The Bureaucracy and the Courts What is a Bureaucracy? • A bureaucracy is defined as the complex structure of offices, tasks, rules, and principles of organization that are employed by all largescale institutions to coordinate the work of their personnel. • The origin of bureaucracies in the United States comes from Congress when it passes laws creating bureaus and appropriating its funding as well. The Major Role of Bureaucracies • The major role of bureaucracies are the following: • Enforcing laws passed by Congress • Issuing bureaucratic rules of organization and management • Promoting the public welfare. The bureaucracy promotes the public’s welfare by enhancing or protecting the general well being. These agencies provide services, build infrastructure, and enact regulations designed to enhance the well being of the vast majority of citizens. The Federal Reserve • The Federal Reserve System, a system of twelve banks that facilitates cash exchange, checks, and credit; regulates member banks; and uses monetary policies to fight inflation and deflation. It has authority over the interest rates and lending activities of the nations’ most important banks. The Size of the Federal Workforce • The size of the federal service has actually declined over the past two and a half decades. The number of civilian federal employees was approximately 2.7 million in 2008, compared to 3.0 million in 1968. In fact, the proportion of the U.S. workforce that works for the federal government has not risen in over fifty years. Department of Homeland Security • In the wake of 9/11, the federal government also created the Department of Homeland Security, signaling the high priority domestic security has. Since 2002, DHS joined DOJ in domestic security efforts. • Prior to 9/11, most national security efforts went into prosecuting federal crimes, and the Department of Justice was charged with this task. The U.S. Mint • The United States Mint primarily produces circulating coinage for the United States to conduct its trade and commerce. The Mint was created by Congress with the Coinage Act of 1792, and originally placed within the Department of State. Jurisdiction • Definition of Jurisdiction: Jurisdiction is generally the sphere of a court’s power and authority. Article III of the Constitution gives the Supreme Court two types of jurisdiction • 1. Original jurisdiction is all cases involving foreign ambassadors and issues in which a state is one of the parties involved. It is defined as the authority to consider a case initially, as distinguished from appellate jurisdiction, the authority to hear appeals from a lower court’s decision. • 2. Appellate jurisdiction in all federal cases and in cases originating in state courts that raise a federal question. For example, an appellant may assert that due process of law (the right of every citizen against arbitrary action by national or state government, for example, the right to counsel) was denied. Federal Jurisdiction • Federal Trial Courts: Courts of original jurisdiction are the courts that are responsible for discovering the facts in a controversy and creating the record on which judgment is based. Although the Constitution gives the Supreme Court original jurisdiction in several types of cases, such as those affecting ambassadors, most original jurisdiction goes to the federal district (trial) courts. Lower federal courts include the ninety four district courts. • Federal Court of Appeals. In courts that have appellate jurisdiction, judges receive cases after the factual record is established. Ordinarily, new facts be presented before appellate courts. The United States is divided into eleven multistate circuits with a separate circuit for the District of Columbia. The Supreme Court • This is America’s highest court. Article III of the Constitution vests the “judicial power of the United States” in the Supreme Court. The Court is made up of a chief justice (Supreme Court justice who presides over the Court’s public session) and eight associate justices. Congress has the authority to change the size of the Supreme Court. The Supreme Court is the only federal court established by the Constitution. The lower federal courts were created by statute. Congress can restructure or, presumably, even abolish them. The Supreme Court in Action • The Supreme Court controls the number of cases it reviews with its appellate jurisdiction. Its original jurisdiction includes the following: • • Cases between the United States and one of the fifty states • • Cases between two or more states • • Cases involving foreign ambassadors or other ministers • • Cases brought by one state against citizens of another state or against a foreign country Landmark U.S. Supreme Court Decisions • 1954 - Brown v. Board of Education - This decision overturned Plessy v. Ferguson and granted equal protection under the law. • 1963 - Gideon v. Wainwright - This decision guarantees the right to counsel. • 1964 - New York Times v. Sullivan - This decision upheld the First Amendment rights of freedom of speech and freedom of the press. • 1966 - Miranda v. Arizona - The decision established the rights of suspects against self-incrimination. • 1973 - Roe v. Wade - This decision the right to privacy extends to include a woman's right to choose pregnancy or abortion. • 2000 – Bush v. Gore – This decision stopped the vote recount in Florida, thus George W. Bush won the Electoral College vote. • 2008 - District of Columbia v. Heller - The Second Amendment does protect the individual's right to bear arms, 5-4 for Heller. • 2010 - Citizens United v. FEC - The Court rules corporations can contribute to PACs under the First Amendment's right to free speech, 5-4 for Citizens United. • 2015 – Obergfell vs. Hodges – Declared same sex marriage bans in several states unconstitutional because those bans violated the 14th Amendment. How Judges Are Appointed • Federal judges are appointed by the president and confirmed by the Senate. Nominees are generally selected from among the more politically active members of the legal profession. • Often, before the president makes a formal nomination, senatorial courtesy (the practice whereby the president, before formally nominate a person for a federal judgeship, seeks an indication that senators from the candidate’s own state support the nomination) is observed. • There are no formal qualifications for service as a federal judge. In general, presidents appoint judges with legal experience and of good character, who have ideological and partisan views similar to the president’s. Judicial Nomination Process • Once the president formally nominates an individual, the nominee must be considered by the Senate Judiciary Committee and confirmed by a majority vote in the full Senate. In recent years, Supreme Court nominations have involved intense partisan struggles. Typically, after the presidential nomination, interest groups opposing the nomination mobilize the media, public, and Senate against it.