The Judicial Branch Chapter 15 Fun with Legal

The Judicial Branch Chapter 15

Fun with Legal Terminology • Criminal Case – Case that involves a violation of the statutes that are intended to protect the public’s health, order, safety and morality • Civil Case – Case that concerns a violation of the legal rights or obligations of one individual toward another

Fun with Legal Terminology • Plaintiff – Party who initiates a lawsuit • Defendant – Party being sued or accused of a crime • Jury – Group of citizens selected to listen to a trial and issue a final verdict

Fun with Legal Terminology • Standing – The requirement that for a plaintiff to bring a case to the court, they must have suffered a well defined injury that is a result of violation of the civil code. • Ripeness Doctrine – Principle by which the courts will accept only cases where actual harm has already taken place.

Fun with Legal Terminology • Original Jurisdiction – The right of a court to be the first to hear a case rather than simply review the decision of a lower court.

Fun with Legal Terminology • Appellate Jurisdiction – The authority of a given court to review cases that have already been tried in lower courts and are appealed to it by the losing party; such a court is called an appeals court or an appellate court. – Not “re-trying” a case, but rather determining whether the original court acted in accord with applicable laws.

The Federal Judiciary • District Courts – First tier of the federal judiciary where most cases are decided • Appellate Courts – Second tier of the federal judiciary primarily responsible for reviewing decisions rendered by the first tier.

The Supreme Court • Supreme Court – Highest court in the land where all decisions are final.

Current Supreme Court • Chief Justice John Roberts • Antonin Scalia • Anthony Kennedy • Clarence Thomas • Ruth Bader Ginsburg • Stephen Breyer • Samuel Alito • Sonia Sotomayor • Elena Kagan

The Supreme Court • Supreme Court members (and all federal judges) are nominated by the President and confirmed by the Senate. • Once confirmed, members serve for life (or until they retire). • Presidents have nominated 158 Supreme Court justices and the Senate has confirmed 122.

The Supreme Court • The Supreme Court of the United States has both Original and Appellate Jurisdiction – Original Jurisdiction over legal disputes involving foreign diplomats and cases between state governments – Appellate Jurisdiction over cases arising under the Constitution, federal law, treaties, and cases that cross state or international lines.

The Supreme Court • Judicial Review – The power of the Supreme Court to interpret and overturn actions taken by the legislative and executive branches of government. – Not included in the Constitution, rather the court decided it had this power in Marbury v. Madison.

The Supreme Court • Precedent – A judicial decision that serves as a rule for setting subsequent cases of a similar nature. – Lower courts are expected to follow precedent – by resolving cases of a like nature in ways consistent with upper-court rulings. – The Supreme Court itself will often rely on past decisions to make current opinions, following its own precedent.

The Supreme Court • Stare Decisis – Principle that judges deciding a case must carefully weight the precedents set in similar cases and come to the same decision if the basic elements of the case before them are the same.

What cases will reach the Supreme Court? • When two lower courts are in disagreement • When a lower court’s ruling conflicts with an existing Supreme Court ruling • When a case has broad significance (as in desegregation or abortion decisions) • When a state court has decided a substantial federal question

What cases will reach the Supreme Court? • When the highest state court holds a federal law invalid, or upholds a state law that has been challenged as violating a federal law • When a federal court holds an act of Congress unconstitutional • When the solicitor general is pressuring the Court to hear a case

What cases will reach the Supreme Court? • What specific cases will the Court hear? – The court will not accept just any case, even if a lower court obviously made an error. The court sees its job as resolving legal issues, not making corrections. Thus, most cases raise major Constitutional issues, affect the lives of many Americans and/or involve rulings being inconsistently decided by lower courts or involve rulings that conflict with previous Supreme Court precedent.

The Supreme Court • Writ of Certiorari – A formal acceptance by the Supreme Court to review a decision of a lower court. – The Supreme Court follows a “rule of four meaning that at least four of the nine justices must agree to hear a case for the writ to be issued.

The Supreme Court • Although oral arguments are allowed at the Supreme Court, they are often very short and less detailed than briefs submitted by each side. • Brief – A written statement by a party in a court case that details its argument.

The Supreme Court • Amicus Curiae (Friend of the Court) Brief – Brief written by someone who is not a party to a case but who submits information or an argument related to the dispute at hand.

The Supreme Court • Judicial Conference – A closed meeting of the justices of the Supreme Court to discuss and vote on the cases before them; the justices are not supposed to discuss conference proceedings with outsiders. – This conference determines the Court’s decision, which is accompanied by one or more opinions.

