THE SUPREME COURT OF THE UNITED STATES

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THE SUPREME COURTOF THE UNITED STATES

• UNIT 17

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Preview

• History
• Sources of law in the USA
• State and federal courts
• Jurisdiction of the Supreme Court
• Judicial appointments
• Cases

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THE COLONIAL PERIOD

• Judicial functions closely intertwined, often
  even fused, with legislative and executive ones
• The hightest court the royal council, which was
  also the upper house of the legislature

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CONFEDERAL PERIOD

• During the Confederation period 13 independent
  state legal systems
• No unifying national judiciary
• The Founding Fathers each state would maintain
  its own court system, but national legal
  uniformity had to be created

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THE CONSTITUTION

• The Constitution shall be the supreme Law of the
  Land (Article VI) providing for a national
  judiciary (Article III)
• Established the Supreme Court at the top of the
  national system and left the creation of other
  federal courts to Congress
• State courts established under state
  responsibility

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SOURCES OF LAW IN THE U.S.

• The Constitution
• Common law
• Statutes
• Treaties

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Dual Structure of Courts

• State and federal
• Jurisdiction often overlaps a single act can
  violate both federal and state law
• 5th Amendment prohibits double jeopardy retrial
  on the same charge after an acquittal trial in
  both a state and a federal court has not ben
  interpreted as constituting double jeopardy

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State courts

• Inferior or Petty Trial Courts (minor civil or
  criminal matters JPs)
• General Trial Courts (criminal and civil cases)
• State Courts of Appeal
• State Supreme court

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FEDERAL COURT SYSTEM

• District Courts
• Courts of Appeals
• The Supreme Court

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FEDERAL COURTS OF APPEALS

• Cases on appeal from district courts no jury, no
  witnesses
• 1) irregularities such as prejudice by the court,
  use of illegal evidence, or other violations of
  Constitutional rights, 2) constitutionality of a
  law
• Decisions made by a panel of three or more judges
• In most cases, decisions are accepted as final,
  thereby ending the case

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THE SUPREME COURT OF THE UNITED STATES

• Apellate jurisdiction considers only cases
  involving new or important legal principles
• Original jurisdiction cases involving
  ambassadors, foreign ministers, and consuls,
  disputes between states
• Judicial review

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JUDICIAL REVIEW

• The power of the Supreme Court
• 1) to determine whether laws are in harmony with
  the Constitution and
• 2) for such laws as are in conflict with the
  Constitution, to declare them invalid, void, and
  unconstitutional

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The American Judiciary

• Selected by appointment or election
• Federal judges nomination by the President,
  confirmation by the Senate
• All federal judges are appointed to serve during
  good behavior life-time appointment
• Impeachment the only means of removal

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Judicial appointments

• Franklin Roosevelt 9
• Richard Nixon 4
• Gerald Ford 1
• Ronald Reagan 3

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Articles

• Article I The Legislative Branch
• Article II The Executive Branch
• Article III The Judicial Branch (1. The Federal
  Courts Supreme and Lower Courts Tenure and
  Salary of Judges, 2. Jurisdiction of the Federal
  Courts, 3. Treason)
• Article IV Relations Among the States and with
  the Federal Government

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Articles

• Article V Proposing and Ratifying Amendments to
  the Constitution
• Article VI Miscellaneous Provisions
• Article VII Ratification of the Constitution
  Assent Required of Nine States

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AmendmentsThe Bill of Rights (1791)

• I Freedom of Religion, Speech, Press, Assembly,
  and Petition
• II Right to a State Militia and to Bear Arms
• III Regulations for Quartering of Troops
• IV No Unreasonable Searches and No Vague Search
  Warrants
• V Rights of Accused Persons Protection of
  Private Property

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AmendmentsThe Bill of Rights (1791)

• VI Further Rights of Accused Persons
• VII Trial by Jury in Most Civil Cases
• VIII No Excessive Bail or Cruel Punishment
• IX Unlisted Rights Reserved to the People
• X Powers Reserved to the States or People

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Fifth Amendment

• A person accused of a crime may not be tried
  twice for the sam offence no double jeopardy
• He may not be compelled to be a witness against
  himself no self-incrimination
• No person may be deprived of life, liberty, or
  property without due process of law

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Sixth Amendment

• Rights of accused persons
• Right to a speedy trial, to impartial jury,
  defense councel
• To know the charges against him, confront hostile
  witnesses, and obtain friendly witnesses

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PROTECTION OF RIGHTS AND LIBERTIES

• Rights and liberties duties
• Freedom of speech duty to speak honestly and
  with a full knowledge of the facts
• Freedom of religion duty to respect the freedom
  of others whose religion is different
• The right to vote duty to know the candidates
  and the issues in an election
• The right to trial by jury duty to respond
  willingly when called for jury service

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Major Supreme Court Rulings
Case Amendment Effect
Miranda v. Arizona (1966) 5th, 6th Confessions not admissible unless warnings given
Klopfer v. North Carolina (1967) 6th Speedy trial must be guaranteed in all courts
Benton v. Maryland (1969) 5th Prohibition against double jeopardy
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DECLARING FEDERAL LAWS UNCONSTITUTIONAL Dred
Scott vs. Sanford (1857)

