Ch. 18
The Federal Court System
There are two main courts in the
United States
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The two main courts are the national
judiciary ( federal courts) and states’
judiciary (state courts)
The President of the United States has the
authority to nominate judges to the
Supreme Court
Judges must be approved by Senate after
nominated by President
Supreme Court
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This is the highest court in the United
States
Supreme Court judges are appointed for
life, which means they are judges until
they resign, retire, die or get impeached
The Supreme Court is the only court
created by the Constitution
Supreme Court
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Is composed of 9 judges
The Supreme Court first used its power of
judicial review in the case of Marbury vs.
Madison in 1803.
Most of the Supreme Court Cases comes from
the Court of Appeals
In order to hear a case a process called the rule
of four must occur. (4 judges must agree to hear
the case)
Inferior courts are courts that are below the
Supreme Court
Writ of Certiorari
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Writ of Certiorari means that the Supreme
Court has ordered a lower court to send a
case to them
Another way that cases reach the
Supreme Court is through Certificate or
when a lower court will ask for help from
the Supreme Court
Federal Courts below the Supreme
Court (Inferior Courts)
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District courts- constitutional court that
handles about 80 percent of all federal
courts (original jurisdiction over most
federal cases)
Court of Appeals- created in 1891 to
relieve some of the burden off the
Supreme Court. This court allows people
to appeal their case if found guilty of a
crime
Landmark Supreme Court Cases
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For the remainder of class we are going to
go over a number of Supreme Court cases
the are well known
You will need to create a foldable with the
title Landmark Supreme Court cases as we
talk about each of them it will be due by
Wed.
Marbury vs. Madison
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Supreme Court ruled that it had the
authority to declare some acts of Congress
as unconstitutional
McCulloch vs. Maryland (1819)
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Established the constitutional supremacy
of the federal government over the state
government
Dred Scott v. Sanford (1857)
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Declared the Missouri Compromise
unconstitutional, it also declared that
slaves were not citizens of the United
States
Plessy v. Ferguson (1896)
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Ruled that separate but equal facilities for
black and whites on trains did not violate
civil rights for blacks.
This “separate but equal” doctrine
remained effective until the Brown vs the
Board of Education decision in 1954
overturned it.
Schenk vs. United States (1919)
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Declared that the United States
government can restrict free speech “if the
words used create a clear and present
danger.”
Gitlow vs. New York (1925)
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Decision confirmed that the Bill of Rights
also applies to the States
Schechter v. United States (1935)
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Ruled that Congress cannot delegate its
power and authority to the president.
Brown v. Board of Education (1954)
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Laws enforcing segregation in schools are
unconstitutional, violating the equal
protection guarantee of the 14th
amendment.
Overturned the Plessy v. Ferguson
decision from 1896
Miranda vs. Arizona (1966)
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Ruled that suspects of a crime must be
informed of their rights. Where we get the
term Miranda rights “ You have the right
to remain silent. Anything you say can and
will be used against you in a court of law.
You have the right to speak to an
attorney, and to have an attorney present
during any questioning. If you cannot
afford a lawyer, one will be provided for
you at government expense.”