1. Judicial Branch
Chapter 7
Page 108

2. The Judicial Branch-Federal
Supreme Court (final decision)
US District Court (jury, trial court, 89 total)
US Court of Appeals (intermediate between district and Supreme, reviews cases, 11 Judicial circuits, and DC circuit, panel of judges, no witnesses/evidence)
Special Courts (US Court of Claims, US Tax Court, Military Court, Military Court of Appeals, Territorial Courts, District of Columbia Court, Court of Appeals for Veterans Affairs)
All hear cases regarding all 50 states (federal jurisdiction)
Judges are appointed in the Federal system

3. State Courts: Hears civil and criminal cases
Municipal/town courts (misdemeanors, juvenile and family cases)
County courts (jury trials, original jurisd.)
Appeals (intermediate) courts (review lower court decisions, panel of judges)
State Supreme Court (interprets state Constitution, panel of judges, final decision)
Judges can be elected or appointed by the Governor, with legislative approval
Hears cases related only to that state

4. Supreme Court of the US 9 members (8 associates, 1 chief)
Called Justices
Appointed by the President
Approved by the Senate (holds Hearings)
Life Term
Removal by Impeachment
No qualifications listed in the Constitution

5. What is a Session? Opens each session the 1st Monday in October
Article III, Section 1 calls for a single high court
Hears cases involving (jurisdiction)
Issues with foreign governments, injunctions, disputes between citizens, maritime cases, disputes between states
Only hears a certain # of cases each session that are approved by the justices…only about 1-2% of the cases that are submitted to them. About 10,000 are submitted and they hear a session

6. What is a docket?
To put a case on the Calendar, 4 out of 9 justices need to vote to put the case on the Docket (if case is rejected then the lower court decision stands)
Because the cases the SC hears have a great impact on law and society…..so they chose carefully!!!

7. How are cases tried in the SC?
Oral Arguments
Lawyers argue their case
Justices interrupt to ask questions
They then meet in closed session and vote
A simple majority (5/4) decides a case
A SC decision can only be reversed by
Amending the Constitution OR Reversing a decision made in a previous case Ex: Plessy v. Ferguson (1896) and Brown v. Board of Ed of Topeka, KS (1954)

8. What are Opinions?
Majority Decision: written document by the majority that explains the reasons for the justices decision
Concurring Opinion: opinion written by justice(s) who voted with the majority but don’t agree with the majority decision’s reasoning
Dissenting Opinion: Written by Justices who disagree with the majority, or known as the minority opinion

9. What is Jurisdiction?
Original Jurisdiction: the first to try the accused, usually jury trials
Appellate Jurisdiction: higher courts, hear appeals, usually decided by a panel of judges, correct lower court errors, rules on technical aspects not guilt or innocence

10. What is Judicial Review?
The power to declare laws unconstitutional
Is a check on the President and Congress
1803 Marbury v. Madison case established Judicial Review and established the Supreme Court as the interpreter of the Supreme law of the land, the Constitution
Therefore, the SC only hears cases that are a concern to the entire nation, or a Precedent

11. Civil vs. Criminal Law
Civil cases are disputes between individuals or organizations in which compensation may be awarded to the victim (ex: accidents, property disputes)
Criminal cases relate to crime. They deal with conduct that is not allowed by the law and sets a punishment to be imposed for disobeying a law (ex: theft, murder..)

12. Journey to the Supreme Court

14. Inside the Court…..

15. Current Members

16. Chief Justice John G. Roberts

17. Associate Justice Antonin Scalia

18. Associate Justice Anthony M. Kennedy

19. Associate Justice Clarence Thomas

20. Associate Justice Ruth Bader Ginsberg

21. Associate Justice Stephen G. Breyer

22. Associate Justice Samuel Alito, Jr.

23. Associate Justice Sonia Sotomayor

24. Associate Justice Elena Kagan

25. First Woman appointed to the Supreme Court
Sandra Day O’Connor
Appointed in 1981
By R. Reagan
Retired in 2006

26. First African American appointed to the Supreme Court
Thurgood Marshall
Appointed in 1967
By Lyndon B Johnson
Known for his victory in arguing Brown v. Board of Ed, also known for arguing the most cases before the SC in History
Retired in 1991