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THE SUPREME COURT AND THE FEDERAL COURT SYSTEM

THE SUPREME COURT AND THE FEDERAL COURT SYSTEM. Fundamental Differences Between Courts & Other Govt. Agencies

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THE SUPREME COURT AND THE FEDERAL COURT SYSTEM

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  1. THE SUPREME COURT AND THE FEDERAL COURT SYSTEM Fundamental Differences Between Courts & Other Govt. Agencies 1.) Are allowed more respect, deference, secrecy2.) Reactive rather than proactive3.) Deal with specific circumstances and situations, even when they are articulating general principles 4.) Not only make decisions, but give official arguments/justifications for decisions 5.) Constrained by higher courts and legal precedents

  2. STRUCTURE of COURT SYSTEMS • 1.) Three-tiered state court system: trial, appellate, supreme(differences between trial courts and appellate courts) • 2.) Three-tiered federal court systema.) approx. 100 Federal district courtsb.) 13 Federal Circuit Courts of Appealc.) US Supreme Court: exerts complete (& strict) control over its own docket----writ of certiorari --in forma pauperis • Brief digression: civil v. criminal cases

  3. APPOINTMENT OF FEDERAL JUDGES • 1.) The District Courts: tradition of “senatorial courtesy” • 2.) Increasing politicization of judicial confirmations: committee delay and grilling, holds & filibusters • 3.) Failed Supreme Court nominations---Fortas, Carswell, Haynesworth rejected for corruption/competence reasons---Robert Bork (Reagan appointee) the first to be rejected for explicitly ideological reasons (1987) • ---Post-Bork nominations: Clarence Thomas (1991), Sonia Sotomayor (2009), Roberts & Alito • What factors make for a controversial nominee? • Increased coaching and evasion of tough questions

  4. ROLES OF THE SUPREME COURT • 1.) Act as referee between state and Federal governments (remember Federalism cases) • 2.) Act as referee between Federal executive and legislative branches---US v. Nixon (1974); Truman & the steel mills; line-item veto case • 3.) Act as referee between Federal and state govts. and individual citizens(remember all those civil lib. Cases!)

  5. JUDICIAL REVIEW – the ultimate Supreme Court power • Power to strike down state laws: implied in supremacy clause • Power to strike down federal laws: where does it come from?The strange case of Marbury v. Madison (1803) • Trends in overturning Federal lawsjudicial activism v. judicial restraint

  6. THE SUPREME COURT’S DECISIONMAKING PROCESS • 1.) The “Discuss List” and the Rule of Four---when to grant cert?exceptions: “defensive denials” and “aggressive affirmations” • 2.) Oral argument • 3.) The vote • ---What influences SC justices’ votes? a.) precedent? (stare decisis)b.) ideology (the attitudinal model)?c.) the Solicitor General?d.) amicus curiae briefs?

  7. SUPREME COURT OPINIONS • Assigning the writing of the opinion • Dissenting opinions • Concurring opinions • Explaining the decline in consensual norms

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