6. the judicial branch of government Flashcards
What is the process of selection and appointment of the Supreme court judges?
Process:
- vacancy opens up, president considers possible nominees then president announced then nominees appear before the Senate to vote whether they should be accepted
What are the strengths of the USSC judges nomination process?
- Detailed scrutiny of every nominee by White house, FBI, Senate judiciary committee and media
- senate judiciary committee undertakes detailed scrutiny
What are the weaknesses of the USSC judges nomination process?
- President usually try to choose nominees who appear t support their own political philosophy
- voting by Senate generally takes place on party lines
What is the nature of judicial power?
- USSC has the power of judicial review which allowed it to declare:
+ acts of congress unconstitutional
+ actions of the executive unconstitutional
+ actions of the state governments unconstitutional - ensures that all branches of federal and state government are complying with the constitution
What is the constitutional role of the USSC?
- court makes its judgements based on interpretations
- justices have very different ideas about how the constitution should be interpreted
- Strict constructionists (generally Reps e.g. Chief Justice Roberts, Kavanaugh) or loose constructionists (generally Dems e.g. Elena Kagan, Ruth Bader Ginsburg)
What are strict constructionists?
- belive that the text of the constitution should be followed as closely as possible
e.g. Clarence Thomas, Kavanaugh, Gorsuch
What are loose constructionists?
- believe that the constitution should be interpreted more loosely, taking account of the general intentions of the farmers and the modern context
- generally more liberal thinkers
e.g. Ginsburg, Kagan, Sotomayor
What are the supreme courts interpretations of Bill of Rights? - 1st amendment
Freedom of religion
- Zelman v Simmons-Harris court upheld a school voucher programme in Ohio - gave aid to parents to allow children to go to private school
- Town of Greece v Galloway - court ruled that prayers at the start of council meetings did not constitute an establishment of region and can continue
What are the supreme court interpretations of bill of rights? - 1st amendment & speech
Freedom of speech
- Buckley v Valeo - court ruled hat limits on spending by presidential candiate were unconstitutional
- Citizen united v FEC - court ruled that corporations, unions and associations had the same rights to free speech as individuals and can make political adverts
What are the supreme court interpretations of bill of rights? - 2nd amendment
gun control
- District of Columbia v Heller court ruled that amendment does confer an individual the right to bear arms
What are the supreme court interpretations of bill of rights? - 8th amendment
death penalty
- Roper v Simmons - court ruled against the death penalty for crimes committed by a minor
What is the significance of judicial review?
Judicial review allows the USSC to ensure that the legislature and executive do not exceed their constitutional powers
- judicial review allows USSC to strike down laws if they are unconstitutional
- used as a checks and balances e.g. Boumediene v Bush
Is the USSC too political? - yes
- it is an unelected body that makes decisions on important matters of public policy
- highly politicised process of appointment
- justices who believe in a living constitution are able to use their position for judicial activism
Is the USSC too political? - no
- justices are independent and are supposed to be politically neutral
- decisions are made on the basis of legal argument rather than poltical principles
- some justices do not reflect the political stance of the president that appointed them e.g. David Souter
- Some justices are swing voters e.g. Anthony Kennedy
What is Brown v Board of Topeka and the signficance?
- 13 African American parents filed lawsuit after children couldn’t go to a local white school - case was bought on by NACCP
- Court ruled “separate by equal” (Plessy v Ferguson) was actually unequal
- caused desegregation of most things e.g. schools, buses, toilets, etc
- Led to Little rock
