Warmup Write each sentence and answer on your

Warm-up Write each sentence and answer on your warm-up page in your notebook. 1. Authority of only the federal courts to 2. 3. 4. 5. hear certain cases is called______. District courts have only _____ jurisdiction The Supreme Court has justices but no ______. The Appeals Courts have only _______ jurisdiction. Most federal court cases begin in the ____ q Exclusive jurisdiction q Original q Jury q Appellate q District Courts

Review Homework Answers on flip chart

The Judicial Branch How the courts work

READING Meet with your partner. Complete the front part of the worksheet. You have 15 minutes.

How does the federal court system work? Remember! S A Supreme Court D Appeals Court District Court

How do Supreme Court Justices and federal judges get their jobs? appointed by the president + approved by Senate =A federal Judge/justice

Sonia Sotomayor Obama/ 1 year Clarence Thomas Bush Sr. / 19 years Stephen Breyer Clinton/ 16 years Antonin Scalia Reagan/ 24 years Samuel Alito Bush/ 5 years Elena Kagan Obama/ 6 months Chief Justice John Roberts Bush/ 5 years Anthony Kennedy Reagan/23 years Ruth Ginsberg Clinton/17 years How long is the term of a federal judge? Life

Why might the Senate reject a president’s nominee for Supreme Court justice? Throughout history, the Senate has rejected many presidential nominees to the Supreme Court because of doubts about the qualifications or the legal philosophy of the persons nominated. (pages 200– 201)

Click the mouse button or press the Space Bar to display the answer.

Step #1: The District Courts ) District courts have original jurisdiction which means they try most cases for the first time. You break a federal law; your case will be heard here first

Step #2: The Appeals Courts o The purpose of appeals courts is to review decisions made by the lower courts o The Court of Appeals only has appellate jurisdiction

An appeals court can do any of the following: 1. Uphold the original decision 2. Reverse the decision 3. Remand (send) the case back to a lower court to be tried again

Under what circumstances might someone decide to appeal? Lawyers usually appeal when they think the judge in their case applied the law incorrectly or used the wrong procedures or if new evidence turns up. (pages 197– 198)

Checking for Understanding Define Match the terms on the right with their definitions on the left. __ 1. federal courts where trials A A. district courts are held and lawsuits are B. appeals begun C courts __ 2. the authority of a court to hear a case appealed from C. appellate jurisdiction a lower court B __ 3. courts that review decisions D. original jurisdiction made in lower district courts D __ 4. the authority to hear cases for the first time Click the mouse button or press the Space Bar to display the answers.

Step #3: The Supreme Court q This is the highest court in the land q The decisions of this court are final. q The decisions of the courts are very powerful q They set a precedent or basis for decisions in similar cases

How cases are decided in the Supreme Court? JIGSAW ACTIVITY

1. Teacher Created Groups 2. Get reading assignment card 3. Read and study your part for 5 minutes 4. Meet with the other “specialty” reading partner in the other groups. 5. Discuss concept and what notes to give for 3 minutes 6. Meet back with your 6 -person group to discuss reading assignments and take notes.

How cases reach the court acceptance conference Written and oral arguments Opinion Writing Announcement

How cases reach the court - Most through appeals process Acceptance - review cases - States need help on a ruling - 4 of 9 justices agree to take case Conference -private meeting - discuss/debate case Majority (5 of 9) justices needed to decide case Written and oral arguments - brief prepared by lawyers explaining the case - Meet the justices for 30 minutes Opinion Writing Announcement - majority opinion- tells what the ruling is and why - opinions needed to be complete first - Decision announced to media

Infer The Supreme Court refuses to hear many more cases than it accepts. What happens in a case when the Supreme Court refuses to hear it? The decision of the lower court remains unchanged when the Supreme Court refuses to hear a case.

No Homework

Return the Executive Branch Test v If you do not want to make test corrections- place your scan sheet in your notebook. We will use the green side later or put it in your bin for me to hold on to v If you want to make test corrections- put your scan sheet on my desk. I will send it to resource