Week 29 Notes

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Week 29Notes

• Duties and powers of the Judicial Branch.
• Leadership and structure of the Judicial
  Branch
• Marbury v. Madison
• Name______________________
• Period______________________
• Date_______________________
• Mr. Furman

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Judicial Branch Vocabulary

• a. Supreme Court- Highest court in the United
  Sates. Final Court of Appeals. Judicial Branch
  of government.
•  
• b. Appeal- Ask a higher court to look at the
  decision of a lower court.
•  
• c. Precedent- A tradition or informal guideline
  that others follow.
•  
• d. Affirm- When an appeals court uphold or
  agrees with the decision of a lower court.
•  
• e. Reverse- When an appeals court overturns the
  ruling or decision of a lower court.
•  
• f. Original Jurisdiction- The right of a court to
  hear a case first.
•  
• g. Appellate Jurisdiction- The ability of a
  court to hear a case on appeal from another
  court.
•  
• h. Judicial Activism- When judges take an active
  role in trying to set policy throughout the
  country by ruling a certain way in a case.
•  
• i. Judicial Restraint- When judges try not to
  overturn laws and disrupt government policy.
•  
• j. Judicial Review- The right (power) of the
  Supreme Court to look at actions or laws made in
  the other branches of government and decide if
  they are constitutional.

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Judicial Branch

• Article III Section 1- Outlines the powers and
  duties of the Judicial Branch (Supreme Court).
  The Constitution says very little about what
  powers this branch will have.
• The judicial Power of the United States,
  shall be vested in one Supreme Court, and in such
  inferior courts as the Congress may from time to
  time ordain and establish. The Judges, both of
  the supreme and inferior courts, shall hold their
  Offices during good behavior, and shall, at
  stated times, receive for their services, a
  compensation, which shall not be diminished
  during their continuance in office.

Supreme Court Building
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Powers of the Judicial Branch

• The Supreme Court looks at laws, and actions of
  both the Federal and state government to see if
  they are constitutional (doesnt go against the
  Constitution).

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Powers of the Judicial Branch

• The main power of the Supreme Court is Judicial
  Review. This is the Courts power to declare
  laws or actions made by the other two branches
  unconstitutional.
• The power of Judicial Review is not directly
  given to the Supreme Court in the Constitution,
  but was created in a very famous Supreme Court
  case, Marbury v. Madison by the Chief Justice at
  that time John Marshall.

William Marbury
John Marshall
James Madison
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Structure of the Judicial Branch

• The Supreme Court- consists of 9 people
  altogether.
• 1 Chief Justice and 8 Associate Justices.
  (Justice Judge)
•  
• U.S. Courts of Appeals- Is underneath the Supreme
  Court there are the 12 Courts of Appeals. Each
  Appeals Court has 3 judges who look at the
  decisions of the lower federal Courts to decide
  if the ruling of the lower court was correct.
  Appeals courts check to make sure the lower court
  applied the law correctly, and that the trial was
  fair. They are not concerned with guilty or
  innocence.
• There is a13th Court of Appeals which hears
  appeals from special federal courts.
•  
• District Courts- There are 94 District Courts
  across the United States. Each state has at
  least one district court. They are the courts of
  original jurisdiction in the Federal government.
  They handle the majority of the workload in the
  Federal court system. These courts have a judge
  and a jury.
• Special Federal Courts- Hear cases dealing with
  special areas of federal law.
• i.e.- Patent Law, Customs Law, Tax Law

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Structure of the Judicial Branch
U.S. Supreme Court
Special Federal Courts Patent Law, Tax Law,
Customs Law
U.S. Courts of Appeals
State Supreme Court
State Appeals Courts
U.S. District Courts Federal Trial Courts
State Trial Courts In AZ they are called Superior
Courts
Cases involving a state govt or foreign diplomat
Cases involving Federal laws
Cases dealing with state or local laws
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Term of Office and Qualifications

• The Constitution doesnt set any qualifications
  to be on the Supreme Court.
• Members of the Supreme Court are appointed for
  life by the President of the United States. The
  appointment must be approved by the Senate.

9
U.S. Courts of Appeal
Washington DC
12
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Current Supreme Court
Anthony M. Kennedy Clarence Thomas Ruth Bader
Ginsburg Samuel A. Alito, Jr Stephen G. Breyer
John Paul Stevens John G. Roberts- Chief Justice
Antonin Scalia David H. Souter