Judiciary Synthesis

        In Federalist No. 78, Hamilton argued for life tenure for federalist judges. Hamilton said the judicial branch would be the weakest of the three branches, and the best way to ensure that judicial decisions are fair is to ensure they are free of all allegiances except of to the rule of law.

        The Supreme Court is the nation’s highest court. A court’s jurisdiction is its authority to hear cases of a particular type. Original jurisdiction is the authority to be the first court to hear a case. The Supreme Court’s original jurisdiction includes legal disputes involving cases in which the opposing parties are state governments. Appellate jurisdiction is the authority to review cases that have already been heard in lower courts and are appealed to a higher court by the losing party. Higher courts are called appeals courts or appellate courts. The Supreme Court does its most important work as an appellate court. Appellate courts do not retry cases, but determine whether a trial court has acted in accord with applicable law.

        The Supreme Court’s strongest power is judicial review, where the Supreme Court declares another institution’s actions unconstitutional. In Marbury v Madison, the Supreme Court rebuked both the Congress and the President. The Supreme Court’s primary responsibility is to establish legal precedents through which to guide lower courts.

        If at least four out of nine justices agree to hear a case, the Court issues a writ of certiorari, which is a request to the lower court to submit to the Supreme Court a record of the case. Each year about 8000 cases apply, but fewer than a hundred are granted certiorari.

        The solicitor general is the top lawyer for the United States Government. The Supreme Court is most likely to grant cases appealed by the solicitor general.

John Roberts: sexy, conservative chief justice

        During a Supreme Court hearing, each side provides the Court a written brief. An amicus curiae is a brief submitted by a “friend of the court”. The oral session is followed by the judicial conference, which is where the judges debate in secrecy. The chief justice has the choice to be the first speaker, through which he or she can persuade the rest of the justices on a certain issue.

The court decision indicates which party the Court supports and by how large a margin. An opinion includes the legal basis for a decision. When a majority of justices agree, there is a majority opinion. A concurring opinion is written when a judge votes with the majority but disagrees on the reasoning. A judge who votes against the majority writes a dissenting opinion.

District courts are the lowest federal courts. When the losing side appeals, the case goes up to the US Courts of Appeals. The US has thirteen courts of appeals, eleven of which handle a circuit of which contains several states. Another has a jurisdiction over appeals arising in the District of Columbia and the other (The US Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit) has jurisdiction over appeals involving patents and international trade. Less than 1% of cases heard by federal appeals courts are heard by the Supreme Court. Many states elect federal court judges.

State courts decide more than 95% of the cases in the United States. This is because state laws differentiate from federal laws, and federal laws may not cover most issues.

The doctrine of judicial activism says that judges should actively interpret the Constitution to reflect current conditions and values. Warren Court in the late 1960s to the mid-1980s was a court of liberal tendencies and made many key decisions supporting civil rights. On the contrast, judicial restraint says that judges should do little to play policymaking roles and leave them to the legislatures. Rehnquist Court in the late 1980s to mid-2000s was a court of conservative tendencies.