The Supreme Court • Decision – A vote of the Supreme Court in a particular case that indicates which party the justices side with and by how large a margin • Opinion – A court’s written explanation of its decision, which serves to inform others of the legal basis for the decision. – Supreme Court opinions are expected to guide the decisions of other courts.

Decisions • Affirm – To declare that a court ruling is valid and must stand. • Reverse – To annul or make void a court ruling on account of some error or irregularity • Remand – To send a case back to the court that originally heard it.

Opinions • Majority Opinion – A court opinion that results when a majority of the justices are in agreement on the legal basis of the decision • Plurality Opinion – A court opinion that results when a majority of justices agree on a decision in a case but do not agree on the legal basis for that decision. In this instance, the legal position held by most of the justices on the winning side is referred to as the plurality opinion.

Opinions • Concurring Opinion – A separate opinion written by one or more Supreme Court justices who vote with the majority in the decision on a case but who disagree with their reasoning. • Dissenting Opinion – The opinion of a justice in a Supreme Court case that explains his or her reasons for disagreeing with the majority’s decision.

Federal Judiciary

District and Appeals Court Boundaries

Judicial Decision Making • The relevant circumstances of every court case are comprised of the “facts” and the “laws” • Facts – The relevant circumstances of a legal dispute or offense as determined by a trial court. The facts of a case are crucial because they help determine which law or laws are applicable in the case.

Judicial Decision Making • Laws – The constitutional provisions, legislative statutes, or judicial precedents that apply to a court case.

Judicial Decision Making • Legal Model – A theory of judicial decision making in which judges make decisions by deciphering the correct interpretation of the law and the relevant portion of the Constitution, and determining whethere is a conflict between the two.

Judicial Decision Making • Attitudinal Model – The theory of judicial decision-making in which judges use their own policy preferences in deciding cases

Judicial Decision Making • Strategic Model – The theory of judicial decision-making in which judges consider their own policy preferences as well as the possible actions of the other branches of government when making decisions.

Judicial Decision Making • Judicial Restraint – The doctrine that the judiciary should closely follow the wording of the law, be highly respectful of precedent, and defer to the judgment of legislatures. – Claims the job of judges is to work within the confines of laws set down by tradition and lawmaking majorities.

Judicial Decision Making • Judicial Activism – The doctrine that courts should develop new legal principles when judges see a compelling need, even if this action places them in conflict with precedent or the policy decisions of elected officials.

Interpreting the Constitution • Originalism Theory – A method of interpreting the Constitution that emphasizes the meaning of its words at the time they were written. – Often advocated by Conservative justices, this theory holds that once one figures out the true meaning of the words of the constitution, based on the culture of the time they were written, they merely need to be applied to the case at hand that is all that is needed.

Judicial Decision Making • Living Constitution Theory – A method of interpreting the Constitution that emphasizes the principles it embodies and their application to changing circumstances and needs. – Often advocated by liberal justices, this theory holds that the Constitution provides a framework that must be adapted as the times change: That the Constitution is a Living Organism that grows over time.

The Missouri Judicial System

Missouri Judicial System • Missouri has a three level Court System – Circuit Courts – Appellate Courts – The Missouri Supreme Court • There are 405 judges and commissioners in the judicial branch

Missouri Judicial System • Circuit courts have original jurisdiction for both Civil and Criminal Matters • Within circuit courts, there are various divisions, such as associate circuit, small claims, municipal, family, probate, criminal, and juvenile. • There are 45 Circuits with a courthouse in each county.

Missouri Judicial System • Except in St. Louis City and St. Louis, Jackson, Platte, Clay and Greene Counties, circuit judges are elected in general election. • Those counties, along with Appeals Court Justices and Supreme Court justices use the Missouri Non-Partisan Court Plan (Missouri Plan)

Missouri Judicial System • The Missouri Non-Partisan Court Plan is used in many states, but is named as such because it originated in Missouri. • Under the plan, a non-partisan commission submits a list of eligible judicial candidates to the governor, who appoints them. Those justices periodically come up to a vote before the people who vote “yes” or “no” as to whether or not to retain them.

Missouri Court of Appeals • Handles appeals from the Circuit Courts • Composed of three geographic districts, each of which hears appeals from circuits within that district • There are 32 appellate justices amongst these three districts.

Missouri Supreme Court • Made up of seven justices • Pursuant to Article V Section 3 of the Missouri Constitution, the Supreme Court hears cases involving: – – The validity of a United States statute or treaty. The validity of a Missouri statute or constitutional provision. The state's revenue laws. Challenges to a statewide elected official's right to hold office. – Imposition of the death penalty. – Cases which have a question of general interest or appeal, involving laws which need re-examined, or those in which the lower court conflicts with precedence.