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
The Federal Judicial System: Applying the Law
Presentation by Eric Miller, Blinn College, Bryan, Texas.
It is emphatically the province and duty
of the judicial department to say what the
law is. Those who apply the rule to
particular cases, must of necessity
expound and interpret that rule. If two
laws conflict with each other, the courts
must decide on the operation of each.
Sonia Sotomayor
Obama 2009
Samuel Alito
Bush II 2006
Steven G. Breyer
Clinton 1994
Elena Kagan
Obama 2010
John Roberts
Bush II 2005
Clarence Thomas
Bush I 1991
Antonin Scalia
Reagan 1986
Anthony M. Kennedy
Reagan 1988
Ruth Bader Ginsburg
Clinton 1993

The Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS)
o Article III
• SCOTUS
• Congress creates “inferior” courts
o Judicial Review
• The power of SCOTUS to declare another institution’s action
unconstitutional
• Marbury v. Madison- John Marshall
o Original Jurisdiction- power to hear a case first
• only a few rare instances
• Ambassadors, other public ministers & consuls, foreign diplomats
• When a state is a party
o Appellate Jurisdiction- power to hear appeals from lower courts
• cases come from the federal circuit court of appeals or state supreme
courts

The Supreme Court of the United States
o Selecting and Deciding Cases
• Precedent
• establishes a rule for settling subsequent cases of a similar nature
• SCOTUS’ most important function is establishing legal precedents for lower
courts to follow
• stare decisis - adherence to precedent
• Maintains legal consistency so confusion and uncertainty can be avoided
• Writ of Certiorari
• permission allowing a losing party to bring its case before the court
• gives SCOTUS broad power by allowing it to choose which cases it hears
• discretionary rule - rule of four
• Solicitor General
• Justice Dept. official who represents the US in cases before the Supreme
Court

The Supreme Court of the United States
o Selecting and Deciding Cases (Cont.)
• Brief
• legal argument submitted by each party before the oral argument phase
• amicus curiae – “friend of the court”
• a brief submitted by an interest which is not a direct party in the case
• Oral Arguments• 30 minutes for each side
• Q & A between the justices and lawyers
• Judicial Conference
• held in private after oral arguments
• chief justice speaks first and votes last

The Supreme Court of the United States
o Issuing Decisions and Opinions
• Decision
• the outcome of the case (who won?)
• Opinion
• more important than the decision because it informs others of the Court’s
interpretation and thereby guides their decisions
• SCOTUS most important function- establishing legal precedents
• Majority Opinion
• The court’s written explanation of its decision
• Plurality Opinion
• A majority of justices agree with the decision but not on the legal basis for the
decision
• Concurring Opinion
• when justices agree with the decision but for different reasons
• Dissenting Opinion
• Disagrees with the Court’s decision

Other Federal Courts
o U.S. District Courts
• exist in each state
• courts of original jurisdiction
• act as trial courts with juries to determine outcomes
• Only federal courts with juries and a verdict
• This is where the facts are established
• make the final decision for most cases
• Sometimes deviate from SCOTUS precedents
• Facts are seldom precisely the same
• Judges may misunderstand the reasoning or position of
SCOTUS
• Ambiguities or unaddressed issues give lower courts flexibility
o U.S. Courts of Appeals
• hears appeals from trial courts
o Special U.S. Courts
• US Claims Court
• US Court of International Trade
• US Court of Military Appeals
Supreme Court
-appellate jurisdiction
-limited original
jurisdiction
Circuit Court of
Appeals
-appellate jurisdiction
only
District Courts
-original jurisdiction
Federal Court System
(more complicated structure)
Original
Jurisdiction
Cases
Appeals from
States
Geographic Boundaries of U.S. Courts of Appeals

The State Courts
o the U.S has federal and state courts
because of federalism
o federal Court “myths” overlook these facts
• About 95% of the nation’s legal cases arise
under state law, not federal law
• nearly all cases originate in state courts are
never reviewed by federal courts
• federal courts must normally accept the
facts of a case as determined by a state
court
o State method of selecting judges
• Competitive Elections
• Partisan & non-partisan
• Merit Plan
• Political Appointment

