 Article III › Allows for the establishment of the Supreme Court › Gives Congress the power to establish the federal courts below the Supreme Court  Federal Courts work closely with the 50 state courts  Two types of Federal Courts › Legislative – hear a narrow range of cases related to the EXPRESSED powers of Congress › Constitutional – Supreme Court, Court of Appeals, District Courts, and several others

 Jurisdiction is the right to hear a case › Determination of jurisdiction  Subject matter of the case  People involved in the case › Types of jurisdiction  Original - the first court to hear a case  Appellate – courts that can only hear cases whose verdict is being appealed  Exclusive – the only court that can hear a case  Concurrent – involves cases that can be tried in state or federal courts

 Levels of Federal Courts › Highest Level, created in 1789 when the Constitution went into effect:  Supreme Court › Middle Level, created with the Judiciary Act of 1891 to lift the case burden from the U.S. Supreme Court: Courts of Appeals › Lowest Level, created with the Judiciary Act of 1789: Federal District Courts

 Includes all Constitutional courts below the Supreme Court  Federal Districts Courts (91 Total) › Are the federal trial courts › Hear about 80% of the federal caseload  Courts of Appeal (13 Total) › Can only hear cases being appealed  Two other inferior courts › Court of International Trade › Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit

 Basics › They have the final word on Constitutionality › Judicial Review is the key to their power  Judicial Review is the power to decide if a law is Constitutional  Judicial Review was established with the case of Marbury v Madison, 1803 Marbury v Madison,

 Sessions › Convene  On the first Monday in October  Stay in session through June/July  Hear cases Monday through Thursday  Decision Day is Monday – it’s when they announce their decision to hear a case or their ruling on a case › Jurisdiction  Exclusive  Appellate

 Opinions Opinions › Majority Opinion is the decision of the court. It’s written by one or more of the agreeing justices › Concurring Opinion is held and written by they justice(s) who agree with the majority, but not with how they reached their decision › Dissenting Opinion is held and written by the justices(s) who disagree with the majority opinion

 Appointed by the President  Approved by the Senate  There are 9 total › One Chief Justice › Eight Associate Justices  Term of office for a justice is for life or until he/she retires

Antonin ScaliaAnthony Kennedy

Clarence Thomas Ruth Bader Ginsburg

Stephen BreyerSamuel Alito

Sonia Sotomayor Elana Kagan

 First African- American Justice was Thurgood Marshall  First Female Justice was Sandra Day O’Connor  First Chief Justice was John Jay  Current Chief Justice is John Roberts, Jr.

 Also known as Legislative Courts  Jurisdiction involves hearing cases that come from the Congressional exercise of its expressed powers  Other courts to help decide expressed power usage › U.S. Claims Court – you vs. the U.S. › Courts of the District of Columbia – hear cases in Washington, D.C. › Military Court of Appeals – hear court martial cases being appealed

› U.S. Tax Court – you vs. the IRS › Territorial Courts – hear cases in the U.S. territories such as Guam, the U.S. Virgin Islands, etc., since they are not states › Court of Veterans Appeals – hear cases involving U.S. Veterans who feel they are not receiving the benefits they deserve