1. Supreme Court

3.  District Courts ◦ Original Jurisdiction: courts that determine the facts about a case- the trial court. ◦ Federal crimes ◦ Civil suits under federal law / across state lines ◦ Supervising bankruptcy / naturalization ◦ Reviews some federal agencies ◦ Admiralty and maritime law cases

4.  Courts of Appeal ◦ Appellate Jurisdiction: reviews the legal issues in cases brought from lower courts. ◦ Hold no trials and hear no testimony. ◦ 12 circuit courts ◦ U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit- specialized cases ◦ Focus on errors of procedure & law

5.  The Supreme Court ◦ President relies on attorney general and DOJ to screen candidates. ◦ 1 out of 5 nominees will not make it. ◦ Presidents with minority party support in the Senate will have more trouble. ◦ Chief Justice’s position can be a sitting justice, or a new member.

6. Accepting Cases  Use the “rule of four” to choose cases.  Issues a writ of certiorari to call up the case.  Very few cases are actually accepted each year

7.  What is ‘Rule of 4” mean?  The rule of four is a Supreme Court practice that permits four of the nine justices to grant a writ of certiorari.  It is a custom that has been observed since the Court was given discretion over which appeals to hear. It is not in the Constitution.

8.  What is a writ of certiorari?  A writ of certiorari is an order a higher court issues in order to review the decision and proceedings in a lower court and determine whether there were any irregularities.  Certiorari is the common method for cases to be heard before the U.S. Supreme Court

9.  The "rule of five." means the decisions in a Supreme Court case result from this desire to get a majority of five votes.

10. Making Decisions Oral arguments may be made in a case. Justices discuss the case. One justice will write an opinion on the case

11.  Making Decisions  Opinion: Statement of legal reasoning behind a judicial decision. ◦ Stare decisis: basically to let the previous decision stand unchanged. ◦ Precedents: How similar past cases were decided. ◦ Original Intent: The idea that the Constitution should be viewed according to the original intent of the framers.

12.  A Historical Review ◦ John Marshall and the Growth of Judicial Review ◦ The “Nine Old Men” ◦ The Warren Court ◦ The Burger Court ◦ The Rehnquist Court

13.  What Courts Should Do: The Scope of Judicial Power ◦ Judicial restraint: judges should play a minimal policymaking role- leave the policies to the legislative branch. ◦ Judicial activism: judges should make bold policy decisions and even charting new constitutional ground.

14.  First coined by FDR during the Depression and his New Deal Programs:  Stocked with philosophical and economic conservatives, the U.S. Supreme Court proved to be the most consistent opponent to President Franklin Roosevelt’s New Deal programs.

15.  Brown V, Board of Education, Topeka Kansas - 1954 - Civil Rights  Mapp v Ohio - 1961 - Search and Seizure  Gideon v. Wainright - 1963 - Right To Counsel  Escobedo v Illinois - 1964 - Right To Counsel

16.  Miranda v Arizona - 1966 - Rights of the Accused  Engle v Vitale - 1962 - Separation of Church and State  Tinker v Des Moines - 1969 - Symbolic Speech  What type of court was the Warren Court?

17.  NY Times v United States - 1971 - Freedom of the Press  United States v. Nixon - 1972 - Presidential Privilege  Bakke v University of California Bored of Regents - 1976 - Civil Rights  Roe v Wade - 1973 - Right To Privacy

18.  Texas v. Johnson - 1989 - Freedom of Speech