The Selection of Supreme Court Justices and Federal Judges
• Appointed by the president; confirmed by the Senate
• “term of good behavior”
• life on the bench
• can carry out their duties without fear of reprisal by POTUS or Congress
• enabled presidents to extend their influence on judicial policy long after they
have left the White House

Supreme Court nominees
o Presidents nominate those with compatible political philosophy
o Nominees must be acceptable to others
o Very few nominees rejected by Senate after nineteenth century
o Lower-Court Nominees
• Senatorial Courtesy- senators are consulted on the nomination of lowerlevel federal judges in their state

Justices and Judges as Political
Officials
o The Role of Partisanship
• the biggest influence in the
appointment of federal judges
o Other Characteristics of Judicial
Appointees
• prior judicial experience
• Demographics
o Nearly all recent appointees from
appellate courts
o Most are white men, but diversity has
increased in recent decades
President
Eisenhower, have
you ever made any
mistakes as
president?
Yes, two, and they
are both sitting on
the Supreme
Court
Wow, that’s
amazing!

The Constraints of the Facts
o affect which law or laws will apply
to the case
o federal courts can only make
rulings in response to actual
legal cases
• Bush vs. Gore (2000)
• halted a manual recount of
“undervotes” in Florida
• Invoked the 14th Amendment’s
“equal protection clause”

The Constraints of the Law
o The Constitution and Its
Interpretation
o Statutes, Administrative Laws,
and Their Interpretation
o Legal Precedents (Previous
Rulings) and Their Interpretation
• maintains legal consistency over
time

Outside Influences on Court Decisions
o Public Opinion
• the Court attempts to stay close to public opinion to avoid a grave loss of
public support
• Wants to avoid outright defiance of its decisions
o Interest Groups
• lawsuits (ACLU)
• amicus curiae briefs
o Congress and the President
• Strict Constructionism
• narrow interpretation of the law
• Loose Constructionism
• an expansive interpretation

Inside Influences: The Justices’ Own Political Beliefs
o major shifts in SCOTUS’ positions have usually been due to turnover on
the court’s membership

The Debate over the Proper Role of the Judiciary
o Originalism theory vs. living constitution theory
• Originalism: determine and preserve founder’s intent
• Emphasizes the meaning of the of its words at the time when they were
written
• Justice Antonin Scalia
• Living constitution theory: adaptable to changing social situations
• Emphasizes the principles of the Constitution and their application to
changing circumstances and needs
• Justice Steven Bryer

The Debate over the Proper Role of the Judiciary (cont.)
o The Doctrine of Judicial Restraint
• Compliance- deferring to elected officials
• Closely follow the law
• be highly respectful of precedent
• defer to judgment of legislatures
o The Doctrine of Judicial Activism
• The court sees a compelling need to develop new principles even if it
conflicts with precedent or the decisions of elected officials
• protecting individuals from a “tyranny of the majority”
• Lawrence vs. Texas (2003)
•
Invalidated a state law against homosexual sodomy
• Liberals and Conservatives
• Individual rights vs. States rights/ Business Interests
• Ledbetter vs. Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co. (2007)
• Brown v. Board of Education (1954)
• Citizens United vs. Federal Elections Commission (2010)
• Lifted restrictions on corporate and union spending in federal election
campaigns

The Judiciary’s Proper Role: A Question of Competing Values
o the issue of legitimacy
• the proper authority of the judiciary in a system based on majority rule
• the Court has acted legislatively by defining broad social policies
• prayer in public school
• prison reform
• abortion
o If Congress disagrees with a SCOTUS ruling it could:
•
•
•
•
rewrite the statute- “Lilly Ledbetter Act”
express displeasure with the ruling
modify the scope of the court’s appellate jurisdiction
amend the Constitution
• 11th Amendment
• 16th Amendment