US Supreme court Flashcards
Supreme court
the highest court of appeal in the federal judiciary in the united states. It holds ultimate appleate jurisdiction over the united states
Where as the powers of the supreme court outlined
Article III of the U.S. Constitution (369 words).
Small compared to 1000 for president and 2000 for congress
Supreme court checks on government?
For some of the Founding Fathers the supreme court provided a final but limited check on government and still holds this power today
Federal Judiciary act 1789
Federal Judiciary Act 1789 = allowed for the creation of the supreme court consisting of one cheif justice and five associate justices
What did the FJA 1789 do?
How many district courts are there TODAY?
How many circuit courts TODAY?
created the lower courts that would sit under the supreme court - a district court in each state and circuit courts
Today** 94 district courts** and the trial courts deal with federal trials involving federal laws or crimes, or constitutional issues
Above them sit the 13 circuit courts
What are circuit courts
Circuit courts are appllate courts meaning courts of appeal and they predominantly hear appeals to the rulings of the district courts
How many courts does each state have?
Each state = 1 district court more populous states may have more than 1 district court
Is the Supreme court an appalete court?
Yes - hearing appeals to the rulings made by the circuit court and has orginial jurisidcitpn in certain cases and this usually happens in cases involving public ministers, two or more states, citizens of different states or the USA > these kinds of cases are rare with the court having heard fewer than 200 since its creation
Appellate courts
Appellate courts= a court of appeals accepting cases for review from the courts beneath it
Orginal Jurisidiction
Orginal Jurisidiction = The right of the supreme court to hear a case in certain circumstances rather than a case needing to be an appeal
Chief justice
Chief justice = the presiding member of the supreme court biy who holds no additional voting power to the eight other members of the court
Associate justices
Associate justices = a member of the us supreme court who is not the chief justice
8 associate justices in the sc
Has the number of cases sc has been hearing rising or falling?
Falling - The number of cases that the supreme court hears each year has been declining in recent years. The court recieives between 7000 and 8000 cases a year of which it will only hear around 1%
n the last decade the court had fewer cases than at any time since civil war
As the court decides which cases it wishe to hear, most cases to it will be disposed of
When does the sc have original jurisidiction?
Cases involving public ministers, disputes between states, and cases involving citizens of different states.
How often does sc excercise original jurisidiction?
Rarely—fewer than 200 cases since its creation.
Who leads sc?
Cheif justice - who has no extra voting power
Is the sc an independent branch of government?
The constituion aimed to make the supreme court independant appearing to follow Montesquieus advice that there is no liberty if the judiciary power be not separated from the legislative and executive
How is the sc indepdent?
- Life tenure - Justices are appointed for life - This means that the president or congress cant remove them if they make decisions that they do not like and this is important given the comments made by different presidents expressing their displeasure at voting habits of a justice they appoirnted
- Vacanices only occur when justice dies or retires or is impeached -The constituion allows congress to change the number of justices and there have been nine since the judiciary Act 1869 this prevents the other branches of government packing the court with their allies
- Fixed salaries - The constituion prevents salary of the justices being lowered during their time in office - in 2022 supreme court associate was paid 274200 a year while the cheif justice was paid 286700 with their salary being fixed the justices do not have to be concerned about repercussions from the president or congress if they vote against them in a case
- Appointment process - Justices are nominated by the president and approved by the senate - this prevents one branch from dominating the supreme court and filling it with a similar ideology to theirs and it also lends legitimacy to the court being appointed by elected representatives but protects it from the whim of public opinion
- Separation of powers - giving judges their own power - Judicial review allows the supreme court to check the power of the presdient and congress. The court itself has no power to enforce these decisions relying on other branches of government indepednnat but co dependant
Judicial review
Judicial review
Judicial review is the power of the supreme court to review laws or actiond fi congress and the president and to judge whether theya re constitutional
If they are not constitutional the sc makes them void and null
Is judicial review explicitly mentioned in the Constitution?