• Issue Dred Scott, a negro slave, taken by his
  master to the Minnesota region (according to the
  1820 Missouri Compromise a free territory)
• Then brought back to Missouri, a slave state.
• To create a test case, the abolitionists had Dred
  Scott sue for his freedom on the grounds that his
  residence in free territory had made him a free
  man

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Dred Scott vs. Sanford (1857)

• Decision Chief Justice Roger Taney stated that a
  Negro slave was not a citizen and could not bring
  suit for his freedom in a federal court.
• This statement would have sufficed to conclude
  the case. Taney, however, wanted to end the
  slavery controversy by a judicial pronouncement.

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Dred Scott vs. Sanford (1857)

• Conclusions
• A) slaves are property
• B) Congress may not deprive any person of the
  right to take property into federal territories,
  and consequently
• C) The Missouri Compromise, a federal law which
  prohibited slavery in part of the Louisiana
  Territory, was declared unconstitutional

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CONSEQUENCES

• -The South elated, the North indignant
• - Northern newspapers the decision is the
  Moral Assassination of a Race and Cannot be
  Obeyed
• - The decision
• 1) blackened Taneys reputation,
• 2) did not prevent the Civil War,
• 3) temporarily weakened but did not destroy
  the power and prestige of the Supreme Court.

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DECLARING STATE LAWS UNCONSTITUTIONAL Gibbons
vs. Ogden (1824)

• Issue Aaron Ogden, operating under a New York
  State monopoly grant, ran a ferry on the Hudson
  River between New York and New Jersey.
• Thomas Gibbons ran a competing line under a
  federal license.
• Ogden sued to halt Gibbons won in the New York
  State court
• The case - appealed to the Supreme Court

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Gibbons v. Ogden (1824)

• Decision New Yorks grant of a Hudson River
  monopoly to Ogden declared invalid.
• The grant violated the Constitutions delegation
  of interstate commerce to federal control.
• The decision prepared the way for federal
  regulation of railroads, buses, airlines, radio
  and television broadcasting, business
  organizations, etc. when engaged in interstate
  commerce

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AMENDMENT XIV Protection of Civil Liberties
Against State Infringment (1868)

• Section 1. Definition of Citizenship Due Process
  of Law and Equal Protection of the Laws. All
  persons born or naturalized in the United States
  and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are
  citizens of the United States and of the state
  wherein they reside. No state shall make or
  enforce any law which shall abridge the
  privileges or immunities of citizens of the
  United States, nor shall any state deprive any
  person of life, liberty, or property, without due
  process of law, nor deny to any person within its
  jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws

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REVERSALSSegregation Plessy vs. Ferguson (1896)

• The Supreme Court by 8 to 1 held constitutional a
  Louisiana law requiring segregation by race of
  railroad passengers
• did not violate the equal protection of the
  lawsclause in the 14th Amendment (1868) provided
  that facilities were separate but equal
• The lone dissenter, Justice John Marshall Harlan
  that the separation of citizens on the basis of
  race is inconsistent with equality before the
  law our Constitution is color-blind, and
  neither knows nor tolerates classes among
  citizens.

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Brown vs. Board of Education of Topeka (1954)

• Mexican-American children kept in segregated
  schools with inferior facilities
• Chicano leaders demanded upgrading of facilities,
  bilingual teachers instruction in Spanish, the
  teaching of English as a second language, courses
  in Chicano history and culture

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Brown vs. Board of Education of Topeka (1954)

• The Supreme Court unanimously held that racial
  segregation in public schools violated the
  Fourteenth Amendment
• Southern state legislatures protested that the
  Federal Government has no Constitutional power
  over education
• States control education, but must provide all
  children with equal protection of the law

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Brown vs. Board of Education of Topeka (1954)

• We conclude that, in the field of public
  education, the doctrine of separate but equal
  has no place. Separate educational facilities are
  inherently unequal. Therefore, we hold that the
  plaintiffs and others similarly situated for whom
  the actions have been brought are, by reason of
  the segregation complained of, deprived of the
  equal protection of laws guaranteed by the
  Fourteenth Amendment. This disposition makes
  unnecessary any discussion whether such
  segregation also violates the Due Process Clause
  of the Fourteenth Amendment

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PROTECTION OF RIGHTS AND LIBERTIESFreedom of
Speech and Press Feiner vs. New York (1951)

• Issue Irving Feiner, a university student, urged
  Negroes to rise up in arms and fight for their
  rights
• Requested by the police to stop, he refused and
  was arrested.
• F. appealed his conviction for disorderly conduct
  as a violation of his freedom of speech

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Feiner vs. New York (1951)

• By a 6 to 3 decision, the Supreme Court upheld
  the conviction
• Speaking for the majority, Chief Justice Fred
  Vinson declared that Feiner had attempted
  incitement to riot and created a clear danger
  of public disorder

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Freedom of ReligionEngel vs. Vitale (1962)

