The Federal Courts
The Adversarial System
• The courts provide an arena for two parties to
bring their conflict before an impartial arbiter
(judge)
• Justice will emerge out of the struggle
between the two sides
• Judge applies the law to the case.
The Dual Court System
• The Constitution
creates a dual court
system
• National Courts (Federal
Courts) 100+
• State Courts: Thousands
all over the country
• Most cases are state
Types of Cases
Criminal Law: Gov. charges an individual with
violating a specific law.
-Punishment if guilty
Civil Law: a dispute between two parties (Law
suit, divorce, custody)
Participants in the Judicial System
• Litigants:
Plaintiff: the side charging/ suing the
defendant
Defendant: the person accused of a
crime/dispute.
Case names: Plaintiff v. _____________
• Cases often decided by a jury
Jurisdiction
Jurisdiction: the authority of a court to hear a
case.
• What goes to federal courts?
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Constitutional issues
Cases involving U.S. offices
Disputed between states
Matters on the high seas
Types of Jurisdiction
• Federal Jurisdiction: Only the federal court can
hear a case.
• State Jurisdiction: Only state courts can hear a
case
• Concurrent Jurisdiction: Either federal or state
courts can hear the case
Standing
• Not everyone can challenge a law
• Plaintiffs must have standing to sue
• The requirement that plaintiffs have a serious
interest in a case, which depends on whether
they have sustained or are likely to sustain a
direct and substantial injury from a party or an
action of gov.
Standing
Justiciable Disputes: to be heard, a case must be
capable of being settled as a matter of law.
• Cant sue the Defense Dept. for funding a
program.
Interest Groups and Suits
• Groups often seek out possible plaintiffs
• NAACP looks for cases to challenge
segregation laws.
• ACLU, GLADD
Attorneys
• Actors in the judicial process
Structure of the Federal Courts
• Constitution
creates the
Supreme Courts
-Gives Congress
the power to create
lower courts.
Congress has also
set up specialty
courts
Types of Jurisdiction
• Original Jurisdiction: a court in which a case is
first heard.
• District courts have original jurisdiction
• Appellate Jurisdiction: A court that hears a
case on appeal
• Appeals & S.C. have appellate jurisdiction
District Courts
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91 Federal courts of original jurisdiction.
Entry point for most cases.
Only federal courts in which trials are held.
Jurisdiction over
Federal crimes
Civil suits under federal law
Suits between people of different states
District Courts
Diversity of citizenship cases: a plaintiff suing a
defendant from another state
Why? To prevent state court bias
U.S. Attorney: Each federal court has one;
prosecute violators of federal law.
App. By the Pres., confirmed by the Senate.
Federal Court Recap
• Standing to sue?
• Highest Court in the U.S.?
• Article III gives what body the power to create
lower fed courts?
• Original jurisdiction
• Appellate Jurisdiction
• Where do most federal cases begin?
Court of Appeals
• Review all final decisions of district courts.
• The U.S. is divided into 12 judicial circuits
Each with between 6-28 permanent judgeships.
• Hear cases in 3 judge panels
• Rule on majority vote.
• Focus on correcting errors of procedure and law
that occurred in the original proceeding.
• Decisions set precedent for all other courts.
The Supreme Court
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Highest court in the Unite States
9 justices, 8 associates, and 1 Chief Justice.
Not many cases reach the S.C.
Most are heard on Appeal
Mostly Federal issues
Judicial Selection
• Presidents chance to leave a legacy on the
legal system.
• Must be confirmed by the Senate
• Judges serve for life
Lower Courts
Senatorial Courtesy: The Senate does not
confirm nominations for lower court positions
when they are opposed by a Senator of the
President’s party from the state in which the
nominee is to serve.
• Unwritten tradition
• Presidents normally check with key senators
first.
Lower Courts
• If District court seat is empty, Senators advise
the President of their pick.
• DOJ and FBI do background checks
• President has more of a role in APP Court
The Supreme Court
• President takes a leading role
• If the Chief Justice seat is vacant, the
President can appoint a new one.
• AG, DOJ help narrow the field of possible
judges.
• Senate Judiciary Committee grill candidates
• Most get confirmed
Background of Judges
• No Constitutional requirements
• All are attorneys, mostly white men.
• Presidents appoint those with similar political
beliefs
- WH aids will survey possible apps
• Most have been judges
SCOTUS: Accepting Cases
• 8,000 cases submitted each year
• Law clerks help sift through the bills
Rule of four: If 4 justices want to hear the case,
it is placed on the docket.
-Or decided based on the written record.
Writ of Certiorari: Formal document that calls a
case up to the SC
Solicitor General
The Solicitor General: In charge of the appellate
court litigation of the federal government.
Functions:
1. Decide whether to appeal cases the gov has
lost.
2. Revise briefs for gov appeals.
3. Represent the gov in the SC
SCOTUS: Oral Arguments
• Hear/decide cases on a 2 week cycle
• Justices real legal briefs before oral argument.
• Attorneys have only 30 minutes to make their
case.
• Justices can interrupt with questions
SCOTUS: Conference
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Chief Justice presides over debates
Speak in seniority order.
Take a vote.
Prepare a majority and dissenting opinion
Opinion: A statement of the legal reasoning
behind the decision.
• CJ (if in the majority) normally writes the opinion.
• If a tie, lower court decisions stand
SCOTUS: Opinions
Stare Decisis: Stick with previous precedent
Precedent: all lower courts are required to
follow the opinion.
• SCOTUS can overrule their own opinions
• Opinions announced in open court to the
press
Implementing Court Decisions
• Decisions carry legal authority
• Must rely on other parts of gov to enforce it.
• Judicial implementation: how and whether
court decisions are translated into actual
policy.
• Sometimes implementation takes time
John Marshal and Judicial Review
Marbury v Madison: Gives
the Supreme Court the
power of Judicial Review.
• The S.C. can determine if a
governmental act is
constitutional or not.
Nine Old Men
• Many conservatives felt FDR’s New deal
programs were unconstitutional.
• S.C. began dismantling the programs.
• FDR attempted to “pack the court”
• Plan fails but court changes course.
The Warren Court
• Struck down school segregation.
• Expanded the rights of defendants (Gideon,
Miranda, Mapp)
The Burger Court
• More conservative, but wrote Roe v. Wade,
upheld Affirmative action, and school bussing.
United States v. Nixon: Forced Nixon to give the
Watergate White House tapes to the Supreme
Court.
The Courts and Democracy
• Justices not elected
• Many write/protest the courts.
• Courts should not be subject to the whims of
popular majorities.
Scope of Judicial Powers
• Do courts have a policymaking role?
Judicial Restraint: Judges adhere closely to the
precedent and play minimal policymaking roles.
-Leave policymaking to the legislature.
Judicial Activism: Judges make bolder policy
decisions, even charting new constitutional
ground with a particular decision.
-Can help the politically weak
Political Questions
Doctrine of political questions: Justices try to
avoid deciding cases that involve a conflict
between the President and Congress.
• Much more likely to find state and local laws
unconstitutional.
• Constitutional Amendments can overrule a SC
decision
• Statutory Construction: The judicial
interpretation of an act of congress.