Chapter 18
The National Judiciary
Creation of the National Judiciary
  Article III, Section 1 of the Constitution
Types of Federal Courts
  Supreme Court- created by the Constitution
  Inferior Courts- lower courts created by
Congress
  Two distinct types of federal courts:
  Constitutional Courts
  Special Courts
Constitutional Courts
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Supreme Court
U.S. Courts of Appeals
U.S. District Courts
U.S. Courts of International Trade
  These are also known as the “regular courts”
Special Courts
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Created by Congress
Hear a much narrower range of cases
Also called the “legislative courts”
Examples:
  U.S. Tax Court
  U.S. Court of Appeals for Veteran’s Claims
  U.S. Court of Appeals for Armed Forces
  Territorial Courts
  Courts of the District of Columbia
Jurisdiction
  The authority of a court to hear (try and decide)
a case.
Jurisdiction in a Federal Case
  Subject matter:
  Deals with a provision in the Constitution
  Deals with a federal law or treaty
  Deals with a question of admiralty law
Jurisdiction in a Federal Case
  Parties involved in the Case:
  United States
  Ambassador, Official, Agency
  State suing another State
  Citizen of a State suing a citizen of another State
  U.S. citizen suing a foreign govt. or foreign citizen
Types of Jurisdiction
  Exclusive: case that can be heard ONLY in
federal court
  Concurrent: case that can be heard in either
federal or state court
  Original: case in which the case was FIRST
heard
  Appellate: case that is on appeal from a lower
court
Plaintiff
  The person who files the suit
Defendant
  The person whom the complaint is against
Appointment of Judges
  Most nominees a leading attorneys, legal
scholars, law school professors, State court
judges.
  President appoints
  Senate approves- majority vote
Terms of Judges
  Constitutional Courts
  Life- until they resign, retire or die in office
  Can be impeached (only 13 times)
  Special Courts
  Maximum of 15 years
  Depends on the court
Judges Salaries
  Congress sets the pay
  Retirement
  Age 70 and 10 years of service- full salary for the
rest of their lives
  Age 65 and 15 years of service- full salary for the
rest of their lives
Court Officers
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Provide support for the judges
Clerks
Bailiffs
Court reporters
Probation officers
Magistrates-handle legal matters like a judge
Marshal-handle matters like a sheriff
U.S. Attorney- prosecute people- federal cases
District Courts
94 districts
Handle about 80% of federal caseload
642 judges- 300,000 cases a year
District courts usually use a single judge- but can
use a three judge panel
  Have original jurisdiction
  Hear criminal and civil cases
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Courts of Appeals
  Created by Congress to relieve the Supreme
Court of cases
  Docket- list of cases to be heard
  There are 12 Courts of Appeals with 179 judges
  Usually sits in a panel of three judges
  Appellate jurisdiction
  Handle more than 55,000 cases a year
Courts of Appeals
  Created by Congress to relieve the Supreme
Court of cases
  Docket- list of cases to be heard
  There are 12 Courts of Appeals with 179 judges
  Usually sits in a panel of three judges
  Appellate jurisdiction
  Handle more than 55,000 cases a year
Judicial Review
  Marbury v. Madison
  The power of the court to determine the
constitutionality of a law
  Constitution is the Supreme Law of the Land
Supreme Court
  Established by the Constitution
  Original and appellate jurisdiction
  Original:
  Those involving a state
  Those affecting ambassadors, public ministers
Three ways cases reach the
Supreme Court:
  Writ of certiorari-Order by the Court directing a
lower court to send up the record in a given case
for its review
  Certificate-Used when a lower court is not clear
about the procedure or rule of law that should
apply in the case
  Appeal-Party involved is not satisfied with the
decision in a case
How the Supreme Court Operates
  Oral arguments
  Each side one half hour
  Can be interrupted by the Justices
  Briefs
  Written document detaining the arguments in a case. Filed
with the Court by the lawyers.
  Conference
  Wed’s and Fri’s Justices meet
  Discuss the cases they heard and determine what future
cases to hear
  Chief Justice speaks first then by Seniority
  1/3 of cases have a unanimous decision
Supreme Court Opinions
  Majority  Opinion of the Court
  Concurring  Agree with the Court’s decision, but not with the
reasoning
  Dissenting  Minority decision
  Could become the Court’s majority decision in the
future
Precedent
  Example to be followed in future decision’s by
the Court
How Cases Reach the
Supreme Court
  8,000 a year are appealed-the Court only
accepts a few hundred each year
  Need 4 justices agree to hear a case
  Remanded: Case that is returned to a lower
court for reconsideration. More than half of the
cases have this happen.
Redress
  Satisfaction of a claim or payment