1. The Federal Courts
Chapter 16
Rixie

2. Two Major Types of Cases
Criminal Law
Civil Law
Gov’t charges individual with law violation
Robbery, illegal drug possession, assault, embezzlement, etc.
If convicted, leads to punishment
Imprisonment; fine; community service
Dispute between two parties (one may be gov’t)
Contracts, divorce, malpractice suits, etc.
Often resolved or settled without punishment, though fines and fees may be imposed

3. Can you take ANYTHING to court??
Must have:
Standing to sue
Serious interest in the case
A justiciable dispute
Something that can be solved legally
A plaintiff brings suit against a defendant

4. Other participants in the legal system:
Attorneys
Wealthy people can afford high- profile ones
Gov’t provides public defenders to the accused who can’t afford a lawyer
Interest groups may seek out litigants
NAACP, ACLU
Also file amicus curiae briefs

5. Types of Courts State courts: Federal courts:
Where most criminal cases begin and end, and many civil cases
Highest level is state Supreme Court
Federal courts:
Constitutional courts, including District Courts & Courts of Appeals
Specialized legislative courts (ex: Tax Court; Court of Military Appeal)
Supreme Court!

6. Quick Quiz!
The two types of cases include criminal law and ___________ law.
Civil
This term means that you have a serious interest in a case, such as being in danger of direct injury or severe impact.
Standing to sue
What are the two types of federal courts?
Constitutional and legislative

7. Which court hears the case?
Original Jurisdiction
Appellate Jurisdiction
The courts that hear a case first.
Determine the facts of the case.
Goes to an appeals court when the original decision is appealed by a litigant.
Only look at legal issues.

8. The 91 District Courts have jurisdiction over: Federal crimes
Civil suits under federal law
Suits between citizens of different states
(to name a few)
The U.S. Courts of Appeals are in each of 12 judicial circuits in the U.S.
Mostly hear appeals from district courts
No trials, no testimony, only looking for errors of procedure & law
How are these lower courts established?
Acts of Congress

9. The U.S. Supreme Court The Top Dog
9 Justices (all other courts have judges), including 1 chief justice
Congress sets the number
Decides which cases to hear
Has some original jurisdiction, but most cases come from appeals

10. Quick Quiz! True or False?
Appellate courts take a second look at the facts of a case.
False (they only review the legal issues involved)
The District Courts have jurisdiction over legal disputes between citizens of different states.
True (because a state court may not be impartial)
There have been 9 SC justices consistently since the nation’s founding.
False (the number varies according to acts of Congress)

11. Who are the current Supreme Court Justices?

12. John G. Roberts, Jr. Chief Justice of the United States
Born in Buffalo, New York, January 27, 1955
Married with 2 children
Catholic
Received a B.A. from Harvard College in 1976 and
a J.D. from Harvard Law School in He served as a law clerk for then-Associate Justice William H. Rehnquist of the Supreme Court of the United States during the 1980 Term.
Appointed to the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit in 2003.
President George W. Bush nominated him as Chief Justice of the United States, and he took his seat on September 29, 2005.
Conservative

13. Anthony M. Kennedy Associate Justice
Born in Sacramento, California, July 23, 1936.
Married with 3 children.
Catholic
Received his B.A. from Stanford University
and the London School of Economics, and his
LL.B. from Harvard Law School.
Appointed to the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit in 1975.
President Reagan nominated him as an Associate Justice of the Supreme Court, and he took his seat February 18, 1988.
Moderate

14. Clarence Thomas Associate Justice
Born in the Pin Point community of Georgia near
Savannah June 23, 1948.
Married with one child by a previous marriage.
Catholic
Attended Conception Seminary and received an A.B., cum laude, from Holy Cross College, and a J.D. from Yale Law School in 1974.
Became a Judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit in 1990.
President Bush nominated him as an Associate Justice of the Supreme Court, and he took his seat October 23, 1991.
Conservative

15. Ruth Bader Ginsburg Associate Justice
Born in Brooklyn, New York, March 15, 1933.
Married with two children.
Jewish
Received her B.A. from Cornell University, attended Harvard Law School, and received her LL.B. from Columbia Law School.
Professor of Law at Rutgers University School of Law from 1963–1972, and Columbia Law School from 1972–1980, and a fellow at the Center for Advanced Study in the Behavioral Sciences in Stanford, California from 1977–1978.
In 1971, she was instrumental in launching the Women’s Rights Project of the American Civil Liberties Union, and served as the ACLU’s General Counsel from 1973–1980, and on the National Board of Directors from 1974–1980.
Appointed a Judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit in 1980.
President Clinton nominated her as an Associate Justice of the Supreme Court, and she took her seat August 10, 1993.
Liberal

