THE FEDERAL JUDICIARY
v Introduction/Terminology
Ø Adversarial System—2 different parties bring their conflict before impartial arbiter (judge)
Ø Either/Or
§ criminal law v. civil law
· criminal—state/government brings case, violation of specific law which is harmful to one person or to society as a whole; imprisonment or fine
· civil—dispute between two parties (one may be government) over wide range of issues from contract disputes, divorce cases, child custody personal or property damage
§ trial v. oral argument
§ statutes (laws passed by legislatures) v. common law (accumulation of judicial decisions about legal issues)
§ federal v. state courts—DUAL COURT SYSTEM
§ original jurisdiction v. appellate jurisdiction
§ exclusive (cases that can be heard only in a specific court) v. concurrent (cases heard in either federal or state courts) jurisdiction
Ø Litigants
§ Judges/justices play passive role
§ Plaintiffs—brings charges
§ Defendants—charges brought against
§ Role of interest groups
· Primary role—NAACP (Brown v. Board of Education, 1954) and ACLU
· Amicus curiae—friend of the court brief, are not directly arguing case, may present new information, raise additional points
Ø “standing to sue”—plaintiff has serious interest in a case because they have sustained or are likely to sustain injury from another party or from an action of government
Ø Class action suits—small number of people sue on behalf of all people in similar circumstances
Ø Justiciable disputes—issues capable of being settled as a matter of law
v Structure of the Federal Judiciary System
Ø Constitution—originally had:--ONE—US Supreme Court, Congress given jurisdiction to create more
Ø Judiciary Act of 1789—established current structure of 1 Supreme Court, Circuit Courts of Appeal and District Courts
Ø Constitutional Courts—those formed via the Constitution, created to carry out function of judicial branch—justices/judges serve for life
Ø Legislative Courts
§ Specific jurisdiction
§ Stems from: acts of Congress
§ Examples: Court of Military Appeals, Court of Taxation, Court of International Trade
§ Judges term: fixed terms; do NOT have power of judicial review
Ø FOCUS: Constitutional Courts
§ Original jurisdiction and determine: FACTS of a case, 90% of all court cases begin and end in courts with original jurisdiction
§ Appellate jurisdiction
· Only concerned with: legal issues of case—do NOT review facts of the case
· State to federal?—highest state appellate court—Supreme/Superior Court—only appeal to US Supreme Court
Ø US Districts Courts (91)
§ Overview: at least one in each state, also includes DC and Puerto Rico, only federal TRIAL courts with juries, 2 – 28 judges depending on “load”
§ Jurisdiction:
· Federal crimes
· Civil suits under federal law
· Civil suits between citizens from different states (amount over $75,000)
· Bankruptcy process
· Naturalization issues
· Maritime issues
· Review of actions of federal regulatory agencies
§ Statistics: 98% criminal/civil cases in state/local courts; most cases are settled via plea bargains
§ Diversity of citizenship cases:--civil suits that are between citizens of different states or one state and a foreign country
§ “Players”
· Clerks, bailiffs, stenographers, court reporters, probation officers, federal marshals
· Magistrates: take on load from judges, such as hearing motions, setting bail, preside over some trials
· US Attorney—appointed by President and confirmed by Senate (serve for the President, meaning can be fired by President) ; one per district; pursue violators of federal law and represent US in civil cases against the government
v US Court of Appeals (Circuit Court of Appeals)
Ø appeals from: 75% come from federal district court; can also be appeal from federal regulatory agency such as the EPA, SEC—RARELY case can skip this level from district court and go straight to Supreme Court
Ø 12 Judicial Circuits
§ 4th Circuit Court of Appeal—VA, NC, SC and WVA
§ 9th Circuit Court of Appeal— MT, WA, ID, OR, WA, CA, AL, HI
§ 5th Circuit Court of Appeal—TX, LA, MS
Ø 3 judge panels v. “en banc” (all assigned judges to circuit)—majority decisions
Ø Focus: to correct procedural errors or errors within interpretation of laws
Ø NO trial—hearing only
Ø Precedent: for area they represent, where they have jurisdiction
Ø US Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit
§ 13th created in 1982—to help with load
§ 12 judges
§ Specialized cases—patents, international trade, cases against the US
v US Supreme Court
Ø Functions
§ National supremacy of law
§ Disputes—settle those between states
§ Uniformity—in the interpretation of national law
Ø Overview
§ 1 Chief Justice & 8 Associate Justices
§ Total number—varies according to Congress, as few as 6 and up to 10 at one time
Ø Jurisdiction (see Table 16.1, page 474)
§ Original
· Foreign diplomats
· State v. US
· 2 or more states
· State citizen v another state
· State and foreign country
§ Appellate
· Federal route (most common)
¨ US Court of Appeals
¨ Circuit Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit
¨ Legislative Courts
· State route –state Court of Last Resort
The Politics of Judicial Selection
v Nomination and confirmation
Ø Constitutional insulation from public/political pressure—federal judges/justices—in for life term; only removal via impeachment
Ø Power held by President
Ø Power held by Senate
v The Lower Courts
Ø Senatorial courtesy (unwritten tradition)
§ Power of ONE senator to void nomination
· District court nominees—senator from President’s party, from state where nominee will serve
· Circuit court of appeal nominee—senator from President’s party, from state where nominee is from
Ø Vacancy occurs—submission of candidates’ names to Attorney General to be given to President
Ø Vetting of candidates—White House aides, DOJ, FBI
Ø Self-promotion
Ø District court v. court of appeal—President has more power in nomination with circuit court
v Judicial nominations and partisanship politics
Ø Tradition –used to be fast and unanimous confirmation
Ø Change
§ Courts of appeal (trickled down to district courts)
§ Role of interest groups
§ “recess appointments”—used by Bush and Clinton, judge appointed while Congress in recess but only lasts for that Congressional term
§ Use of filibuster to block confirmations
§ Cloture vote – November 2013—Sen. Reid, dropped number to 51 v. 60
v Nomination to the Supreme Court
Ø Presidential legacy
Ø Vacancy . . . 1 every 2 years—VARIES!, 1972 to 1984, only 2; RMN had 3 in 1st 3 years
Ø Vetting –aides, DOJ, FBI, sitting judges and justices, ABA
Ø Role of Senate Judiciary Committee
§ Pre/post 1960s
· Johnson, Nixon & Reagan
· HW Bush and Clarence Thomas
· Clinton—noncontroversial but diverse nominees
· GW Bush
¨ John Roberts—(nominated to replace Chief Justice William Rehnquist) easy nomination due to credentials, professional, skilled testimony before Senate Judiciary Committee
¨ Harriet Miers—BIG difference—nominee with no judicial experience, no substantive record—loyalist to Bush, he was accused of “cronyism”—she takes herself out of contention
¨ Samuel Alito—more controversial than Roberts but much better than Miers
· Obama & Sonia Sotomayor (2009) and Elena Kagan (2010)
§ Opposition most likely if: President in minority party, end of his term, his ideology doesn’t match that of Congress
§ Opposition is supposed to be based on: competence and ethics NOT ideology!