No - whilst the constituion allows for the power of the supreme court to extent to all cases in law and equity arising under this constituion the laws of the united stated and the treaties made or which shall be made
Beyond this article III is remarjley vague it makes no mention of the power of jduical review
What cases established judicial review?
Marbury v Madision,
Fletcher v peck
is the only power the us supreme court holds today but holds great signifcance and they are effectivley responsivle for interpreting the meaning of the constituionn as they are interpreting a sovereign document their decisions on the us constitution are effectively final and the only way to overturn a supreme court decision would be to change the document itself.
How can a sc ruling be overturned?
Amending the constituion
What is congress role in the courts?
Congress controls the infrastructure of the lower courts and it sets the number of justices on the supreme court.
Since the judicary act 1869 this has been 1 cheif justice and 8 associate justices
What role does the presidency play?
Constitutionally the president must nominate justices for the senate to either confirm or reject
What are the stages of the appointment process?
Vacancy arises
Presidential nomination
ABA rating
Senate judiciary hearing
Senate floor vote
Vacancy arises
A vacancy can only arise through death, retirement or impeachment
Examples:
Death - Scalia died in April 2016 and was not replaced until april 2017. Bader Ginsburg died in sepetmeber 2020 and was replaced my Barrett
Retirement - Breyer annouced in jan 22 that he would retire at end of the sc term
Impeachment - the only sc justice to face impeachment was Samueal chase 1805 but he was found not guilty
Presidential nomination
the president can choose whomever they like to fill the vacancy. It will be expected that the nominee has judicial experience and will be able to pass the senate vote. The president is likely to pick someone who shares their ideology. The presdient may consider the courts demographic
Examples:
George W Bush and Trump both nominated judges likely to be conservatives in their ruling (Roberts Alito, Gorusch, Kavanaugh and Barrett)
While obama and Biden appointed those with a liberal outlook ( Sotomayor, Kagan, Jackson)
George W Bush nominated Harriet Miers, who had previously worked with him but had no experience as a judge
Douglas Ginsburg withdrew his nomination in 1987 after allegations surfaced of him smoking marijuana as a srydebr
ABA rating
Not a constitutional requirement but the ABA offers a rating of Unqualified or Qualified or well qualified for judicial nominees in its professional opinion
Examples:
All but one current justice on the court holds a well qualified rating
Thomas was the only deemed to be qualified. This along with allegations of sexual harrassment made it very difficult for thomas to get confirmation from the state
Senate judiciary hearing
Not a constitutional requirement but the senate judiciary committee holds hearings in which it can question the nominee and at the end of the hearing the committee holds a vote. As it is non constitutional this vote serves only as a recommendation to inform the whole senate vote
Examples: During the hearings of both Kavanaugh in 2018 and Thomas in 1991, allegations of sexual misconduct were levelled at nominees
Robert Bork was rejected by the commitee 9-5 and subsequently faced defeats in the full senate vote
The vote on Barrett was boycotted by democrats on this committee in protest at the speed of her nomination to replace Bader Ginsburg 12-0 vote
Senate floor vote
Following the reccommendatory vote from the senate judiciary committee the whole senate must vote to confirm an appointment. Following the 2017 reforms this vote can no longer be filibustered and requires just a simple majority.
Examples:
Bork was rejected in 1987 by a 52-58 vote
Thomas was narrowly approved to the supreme court by a 42-58 vote in 1991
The votes of all nominees since 2006 have been dominated by party politics, compared to votes confirming justices such as Bader Ginsburg in 1993 who was confirmed at a 96-3 vote.
The appointment of Brett Kavanaugh (Trumps nomination)
What are the presidential considerations for a judicial nominee
Judicial experience
The outgoing justice
The demographics of the sc
The ideology of the nominee
Judicial experience
The outgoing justice
The demographics of the sc
The ideology of the nominee
Swing justice and example
The current court justices
Strengths of the appointment process
Weaknessess of the appointment process
Politicisation of the process
Presidents role in politicising the courts
Media and pressure groups role in politicisng the process
Public policy
Citizens united v FEB 2010
