AP Government and Politics
Wilson: Chapter 14
Homework:
Assignment 15
The Original District and Circuits
 Created by the
Judiciary Act
of 1789
 6 SC Justices
 13 Districts
 3 Circuits
 “Riding the
Circuit”
The US Court System – Legislative and
Constitutional (judicial) courts
How do cases get to federal court?
 The federal courts only have jurisdiction over certain
subjects, or only when certain parties are involved in the case
 Congress has enlarged and diminished this jurisdiction over
time
 Original vs. Appellate jurisdiction
 State courts hear cases related to state laws; federal courts
hear cases related to federal laws
 Exclusive vs. Concurrent jurisdiction
 Certain situations may present the ability to be heard in
either state or federal court.
 Typically, the prosecutors will consider the jurisdiction with
harshest penalty, or more likely victory.
How do cases get to the Supreme
Court?
 Usually begin in federal district court.
 District courts are the trial courts of the federal court system.
 There are 94 federal judicial districts, including at least one
district in each state, the District of Columbia and Puerto
Rico.
Step 2: Circuit Courts of Appeal
 Courts of Appeal
 Created as a separate level, with their own justices, in the late 1800s
 The 94 judicial districts are organized into 12 regional circuits, each
of which has a United States court of appeals.
 There are 23 circuit court judges in the 3rd circuit…
Appealing to the Supreme Court
 If a party loses in Circuit court, they may appeal their case to
the Supreme Court
 Most cases reach the Supreme Court on appeal from the
Circuit Courts
 How many justices does it take to decide to hear a case?

Why is this number unusual?
 If the justices decide to hear a case, they will issue a “writ of
certiorari”
 Out of the thousands of petitions for certiorari that are submitted every
year, roughly 10% are granted.
 How does the court “decide to decide”?
 What criteria would you use?
Homework: Assignment 15
for Monday
Getting “borked”?
 According to columnist William Safire, the first published use of
bork as a verb was "possibly" The Atlanta Journal-Constitution of
August 20, 1987.
 Safire defines to bork by reference "to the way Democrats savaged
Ronald Reagan's nominee, the Appeals Court judge Robert H.
Bork, the year before.”
 Perhaps the best known use of the verb to bork occurred in July
1991 at a conference of the National Organization for Women in
New York City. Feminist Florynce Kennedy addressed the
conference on the importance of defeating the nomination of
Clarence Thomas to the U.S. Supreme Court. She said, "We're
going to bork him. We're going to kill him politically ... This little
creep, where did he come from?” Thomas was subsequently
confirmed after one of the most divisive confirmation hearings in
Supreme Court history.
Alito on Becoming A Judge
Day 1 of Kagan Confirmation
Day 2 of Kagan Confirmation
Getting to the Court
 Describe the parts of the nomination process.
 What would the membership of an ideal Supreme Court look like?
 "Even if he was mediocre, there are a lot of mediocre judges and people and lawyers. They
are entitled to a little representation, aren't they, and a little chance? We can't have all
Brandeises and Cardozos and Frankfurters and stuff like that there."
 What do you think of Hruska's point?
 What factors does a president usually take into account when making a nomination for
the Supreme Court?
 What happens sometimes to the ideological leaning of a justice once appointed? Why
might this occur?
 Why are the following “criteria” placed on nominees considered controversial?
 Senatorial Courtesy?
 A “litmus test”?
 What is the role of the Senate with regard to the appointment process?
 Should the Senate be a “rubber stamp” with regard to who the president has appointed?