1. The Judicial Branch
(Last of the Three)

2. Members of the Judicial Branch are appointed by the President and confirmed by the Senate.
Article III of the Constitution establishes the Judicial Branch.
It is the job of the Judicial Branch to interpret the laws.

3. The Judicial Branch is made up of …
The Supreme Court,
94 District Courts
13 Court of Appeals

7. Federal judges can only be removed through impeachment
Federal Judges serve “Life Terms”
This is so that judges are less likely to be influenced by politics

8. Cases brought before the courts typically start from district court to appellate court and may even end at the Supreme Court
The “inferior courts” must abide by the decisions of the Supreme Court — once the Supreme Court interprets a law, inferior courts must apply the Supreme Court's interpretation to the facts of a particular case.

9. The Supreme Court of the United States
The Supreme Court of the United States is the highest court in the land
There is no set number of Supreme Court Judges but for the last hundred years there have been 9

10. The Court's caseload is almost entirely appellate
The Supreme Court’s job is to interpret the meaning of law and whether that meaning was applied in the lower courts
“Constitutional or Unconstitutional”

11. In order to get a case to the supreme court you must apply for a “writ of certiorari”.
It usually takes 4 out of 9 judges to “grant cert” and listen to the case
the Supreme Court hears oral arguments,
holds private conferences,
makes their decision
and (often after a period of several months) issue the Court's opinion, along with any dissenting arguments that may have been written.

12. The Judicial Process
Article III of the Constitution of the United States guarantees that every person accused of wrongdoing has the right to a fair trial before a competent judge and a jury of one's peers.
The Fourth, Fifth, and Sixth Amendments to the Constitution provide additional protections for those accused of a crime.

13. What types of cases do “District Courts” deal with?
Any crime that takes place on federal land or involves federal officers, such as a murder in a national forest or on an Indian reservation, a theft on a military base, or an assault against a Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) agent,
A crime where the defendant crosses state lines, for example, a person who takes a kidnapping victim from Oregon to Nevada,
A crime where the criminal conduct crosses state lines, for example, an Internet fraud scheme the has victims and perpetrators in multiple states, and
Immigration and customs violations, such as importing child pornography or international human trafficking.

14. Who won? What was the case about?
Plessy v. Ferguson
Brown v. Board of Education
Roe v. Wade
Ohio Supreme Court (DeRolph v. State {1997})