Supreme Court Flashcards
What did Wellington and Chief Justice John Roberts say about the justices
they should be neutral umpires
who nominates justices
president
how can the president benefit from appointments
they can change the ideological swing of the court
who did Donald Trump recently appoint and what did the swing of the court become
Amy Coney Barratt, 6-3
what are justices often appointed off of
their ideological views, not capabilities
which justice died in Feb 2016
Antonin Scalia
what did McConnell say after Scalias death
no Obama appointment would be confirmed
what did McConnell also hypocritically do
rush through the appointment of Amy Coney Barratt
what are nominees subject to
background checks and interviews with the FBI
an assessment from the American Bar Association
A confirmation hearing in the senate judiciary committee
a majority vote in the senate
who was the last rejected nominee
Robert Borke (1987)
why was Robert Borke rejected
he had portrayed anti abortion and anti civil rights views, receiving an unfavourable recommendation by the Senate judiciary committee
what has happened to the voting on SC appointments
they re no longer unanimous
what was the vote on RBG
96-3
how many democrat votes did ACB receive
0
what did John Roberts say
you can no longer expect that the best candidate will become a supreme court judge but instead that the most politically viable will
what has judicial review enabled
the SC to overrule the elected branch
what did the SC do in Bush v Gore 2000
they decided the president
what has judicial review gone beyond
constitutional interpretation, with the SC also adjudicating alleged violations of federal laws by state law orb y private organisation
what did Sonia sotomayor say about government by judiciary
‘the supreme court is where policy is made’
what did Bickell say about the supreme court
it is ‘counter majoritarian’. acting as an unelected for which acts against the elected branches
what did Obama say about judicial activism
‘an activist judge is somebody who has ignored the will of Congress, ignored democratic process and tried to impose judicial solutions on problems instead of letting the process work itself through politically’
what is an example of judicial activism
National Institute of Family and Life Advocates v Becerra case in 2018, Chief Justice John Roberts showed judicial activism when he voted to strike down a California state law that required religious pregnancy crisis centres to provide women with information about how to terminate their pregnancy
where does judicial review date back to
Marbury v Madison 1803
what is another issue with the current Supreme Court
In the Roberts court, there has been the most amount of cases decided on 5-4 margins as the Liberal and Conservatives Blocs remain at odds on major issues. Furthermore, it is the changing of these blocs that can create many issues. In the case McConnell vs FEC, the Supreme Court upheld the constitutionality of the Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act. However, only 7 years late the Court would rule against it.
why do cases still emerge on a judicial way
they have to been taken on a constitutional basis and make decision on the wording of the constitution
what is an example of political bias being negligible
in June Medical Services, LLC v Russo, chief justice John Roberts struck down a Louisiana Law that would have limited abortions to one single doctor in the state who had the necessary privileges to send patients needing hospital treatment to a nearby hospital
what did Roberts say about June Medical Services
Roberts cited the need to follow the precedent set in 2018 in Whole Woman’s Health, even though he may not have personally argued with striking down the law
Judicial restraint and minimalism acts as limitation
what is ‘stare decisis’
‘let the decision stand’
why is the SC still dependent on the other branches
Although the SC can make rulings, they rely on the other branches to implement these. For example, in Brown v the Board of Education 1954, the SC allowed civil rights. However, it took ten years for this to materialise with the passing of the CRA in 1964. This reliance on the other branches limits the SC from making policy, as Sonia Sotomayor would suggest.
what can the gov do to SC cases
they can overturn preceding cases
what is an example of cases being overturned
the 16th amendment allowed national income tax despite it being banned by the SC, which found it unconstitutional in reference to the 10th amendment in the pollock v Farmers’ Loan and Trust case (1895).
what is an example of the SC overruling the President
Clinton v City of New York 1998
what can pressure groups do to the supreme court
they can issue amicus curae briefs.
what is an example of the use of amicus briefs
57 briefs were sent to the court before California vs Bakke (1978), whilst Apple and Google Submitted Amicus briefs over the FBI’s request for apple to unlock the phone of a terrorist
what happened to amicus briefs in 2017-2018
there were 890 briefs used in 63 cases. In fact, 100% of cases had at least one brief submitted
where else can pressure groups exert influence
the amendment process
where have PGs influenced the appointment process
appointment of B Kavanaugh, there were protests, including in the committee room during his senate hearing, due to allegations of him sexually assaulting Prof Christine Ford at College. Back by the #metoo campaign. Pro choice NARAL lobbied against Kavanaugh’s appointment.
what are justices exempt form
public influence. E.g. despite the mass opposition, Kavanaugh was appointed on October 6th 2018
what does the constitution say about justices
‘shall, at stated time, receive for their services, a compensation, which shall not be diminished during their continuance in office’
what was the salary of justices in 2018
$255,300
what happened as a result of the impeachment of justice chase in 1803
justices can no longer be removed due to their judicial decisions
what does the court appear to do
shy away from hearing some of the more controversial cases, such as a lack of gun control cases or unwillingness to hear cases about gerrymandering, suggesting the court’s recognition of public opinion.
why will justices purposefully retire at period of time
Liberal justices Blackman, Stevens and Souter all purposefully retired under Democrat presidents.
what did Hamilton say about the SC
it is the ‘least dangerous branch’
what did Jefferson say about the SC
it is ‘despotic’
what is an example of the SC basically creating new policy
Citizens United v FEC (2010) allowed for the development of Super-PACs, which would previously have been impossible due to the Bipartisan Campaign reform act. In effect, nine unelected judges had a substantial role not only in shaping the policy surrounding elections, but also in overturning a law created elected by representatives.
what is the magnitude of SC upholding legislation
In two healthcare cases, the Court ruled in favour of Obamacare. This allowed the continued enforcement of this legislation, but also lent a degree of sovereignty to the law.
