Judicial Power Flashcards
Establishment of the Supreme Court
Article III requires the establishment of a Supreme Court and permits the Congress to create other federal courts and place limitations on their jurisdiction. Although many specialized courts are created under the authority granted in Article I, greater power is vested in ArticleIII courts because they are independent of Congress, the President, and the political process.
Jurisdiction of federal courts
Article III, Section 2 delineates the jurisdiction of federal courts as limited to cases or controversies:
i) Arising under the Constitution, laws, and treaties of the United States;
ii) Affecting foreign countries’ ambassadors, public ministers, and consuls;
iii) Involving admiralty and maritime jurisdiction;
iv) When the United States is a party;
v) Between two or more states, or between a state and citizens of another state;
vi) Between citizens of different states or between citizens of the same state claiming lands under grants of different states; or
vii) Between a state, or its citizens, and foreign states, citizens, or subjects.
Judicial review of congressional and executive actions
The judiciary has the power—although it is not enumerated in the text of the Constitution—to review an act of another branch of the federal government and to declare that act unconstitutional, Marbury v. Madison, as well as the constitutionality of a decision by a state’s highest court.
Marbury v. Madison
The central ideas of Marbury v. Madison are that (i) the Constitution is paramount law, and (ii) the Supreme Court has the final say in interpreting the Constitution.
Judicial review of state actions
The federal judiciary has the power, under the Supremacy Clause (Article VI, Section 2), to review state actions (e.g., court decisions, state statutes, executive orders) to ensure conformity with the Constitution, laws, and treaties of the United States.
Eleventh Amendment
The Eleventh Amendment is a jurisdictional bar that prohibits the citizens of one state from suing another state in federal court. It immunizes the state from suits in federal court for money damages or equitable relief when the state is a defendant in an action brought by a citizen of another state or a foreign country. In addition, the Eleventh Amendment bars suits in federal court against state officials for violating state law. It also preclude citizens from suing their own state in federal court
Sovereign Immunity
Note that the Supreme Court has also barred federal-law actions brought against a state government without the state’s consent in its own courts as a violation of sovereign immunity.
However, neither the Eleventh Amendment nor the sovereign immunity doctrine bars a suit brought by a citizen against a state in the courts of another state.
Injunctive relief when defendant in an action is a state official
When a state official, rather than the state itself, is named as the defendant in an action brought in federal court, the state official may be enjoined from enforcing a state law that violates federal law or may be compelled to act in accord with federal law despite state law to the contrary.
Damages to be paid by an individual not in their representative capacity
An action for damages against a state officer is not prohibited, as long as the officer himself (rather than the state treasury) will have to pay. Such is the case when an officer acts outside the law; the action is against the officer as an individual and not in his representative capacity.
Actions against local governments
The Eleventh Amendment applies only to states and state agencies. Local governments (e.g., counties, cities) are not immune from suit.
Bankruptcy proceedings
The Eleventh Amendment does not bar the actions of a Bankruptcy Court that impacts state finances.
Jurisdiction of the Supreme Court
Article III, Section 2 gives the Supreme Court “original jurisdiction” (i.e., the case may be filed first in the Supreme Court) over “all cases affecting ambassadors, other public ministers and consuls and those in which a State shall be a party.” Congress may not expand or limit this jurisdiction.
It may, however, grant concurrent original jurisdiction to lower federal courts, which it has for all cases except those between states.
Appellate Jurisdiction
Article III, Section 2 also provides that “in all other cases before mentioned, the Supreme Court shall have appellate jurisdiction…with such exceptions, and under such regulations as the Congress shall make.”
Certiorari
Almost all cases now come to the Supreme Court by way of a petition for a writ of certiorari, i.e., discretionary review. The Court takes jurisdiction only if at least four Justices vote to accept the case (the “rule of four”).
Direct Appeal
The Supreme Court must hear by direct appeal only a small number of cases—those that come from a decision on injunctive relief issued by a special three-judge district court panel. 28 U.S.C. § 1253. Although these panels (and appeals) were once fairly common, they are now limited to cases brought under a few specific statutes (e.g., the Voting Rights Act).
Limitations on jurisdiction
Congress has some power to limit the Supreme Court’s appellate jurisdiction by statute.
There are constraints on this power, because to deny all Supreme Court jurisdiction over certain types of cases would undermine the constitutional system of checks and balances.
Adequate and independent state grounds
A final state-court judgment that rests on adequate and independent state grounds may not be reviewed by the U.S. Supreme Court (or it would be an advisory opinion). The state-law grounds must fully resolve the matter (i.e., be adequate) and must not incorporate a federal standard by reference (i.e., be independent).
Matters that dictate whether a court hears the case
Standing, timing (mootness or ripeness), and other issues of justiciability may dictate whether a case may be heard by a federal court.