1. Show me YOUR briefs!
What is a legal brief? What is the value of precedent in a legal brief? Can you write a brief?

2. Federal Court Structure

3. The Judiciary Act of 1789 Three Levels of Courts Trial Courts
Cases begin here.
Hear facts of the case.
Original jurisdiction.
Appellate Courts
Cases are appealed here.
Decide questions of law.
Appellate jurisdiction.
High Courts
Have the final say at the state or federal level.
Original and appellate jurisdiction.

5. District Court (Trial Court Level)
94 of them
1 per state, larger states have more. 1 in Washington D.C. and Puerto Rico.
642 total judges
Traditional court procedures.
Grand and Petit juries.
Original jurisdiction over most federal cases.
Hear criminal and civil cases.

7. Court of Appeals (Appellate Court Level)
12 of them
179 total judges
Hear cases in 3 judge panels.
A Supreme Court Justice oversees each Appellate court.
Briefs and oral arguments.
Judges make the decision.
Only hear cases on appeal.

8. Supreme Court (High Court Level)
1 court (Washington D.C.)
9 justices – Chief Justice and 8 associates.
Briefs and oral arguments.
Judges make decision.
Decisions are FINAL.
Original and Appellate jurisdiction.
Original jurisdiction over cases involving two or more States and all cases brought against ambassadors or other public ministers.

9. Court Trivia: How well to you know the system?

10. Part I
Identify a case that would go to federal as opposed to state court.
What court would have original jurisdiction over the case?
How many district courts are there in the U.S.?
Who decides a case in district court?
If the case is appealed, what court does it go to?
What type of jurisdiction do the courts of appeal have?
How many judge hear the case in the court of appeals?
What do the courts of appeals do with a case?

11. Part II
What is a brief?
If the court of appeals decides to do nothing with the case, what happens to it?
Which states does Illinois share its court of appeals with?
If the case is appeal again, where does it go?
What are judges on the Supreme Court called?
How many are there?
What type of jurisdiction does the Supreme Court have?

12. Selecting Cases
Nearly 9000 cases per year are appealed to the Supreme Court. Of those, they will hear approximately 95.
The Rule of Four – Four justices must agree to hear a case before it will be considered.
Writ of Certiorari – The Supreme Court requests the case from a lower court due to an appeal.
Certificate – A lower court sends a case to the Supreme Court.
In Forma Pauperis – Allows an indigent or poor person to appeal a case to the court without an attorney.
Selecting a case

13. How Supreme Court Decisions are Made
Case on the Docket
Approx 95
Briefs submitted
Oral Argument
Justices Conference
Cases discussed
Votes taken
Opinion Assigned
Opinions Drafted
and Circulated
Opinions Announced

14. How the Justices Vote Legal Factors Judicial Philosophy
Judicial Restraint - advocates minimalist roles for judges
Judicial Activism - feels that judges should use the law to promote justice, equality, and personal liberty.
Precedent (stare decisis)
Prior judicial decisions serve as a rule for settling subsequent cases of a similar nature.

15. How the Justices Vote Extra-Legal Factors Behavioral Characteristics
The personal experiences of the justices affect how they vote. Early poverty, job experience, friends, and relatives all affect how decisions are made.
Ideology – Current Court
Ideological beliefs influence justices’ voting patterns.
Public Opinion
Justices watch TV, read newspapers, and go to the store like everyone else. They are not insulated from public opinion and are probably swayed by it some of the time.

16. Types of opinions (hypo. 7-2 vote)
Majority – Ruling opinion of the court (written by one of the seven). Dissenting – Justices that disagree with the majority (written by one of the two). Concurring – A justice agrees with the outcome, but not the rationale of the majority (written by one of the seven). Plurality – When there is no majority, this is the controlling opinion of the court (ex vote). Per Curiam – An unsigned opinion

17. Woll 69 and 71
Woll 69: – What is the difference between procedural and substantive self-restraint?
Woll 71:
What three types of cases does the Supreme Court usually accept?
What determines the order of seating around the conference table?
How are opinions assigned?
Do justices ever change their minds when opinion writing?