what can be the knock on effect of the SC deciding not to hear cases
In 2018, the SC refused to hear the case of Planned Parenthood of Arkansas v Jegley, which challenged Arkansas’ strict regulation of medically-induced abortion which made it very difficult to obtain the ‘abortion pill’ and would have left the state with one abortion provided. In refusing to hear the case, the SC allowed this law to come into force in Arkansas
what is the Supreme Court limited in
the amount of cases they can hear
on what basis can the SC rule
constitutionality
how many cases do the SC take a year
60-100, of the average 8000 they receive
what is sovereign in the US
the constitution
what is the SC unable to do with case
they cannot enforce them
what is the knock on effect of the SC ruling anything unconstitutional
laws immediately become ineffective, and Theo only way to overcome this is an amendment
how many rimes has congress over ruled the SC through an amendment
once
when did congress use an amendment to overrule the SC
with the 16th amendment. The SC had struck down the Congressional Income Tax Act of 1894 in the case of Pollock v Farmers’ Loan & Trust Co. To enable Congress to raise income tax, they added the 16th amendment to the Constitution
what ensures the SCs power
article III of the constitution
what ensures judicial independence
life tenure, protected salary
what does such strong independence ensure
that judges can act as they want to
what is an example of justices acting in a certain way
Brett Kavanaugh was a highly controversial appointment given previous allegation of sexual assault against him, but despite this, he remains in the court and is free to act on any case he wants
what must the Supreme Court do
outline their decisions and why they came to them
where are SC cases published
SCOTUS blog
where has the Roberts court weakened campaign finance
Citizens United v FEC 2010 and McCutchen v FEC 2014 both led to corporations and individuals free to donate freely. These reverse McConnell v FEC - campaign finance restriction and McCain-Feingold legislation Bipartisan Campaign Finance Bill 2010.
how has the Supreme Court avoided being activist
Largely agreed in gun control cases precedence and has avoided controversy by supporting ACA at last stage. Roberts in his reasoning said it was too controversial to strike down the presidents central and mandated policy, and that it should be left to the president and congress.
where has the Roberts court been activist over voter rights
Key decisions made to change the application of long established and hard own voting registration act 1965. E.g. Shelby County v Holder 2013 overturned the Bill’s formula to determine whether certain states (usually those previous segregation states) ensuring that they sought federal permission for any changes to ensure no discrimination was reapplied
what was Roberts reasoning in Shelby County
Roberts reasoned USA was very different to the 1930s and 60s. This now opens the door to any state to apply discrimination against any group whether for well-intended or malicious reasons. Freedom v protection. Conservative policies.
what was overturned in Obergefell v Hodges
DOMA
what protected same sex relations
Lawrence v Texas 2003
who was the swing vote in recent years
Justice Kennedy
how has the SC effectively protected ethnic minority rights
minority rights have been ensured in Brown v Board (1954) and Swann v Charlotte-Mecklenburg (1971)
what happened in Arizona v United States (2012)
the SC struck down most of Arizona’s controversial immigration law.
where has the Supreme Court restricted affirmative action
in Gratz v Bollinger (2003) and Texas v Fisher (2013) where they ruled it needed to pass a strict test of scrutiny
what is the biggest intrusion of rights made by the SC
A leak has shown that the SC has intended to overturn Roe V Wade, a major intrusion on the rights of women. This has been highly criticised by Congress and Joe Biden
what has happened to rights protection in Congress
- Immigration reform is floundering at the moment, the GOP is unlikely to pass comprehensive immigration reform.
- The Republicans opposed the Democrats attempted reforms to the Voting Rights Acts
The likelihood of divided government and the level of partisanship has shown that if either party tried to introduce rights reform, the other party would simply oppose it
- The Republicans opposed the Democrats attempted reforms to the Voting Rights Acts
what is congress able to do
pass laws that protect the civil liberties of ethnic minority groups
what are 2 of the most important pieces of legislation for protecting rights
the civil rights act and the voting rights act (1964 and 1965). These lay the path for the increased protection of rights for ethnic minorities
what was announced in 2013
a bipartisan plan for immigration reform
how have presidents been weak about the protection of rights
Trump’s incendiary language during the 2016 election campaign on the subject of immigration (he was criticised by the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights for the Muslim Travel Ban). His attempts to reverse both DACA and DAPA. His apparent defence of far right demonstrators in Charlottesville 2017 following the death of Heather Heyer
what can the president do in extreme circumstances for rights
troops can be deployed to enforce legislation, for example Eisenhower sent federal troops to the state of Arkansas in 1957 to help implement the SC’s order to desegregate schools
what is an example of the President using the ‘bully pulpit’ to protect rights
JFK and LBJ tried to lead the country in the direction of civil rights in the 1960s.
what executive orders were made to help rights
In June 2012 and November 2014 Obama issued executive orders to end the deportation of young illegal immigrants who entered the USA as children.
what did the Supreme Court rule in Whole Women’s Health v Hellerstadt (2016)
The court voted 5-3 that Texas’ laws that placed new restrictions on abortion clinics in the state violated women’s constitutional right to abortion.
what did the Supreme Court do in Gonzalez v Carhart 2003
the supreme court upheld the partial-birth abortion ban act which prohibited a form of late termination of pregnancy.
what did the Supreme Court rule in Pavan V Smith
that a part of an Arkansas law that gave opposite sex couples, but not same sex couple the rights to include a husband or wife’s name on their child’s birth certificate was unconstitutional
what did the Supreme Court rule in Karnovski v Trump (2019)
the supreme court ruled to uphold the Trump administration’s policy of banning certain transgender people from the military. This was a conservative victory in the court.