• Issue Steven Engel and other parents,
  representing various religious views, sued to
  stop the New Hyde Park, New York, school board
  from requiring their children to recite a short,
  nondenominational prayer. The parents claimed
  that by the so-called Regents Prayer, New York
  State was establishing a religion

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Engel vs. Vitale

• Majority opinion that the Regents Prayer was
  a religious activity sponsored by New York State
  and that while not a total establishment of one
  particular religious sect to the exclusion of all
  others, it was a dangerous step in violation of
  the First Amendment
• The Supreme Court, by 6 to 1, held the Regents
  Prayer unconstitutional

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Rights of Accused PersonsMiranda vs. Arizona
(1966)

• Issue Self-Incrimination and Right to Counsel
• Ernesto Miranda - picked up by the police for
  kidnapping and assaulting a young woman.
• Placed in a police lineup, identified by the
  victim and confessed his guilt.
• His confession- used in court and helped to
  convict him

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Miranda vs. Arizona

• The case - appealed on the ground that the police
  had denied the suspect his Constitutional
  protection against self-incrimination
• The majority opinion before questioning, the
  police must inform the suspect of his rights to
  remain silent and to legal counsel, must provide
  counsel, and must warn the suspect that his
  remarks may be used against him

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CONCLUSION JUDICIAL INTERPRETATION

• The Supreme Court a major role in assuring
  flexibility in the Constitution by
• A) judicial review of federal and state laws
• B) the Supreme Court has proved willing to
  reverse itself with its newer decisions in many
  cases reflecting more modern interpretations of
  the vague terminology in the Constitution

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Legal terms

• On the merits refers to a legal decision based on
  the facts in evidence and the law pertaining to
  those facts, because the judge considers
  technical and procedural defenses to be overcome
  or irrelevant.

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Legal terms

• A party to a lawsuit
• Litigant
• A case before a court
• lawsuit
• The power of a court to hear and decide a case
• jurisdiction

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Legal terms

• The hearing of a civil or criminal case before a
  court of competent jurisdiction
• Trial
• An application for judicial examination by a
  higher tribunal of the decision of any lower
  tribunal
• appeal

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Put the verbs into the appriopriate forms

• All federal judges___(appoint, passive), as
  ___(spell out) in the Constitution, to serve
  during good behaviour. This is effectively
  life-time appointment because impeachment ___(be)
  the only means of removal. Eleven federal judges
  ___(impeach, passive), and eight others (resign)
  in the face of imminent impeachment of the
  thousands who ___(hold) office since 1789 only 4
  ___(remove, passive) following impeachment.

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Put the verbs into the appropriate forms

• In addition, the Constitution ___(provide) that
  their salaries may not ____(reduce, passive)
  while they serve. Thus, although the judges
  ____(choose, passive) by a political process
  nomination by the president and confirmation by
  the Senate they ___ relatively ____(isolate,
  passive) from political pressures once on the
  bench.

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Key

• All federal judges are appointed, as spelled out
  in the Constitution, to serve during good
  behaviour. This is effectively life-time
  appointment because impeachment is the only means
  of removal. Eleven fedral judges have been
  impeached, and eight others resigned in the face
  of imminent impeachment of the thousands who
  have held office since 1789 only 4 have been
  removed following impeachment.

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Key

• In addition, the Constitution provides that their
  salaries may not be reduced while they serve.
  Thus, although the judges are chosen by a
  political process nomination by the president
  and confirmation by the Senate they are
  relatively isolated from political pressures once
  on the bench.

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Fill in the missing words appellate, hear,
original, suits, tried

• The United States Supreme Court is primarily the
  chief ____ court though it has ____jurisdiction
  (i.e., authority to ____ cases not yet
  ___elsewhere) as well. Most original ____ involve
  a state suing another state, which the Court must
  hear.

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Key

• The United States Supreme Court is primariy the
  chief appellate court though it has original
  jurisdiction (i.e., authority to hear cases not
  yet tried elsewhere) as well. Most original suits
  involve a state suing another state, which the
  Court must hear.

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ambassadors, citizens, decided, diplomatic, Suits

• ___ by a state against the United States, suits
  by one state against aliens or ___ of another
  state, and those involving ___and other
  ___personnel may also originate here. Since the
  founding of the Supreme Court, only about one
  hundred original suits have been___.

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Key

• Suits by a state against the United States, suits
  by one state against aliens or citizens of
  another state, and those involving ambassadors
  and other diplomatic personnel may also originate
  here. Since the founding of the Supreme Court,
  only about one hundred original suits have been
  decided.

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appeals, discretion, federal Litigants, reviewing

• Most of the Courts work involves ___, state and
  local cases or resolving___ from federal
  decisions. ___ from either state or ___courts may
  request the Court to review any case, and the
  Court has ___ to grant or refuse request.

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Key

• Most of the Courts work involves reviewing state
  and local cases or resolving appeals from federal
  decitions. Litigants from either state or federal
  courts may request the Court to review any case,
  and the Court has discretion to grant or refuse
  request.