16. Stephen G. Breyer Associate Justice
Born in San Francisco, California, August 15, 1938.
Married with 3 children.
Jewish
Received a BA from Stanford University, a B.A. from Magdalen College, Oxford, and an LL.B. from Harvard Law School.
Assistant Professor, Professor of Law, and Lecturer at Harvard Law School, 1967–1994, a Professor at the Harvard University Kennedy School of Government, 1977–1980, and a Visiting Professor at the College of Law, Sydney, Australia and at the University of Rome.
President Clinton nominated him as an Associate Justice of the Supreme Court, and he took his seat August 3, 1994.
Liberal

17. Samuel Anthony Alito, Jr. Associate Justice
Born in Trenton, New Jersey, April 1, 1950.
Married with 2 children.
Catholic
Received an A.B. from Princeton University in 1972 and a J.D. from Yale Law School in 1975.
Appointed to the United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit in 1990.
President George W. Bush nominated him as an Associate Justice of the Supreme Court, and he took his seat on January 31, 2006.
Conservative

18. Sonia Soto-Mayor Associate Justice
Born June 25th, 1954 in The Bronx
1st Hispanic justice
Received a BA from Princeton and JD from Yale
Has taught at NYU and Columbia Law schools
President Barack Obama nominated her to fill the vacated seat by Justice David Souter
Liberal

19. Elena Kagan Associate Justice
Born April 28th, 1960 in NY, NY
Received AB from Princeton and her JD from Harvard law school
Taught at Harvard and became its first female dean
President Barack Obama nominated her to replace the retired Justice John Paul Stevens.
Liberal

20. Neil Gorsuch Associate Justice
Born August 29, 1967, in Denver
Catholic
Nominated by President Donald Trump, 2017, after the death of Antonin Scalia
Senate Confirmation Votes For 54 – Against 45
Harvard
Conservative

21. Selecting Judges Most state and local judges are
elected by the public.
All federal justices and judges are nominated by POTUS & confirmed by the Senate
Serve “during good behavior”
Can be impeached, but rare
Federal judge selection = highly political process! (even though the court itself is supposed to be insulated from politics)

22. What do presidents consider when making judicial appointments?
What are the criteria for federal judges?
What do presidents consider when making judicial appointments?

23. Lower Courts Power of POTUS is limited!
Unwritten tradition of senatorial courtesy:
Senate won’t confirm nominations for lower-court positions when opposed by a senator from the state in which the nominee is to serve
Dept. of Justice & FBI conduct competency and background checks on potential nominees.
Senate Judiciary Committee also investigates them.
Sitting judges may initiate recommendations.

24. Supreme Court POTUS wants to leave a legacy!
If Chief Justice position is vacant, POTUS may nominate a sitting justice or someone new.
Sitting justices may try to influence nomination.
Nominees keep low profile; extensive vetting process.
Difficulties: partisan politics (especially with divided government); qualifications/experience sometimes challenged; nomination at end of term

25. Quick Quiz!
True or false?: Federal judges, other than SC justices, serve at the will of the president, so are often dismissed.
False (ALL federal judges serve during good behavior)
This term means that senators from the same state as a judicial nominee have an influential say in confirmation.
Senatorial courtesy
The main thing most presidents are concerned with when nominating a new justice to the SC is the president’s ____________.
Legacy

26. Some Technical Terms…
Opinion - a written statement of legal reasoning behind a judicial decision
Majority opinion - announces the Court’s decision in a case and sets out the reasoning on which it is based
Concurring opinion - one or more of the justices who agree with the Court’s decision may write this to add a point that was not made in the majority opinion
Dissenting opinion - one or more justices who disagree with the Court’s decision may write this

27. Amicus curiae briefs – “friend of the court,” briefs submitted by outside parties who have an interest in a case
Stare decisis – “let the decision stand,” a principle that means an earlier decision should hold for a current case (most cases are settled this way)
Precedent – refers to the way similar cases were previously handled; courts rely strongly on this concept