Article III

Sets up our judicial system. Explains the judicial powers corresponding to all other branches.

Jurisdiction:

The supreme court is at the top of the federal judicial system. The constitution of the United States gives the Supreme court Original jurisdiction over matters such as a suit involving two or more states, cases involving ambassadors and other public ministers.

The Two Types of Jurisdiction

original and appellate

Appellate

when a higher court has the power to review a lower court's decision , brought from federal court of appeal , deals with issues of federal law

Original Jurisdiction

Jurisdiction as a trial court. The Supreme court has original jurisdiction over a few types of cases. Disputes between states, most common.

special master

gathers facts , ensures judicial orders are followed , usually an attorney , usually deals with original jurisdiction cases

# of justices; who decides?

9 justices, appointed by the president and confirmed by the Senate, simple majority (51 voted) to approve. Congress will determine how many justices will serve on the court.

Circuit responsibilities

Each justice assigned a circuit, Justice Alito handles the 5th circuit which includes Texas, Deal with applications for special action, Stay a lower court decision until the full court decides whether to hear the case, Justice ordinarily refers to the whole court, 5 votes to stay or vacate , 13 circuit courts

Chief Justice administrative duties

Has the power to write the opinions on each case. chooses who will be on foreign intelligence surveillance court

Recusals

conflict of interest of a SC judge , usually they don't give extensive reason or reason at all

Descriptive characteristics of S.Ct. Nominees *Possible IDQ or essay!*

competent , ABA (qualified) , prestigious law school (ivy league usually harvard or yale) , align with president political party , high court experience or experience as a clerk , academics (prof of law) ,

Ideology( Republican or Democratic)

Relevant because the political party of a person can influence the decisions they make in court.

Qualifications/Education in LAW

ensures the appointee is qualified in understanding of constitution and laws to help make an educated opinion on the case.

Race

if the appointment can be seen to enforce racial diversity among justices he or she may be more likely to get confirmed. (jackson appointed by biden) (said he'd get a black woman on the court)

Age requirements

can't be too old , want them to serve long as to uphold presidential legacy and effect policy in one way or another

• Career paths

(law degree) Since 1975, the most common route to the court has been through private practice or law teaching, often combined with some time in government.

Federalist 66:

The Senate may accept or reject the nomination, but they cannot nominate.

Federalist 76 (Hamilton):

Defends the power of the president to appoint public officials w/ consent and advice of the Senate. Prevent the president from appointing an unfit candidate. You need professional qualifications. Asserts there will be virtue in the senators to ensure that the president doesn't pressure the senate to support an unfit or corrupt candidate.

Is the Senate a rubber stamp?

The senate is NOT and is not supposed to be a rubber stamp in the US.

Senator's concerns?

President's concerns?

Objective qualifications

(DOCTRINAL) A potential justice gains enormously by belonging to a particular/president's political party and (CONFIRMABILITY) Achieving the high positions in government or law and adhere to ethical standards to make individuals possible candidates for the court.

Policy preferences

republicans: strong conservative liberals: don't necessarily want strong liberal , ex: obama nominee in effort to gain leverage in republican senate

Role of public opinion, if any?

allowed for senate to investigate kavanugh on basis of sexual assault

Role of interest groups, if any?

federalist society and heritage foundation helped trump cumulate a list of potential SC nominees

Presidential resources

transition team, ABA , interest groups ,

ABA (american bar association) rating of appointees

well qualified , qualified , not qualified (rated coney barrett well qualified)

Recent failed S.Ct. nominations. Why?

2 Reagan failed noms: Bork too conservative , Ginsburg smoked weed as a law professor and wasn't seen as qualified Obama: Garland wasn't heard by republican majority senate (too close to next election)

litigants

criminal defendant, individual vs gov , business vs gov , business vs business , business vs individual, interest group vs gov , majority deal with individuals usually criminal defendants (person involved in a lawsuit)

Ordinary litigant

direct interest of parties ex: damages , criminal defendant

Political litigant

must have standing / direct stake in case , policy , shapes law

Solicitor General Roles

Role of the lawyer

attorney , private law firm (supreme court litigation as major focus) , state attorney , NAACP legal defense fund , SC can appoint attorney

The law officer directly below the attorney general in the US department of Justice, responsible for arguing cases before the US supreme Court

Reasons for influence?

Rank #3 in the Justice system. (AG, DAG, SG). SG answers directly to AG.

Appointed by the president and confirmed by the Senate.

Has permanent office in the Supreme Court building

If the US government wants to be involved in a major decision. (it must be important).

Duties?

Write briefs

Presents oral arguments

Deals with hundreds of cases

Amicus briefs

"Friend of the court" Briefs that are done and submitted by third parties that are not on the case but have interest in them. Usually in a form of a brief but something SCOTUS will have them do an oral argument.

Interest group involvement

• Test cases

Sponsorship of a case on behalf of another party.

Provision of legal services

Funding

Directs the course of the case

• Amicus briefs

Friend of the court. 3rd party case briefs

Ways to come before the S.Ct:

Original jurisdiction

first time hearing a case.

Appeals

Certiorari

A writ issued by SCOTUS , at its discretion, to call up the record of a case from a lower court for review and decision by the court. The overwhelming majority of cases come to the court as petitions for writs.

Appellate procedure Certiorari procedure

Rule 10

Indicates that the court is more likely to hear the case if it has certain issues of federal law that the court has yet to decide on. Also if there is conflict between lower courts or lower and Supreme court.

Why take a case to the S. Ct? *Possible IDQ or Essay question*

"Certworthines"

Looks for a case that has conflict between lower courts, or a case that is challenging a federal law. Basically i s it worthy enough for the SCOTUS to take up and have oral arguments for it.

Many petitions, few opinions; Why?

GVR Order

"Grant, vacate, and remand" Granting certiorari, vacating the lower-court decision, and remanding the case to that court for reconsideration. Most GVR's are issued because of some event, usually a SCOTUS decision on another case that impacts another.

DIG's

"dismissed as improvidently granted" usually occurs when a brief or oral argument suggests to the justices that the case is inappropriate for a decision.

Judicial ideology, case selection, policy preferences

Liberal

Conservative

Issue areas; settled or not?

can mean that the SCOTUs might want more ligation in order to make a proper decision on whether or not to listen to the actual case. This is where GVR and DIG's come into play.

Standing, ripeness, mootness

Standing:

The court may not hear a case unless the party bringing the case is properly before it. The most important element of standing is the requirement that a party in a case have a real and direct legal stake in its outcome.

Mootness:

"moot" (in effect, hypothetical) because the parties can no longer be affected by the outcome.

Because of the mootness rule, the Court generally must dismiss a case if the parties have reached a settlement or if the only party on one side has died.

Federal courts will refuse to hear a case if they find that it presents a political question. This doctrine refers to the idea that an issue is so politically charged that federal courts, which are typically viewed as the apolitical branch of government, should not hear the issue.

Role of clerks

• "cert. pool"

All the law clerks read and write memos on each appeal that comes up with a summary and a recommendation whether to hear the case or not.

"Discuss List"

Chief justice creates a list in which they add cases to it to be considered to be heard at conferences. Other justices can and do add to the list as well, they have around 500 cases on there within a year and if a case is not on the list it is not heard.