that date each side will give oral arguments to the Court.
 After the oral arguments, the Court meets in secret conferences to consider the information.
 Once a decision is made, the Court issues its opinion.

1.
2.
3.
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Majority Opinion – this is officially called the
Opinion of the Court. States the decision of the
Court and gives its reasoning.
Concurring Opinion – one or more of the
Justices agree with the decision, but want to add a point that was not included in the
Majority Opinion
Dissenting Opinion – one or more of the justices disagree with the Majority Opinion.
These opinions serve as precedents (examples) to be used in future cases.

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Followed by most
Conservative judges.
Leave personal beliefs out of decisions.
Do not allow society to influence decisions.
Follow the Constitution exactly as it is written.
Try to avoid changing laws.
Only change laws if it directly violates the
Constitution.
Used in Marbury v.
Madison to justify refusing to hear the case.
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Followed by most Liberal judges.
Interpret the Constitution very loosely – not word for word.
Tend to make more changes to laws than those following restraint.
Believe Framers wanted them to change the
Constitution as time goes by.
Used in Brown v. Board of
Education to justify the decision in the case.

 Chief Justice = $223,500
 Associate Justices = $213,900
 Can retire at age 70 if they have served at least 10 years and collect their full salary for the rest of their life.
 Can retire at age 65 if they have served at least 15 years and collect their full salary for the rest of their life.

 Republican
 Appointed by George
W. Bush in 2005.
 Was 50 years old when appointed.
 Voted to uphold the
Partial Birth Abortion
Ban Act in 2007.

 Republican
 Appointed by George
W. Bush in 2005.
 Was 55 years old when appointed.
 Voted to uphold the
Partial Birth Abortion
Act in 2007.

 Republican
 Appointed by Ronald
Reagan in 1986.
 Was 50 years old when appointed.
 Dissented in Planned
Parenthood v. Casey stating that the constitution does not provide the right to an abortion.

 Republican
 Appointed by Ronald
Reagan in 1988.
 Was 52 years old when appointed.
 Voted to end the ban on handguns in
Washington, D.C. in
2008.

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Republican
Appointed by George
H.W. Bush in 1991.
He was 43 when appointed.
2 nd African American to serve on the
Supreme Court.
Upheld drug testing of student-athletes in
BOE v. Earls in 2002.

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 Democrat
 Appointed by Barak
Obama in 2009.
 She was 55 years old when appointed.
 1 st Hispanic Justice
 Dissented in a case that denied a stay of execution to a convicted hitman in Ohio.

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 John Jay
 First Chief Justice of the Supreme
Court
 John Marshall
 Established the concept of judicial
review through
Marbury v. Madison.