Supreme Court Flashcards
What is the Judicial system in the US?
Supreme Court
13 courts of appeal (Circuit)
94 trial courts (District)
What % of cases does the Supreme Court hear?
4%
How are Supreme Court Justices appointed?
Nominated by President and confirmed by a simple majority in the Senate
What is the nuclear option?
Filibusters can no longer be used in the confirmation process, meaning the 60 votes to overrule is no longer necessary
Which SCJ resigned in 1968 so as to avoid Impeachment?
Abe Fortas
Who is currently on the Supreme Court
John Roberts Samuel Alito Clarence Thomas Sonia Sotomayor Elena Kagan Ruth Bader-Ginburg Anthony Kennedy Stephen Breyer Neil Gorsuch
What is a strict constructionist approach, and what do they tend to favour?
Justice of the Supreme Court who interprets the Constitution in a strict, literal of conservative fashion
Favour state rights over the federal government power
What is a loose constructionist approach, and what do they favour?
Justice of the Court who interprets the Constitution in a loose or liberal fashion
Tend to favour the power of the federal government over state rights
What is Judicial Activism?
Making decisions which hold that a judge should use their power to promote desirable social ends
Give two examples of activist courts?
Warren Court - Brown vs Board 1954
Burger Court - Roe vs Wade 1973
What is judicial restraint?
The idea that a judge should defer power to the legislative and executive branches, and should put great emphasis on precedence established previously
What kind of court is more likely to declare an Act of Congress unconstitutional?
A judicially active court
How many justices did Clinton and Bush Jnr appoint?
2 each
How many vacancies were there between 1995 and 2004?
0
Why are Supreme Court nominations so important?
The justice tends to out serve the President
Eg. Nixon left office in 1974, died in 1994. Rehnquist served until 2005
What are the 3 key pools of recruitment for Supreme Court Justices?
Department of Justice
State Courts
Federal Courts of Appeals
How many of the current Justices come from the circuit courts?
8, only Kagan isn’t
What court of appeals did Neil Gorsuch come from?
10th
From which state court was Sandra Day O’Connor from?
Arizona in 1981
What was Kagans job when appointed in 2010?
Solicitor General at the Department of Justice
When did Trump announce Neil Gorsuch as his appointment?
31st January 2017
Before which committee does a nominee appear?
Senate Judicial Committee
Why is the Senate hearing so important?
If it goes badly the candidate may have to withdraw
Harriet Miers withdrew is 2005 after Republican opposition
How does the Senate Commitee pass the candidate to the floor?
Makes a recommendatory decision that’s normally quite accurate
Bork (5-9) - 42-58
Gorsuch (11-9) - 55-45
How many nominee has the Senate rejected, and who was the most recent?
12
Robert Bork
Who was Sotomayor appointed to replace and when?
David Souter, May 2009
Why were Republicans keen not to reject Sotomayor? [2]
Didn’t want to be seen to be rejecting a Hispanic nominee
Had similar philosophy to Souter so didn’t change the balance of the court
How did the Committee vote on Sotomayor, and how did the Senate vote?
13-6
68-31
Why was Kagans nomination key? [2]
At the age of 50, she was the youngest member of the court
First time the court included 3 females
How did the Committee vote, and how did the Senate vote?
13-6
63-37
How does the President politicise the nomination process? [2]
Choose candidates with a similar political philosophy to them
Choose candidates with similar stances on key constitutional issues
How does the Senate politicise the nomination process? [3]
Presidents party often pose soft questions that aren’t challenging
Opposition party tend to seek to find opportunities for attack
- Thomas accused of sexual harassment
Justices requently confirmed on party lines
- only 3 democrats voted for Gorsuch
How was the media criticised with the Clarence Thomas hearings?
Rather than an informed debate about philosophy and qualification, it became a competition between media outlets about who could come up with the most tasteless details about false accusations
Why are Supreme Court nominations so important? [5]
Only 9 members so Justices play a much bigger individual role than congressmen
Judicial review is extremely important
Court has final say on key constitutional issues
Appointments are for life
Occur highly infrequently
What is Judicial review?
Power of the Supreme Court to declare acts of Congress, or actions by the executive branch, unconstitutional and therefore null and void
How was Judicial Review established?
1803 Marbury vs Madison
First time an act of congress was declared unconstitutional
What does Judicial review allow? [2]
Court can update the meaning of words or clauses of the Constitution
Can act as a guarantor of fundamental civil rights and liberties
What are civil rights?
Positive Acts of Government designed to protect people against discriminatory treatment by government or individuals
What are two key clauses that the Court act on?
Equal Protection clause
- protects individual rights, ends school segregation etc.
Due Process clause
- limited government. Laws can’t be unconstitutional
What does the 1st amendment state about Freedom of Religion?
Congress shouldn’t establish a state religion
- means that the Court can’t establish a state religion, but also can’t hinder a citizens right to practice their religion freely
What three cases relate to prayer in public schools?
1962 Engal vs Vitale - New York law that provides a prayer for use in schools unconstitutional
1963 Abington vs Schempp - Schools can’t recite passages of the bible
1992 Lee vs Weismann - prayers at school graduations also unconstitutional
What 4 key cases relate to Freedom of Speech?
Buckley vs Valeo 1976 - Presidential spending limits unconstitutional
Citizens vs FEC 2010 - unlimited expenditure by businesses, Super PACS
Reno vs ACLU 1997 - putting indecent material of minors on the Internet was a crime
Synder vs Phelps 2011 - protesters can protest at military funerals
What 3 key murders created national concern about the 2nd amendment?
JFK (1963)
Robert Kennedy (1968)
MLK (1968)
What did 1995 US vs Lopez declare?
1990 Gun Free Schools Zone act unconstitutional
- had made it illegal to knowingly carry a firearm in a school zone
What was the 2008 DC vs Heller ruling?
Declared unconstitutional a ban on handguns in DC
What was Caetano vs Massachusetts 2016?
Vacated a Massachusetts conviction of a women who carried a stun gun in self defence
What’s the 5th amendment?
Right to remain silent
What 3 key cases relate to the 5th amendment?
Miranda vs Arizona 1966 - should be reminded of such right when arrested
Dickerson vs US 2000 - even if Miranda rights weren’t read, a voluntary statement given could be used in court
Bergius vs Thompkins 2010 - suspect must state they intend to remain silent, can’t just not speak
What is the 8th amendment?
Freedom from cruel and unusual punishment
What are three key cases related to the 8th amendment?
Furman vs Georgia 1972 - death penalty unconstitutional. Led to increased use of lethal injection
Atkins vs Virginia 2002 - execution of mentally disabled unconstitutional. 20 of 38 states that allow death penalty allowed it
Roper vs Simmons 2005 - can’t sentence someone to death for a crime they committed under the age of 18
What are the three areas that the 14th amendment covers in relation to racial minorities?
Segregation
Affirmative Action
Racial Quotas
What was the issue with Brown vs Board?
Only addressed de jure segregation, as a result of state legislatures
Didn’t address de facto segregation, due to neighbourhood schooling
- Charlotte vs Swann 1971 led to introduction of school busing
What are the two key cases relating to abortion rights?
1973 Roe vs Wade - made abortion legal in the US
1992 Planned Parenthood vs Casey - upheld a law requiring women to receive counselling before an abortion. Made it harder
How does the Court check Congressional power?
By Judicial review, it has the right to declare Congressional powers unconstitutional
Vague clauses have allowed Congress to expand its power, but the Court can rule whether it has violated such provisions
How did the Court express that Obamacare violated congressional power?
Democrats had argued Obamacare was constitutional due to the Commerce Clause
Roberts argued that if this was true with forcing people to buy healthcare, then it could also be true with buying ‘cars or broccoli’
How did the Court rule on Congressional power in US vs Arizona 2012
Court ruled Arizona couldn’t implement its immigration law as it was a Congressional power. Shows the Court protecting congressional authority, and maintaining the federalist balance
What are the three key cases the Court has ruled on in relation to Presidential power?
Nixon and Watergate
Clinton and Paula Jones
Bush and Guantanamo
What was the Watergate scandal?
Nixons team bugged the DNC during the 1972 election, then staged a huge cover up for the next two years
Court declared Nixon had to hand over the tapes of the Oval Office
- Led to his resignation in 1974
What did the Court rule in Clinton vs Paula Jones?
President wasn’t above the law and could be prosecuted. Questions about Jones led to Monica Lewinsky, which led to his impeachment in 1998
What were the two key cases relating to Bush and Guantanamo?
Rasal vs Bush 2004 - ruled that detainees could access the federal courts to challenge their detention, rejecting the administrations notion that they were under the law
Hamden vs Rumsfeld 2006 - military commissions set up to try people at Guantanamo we’re unconstitutional. Limited war time powers of the President
How does judicial review politicise the court?
Court is making decisions in areas that are politically contentious and on which the two major parties completely disagree
- linked to partisanship and ideological differences
How does Judicial review give the court quasi-legislative power?
Court decisions have the same effect as a piece of legislation passed by Congress
What are the checks on the Court by Congress? [4]
Senate has power to confirm or reject appointments to the Court
Can decide how many justices there are
- Roosevelts proposal for 15 was rejected by Congress
Impeachment, even the threat
Constitutional amendments can overrule SC decisions (income tax, 16th amendment)
Checks on the Court by the President [2]
Nominate justices. Can shape the philosophical nature of the court
Can publicly support or be critical of the Courts decisions
- Eisenhower supported Brown vs Board 1954
- Bush described Texas vs Johnson as ‘dead wrong’
How did Obama seek to influence the Court?
Was highly critical of Citizens United vs FEC 2010
Said in 2012 he was confident the Court would rule in favour of Obamacare, offering his opinion before a verdict was even reached
What are other checks on the Courts power? [4]
No power of initiation
No enforcement powers, as seen with Brown vs Board 1954
Public Opinion
Precedence
What law is thought to be unconstitutional, but is yet to be ruled on due to lack of initiation?
War Powers Act 1973
Why is Public Opinion a check on the Court?
If a decision is seen to lack credibility, it could limit the legitimacy of the Court
