Gov Chapter 6 notes PDF

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Notes from the lecture of Chapters 6 from Professor Roman Delagarza's class...

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Government Chapter 6 Notes: The Judiciary 1. Intro to the Judicial Branch a. Judiciary: interpret and apply the law and solve disputes involving citizens and other government personnel i. Appeal: rehearing a case because the losing party in the original trail argues that a point of law was not applied 1. Supreme court is the court of highest appeal ii. In the case of Marbury v. Madison, the supreme court gave itself the ultimate power of deciding what the constitution means 2. Kinds of laws a. Rule of law: a system in which laws are known in advance, they apply the same way to everyone, and if we feel they have been unjustly applied we can appeal to a higher authority 1. In a democracy, no one is above the law. Everyone is equally responsible for acting in accordance with the constitution ii. Substantive laws: define what we can or cannot do iii. Procedural laws: define how the laws are used, applied, and enforced iv. Criminal laws: are a form of substantive law that prohibits behavior that makes collective living difficult or impossible: theft, rape, murder, etc. 1. Crime: A broken law is a crime against the state and is to be prosecuted by the state v. Civil laws: laws that regulate interactions between individuals 1. Tort: a broken civil law, a violation against an individual vi. Constitutional laws: establish the legal infrastructure-how branches relate to each other- and determine how the game of politics is played 1. Precedent: a previous decision or ruling that is binding on subsequent decisions a. Future justices are bound to follow these rulings unless it’s overturned vii. Statutory laws: laws made by legislators viii. Administrative laws: created by the bureaucracy after legislation has been passed stating a general limit 1. Like to have cleaner air ix. Executive orders: laws made by the executive alone 3. The American legal system a. Common law tradition: a legal system in which the decisions of judges become part of the legal traditions and those precedents have the standing of law i. Everywhere in the U.S. except Lousiana b. Civil law tradition: a legal system in which laws are passed by a legislature and written down, which gives the judge less leeway c. Adversarial system: A legal system concerned primarily with fairness trusting that a just judgment will result from a just trial i. Americans primary concern is if a trial is fair d. Inquisitorial system:

i.

A legal system concerned with finding out the truth 1. Used in European democracies e. Litigious system: a legal system in which parties typically settle their differences in court i. People suing people 4. Who’s who and what’s what in a court of law? a. 3 elements of the criminal justice system i. Law enforcement, adjudication, and corrections 1. Adjudication: the process of resolving disputes in court 5. Equality and the criminal justice system: a. Racial profiling i. When law enforcement officers base their decision to investigate a person’s activities on the individual’s apparent race or ethnicity 1. Mediated citizenship helps with this due to our ability to film interaction between black people and cops 6. The constitution, congress, and the dual court system a. Jurisdiction: a court’s authority to hear certain cases b. How does the constitution set up the courts? i. One supreme court ii. Lower courts established by congress as necessary iii. Judges of federal courts, who hold their jobs as long as they behave themselves and who get paid a salary, which cannot be cut while they are in office iv. State courts: municipal courts, a district court, and so depending on whether theyre major or minor trial courts a. Superior, probate, county, municipal, domestic relations, justice of the peace courts 2. Then passes to 2nd level (state intermediate appellate courts) 3. Then passes to state supreme court a. Panel of 5 to 9 judges discuss the case, make a decision, and issue an opinion c. The federal system is also 3 tiered i. Entry-level tier (94 district courts) 1. Each state has at least one, largest state has 4 ii. An appellate level (courts of appeals, 12 courts) 1. Made up of 12 large super districts 2. Made up of a rotating panel of 3 judges who hear the case 3. No new information or witness testimonies are heard at this time iii. The supreme court d. Qualifications of judges i. Shall be appointed by the president, with the advice and consent of the Senate 1. Presidents take advantage of a judge’s ideology to benefit their agenda

ii. iii.

Serve lifetime terms provided they have good behavior Can be removed from office only if impeached and convicted by the House of Representatives and the Senate, a process that has resulted in only 15 impeachments and 8 convictions in more than 200 years 7. The supreme court a. 9 members i. To become a member presidents and senators consider merit, demographics, and ideology b. Ideology i. Judicial interpretivism: supporters of a judicial approach holding that the constitution is a living document that judges should interpret it according to changing times and values ii. Strict constructionists: supporters of a judicial approach holding that the constitution should be read literally, with the framers’ intention uppermost in mind c. How the supreme courts makes a decision i. Petitions for writs of certiorari arrive at the court 1. Formal requests by the U.S. supreme court to call up the lower court cases it decided to hear on appeal 2. Summarized by new lawyers into a 2-5 page memo ii. The memos are circulated to the justices’ offices w/ clerks comments 1. The discuss list is passed to all of the judges so they can add to it 2. Getting on the discuss list does not guarantee a case will be heard iii. During the meeting, 4 justices hear the case (rule of four) 1. It takes 5 judges to make a decision though iv. People attempt to influence the court by submitting amicus curiae a. “Friend of the court” documents filed by interested parties to encourage the court to grant or deny certiorari or to urge it to decide a case in a particular way 2. Solicitor general: the legal officer who argues cases before the supreme court when the U.S. is a party to that case v. The case is heard 1. Only given about an hour, included judges interruptions vi. Justices deliberate alone and together 1. Conference debates take place 2. Each justice wants people to follow their views a. Political tools like arguing, deal-making, and debating are all used vii. A majority opinion (at least 5 votes) is written 1. Concurring opinions a. Documents written by justices expressing agreement with the majority ruling but describing different or additional reasons for the ruling 2. Dissenting opinions

a. Documents written by justices expressing disagreement with the majority ruling 3. The ruling is what lives on and becomes precedent d. The political impact of court cases: i. ⧣ It should be the ultimate decider of what is constitutional in the U.S. federal government and the states (Marbury v. Madison, 1803) ii.

⧣ Congress has the power to do anything “necessary and proper” to carry out its duties, rendering almost meaningless the Tenth Amendment, which says leftover powers go to the states (McCulloch v. Maryland, 1819)

iii.

⧣ Segregation was legal (Plessy v. Ferguson, 1896)

iv.

⧣ And then it was illegal (Brown v. Board of Education, 1954)

v.

⧣ States and national government could not regulate working hours (Lochner v. New York, 1905)

vi.

⧣ States need to respect the rights in the Bill of Rights (multiple cases, including Gideon v. Wainwright, 1963)

vii.

⧣ Americans are entitled to equal representation (one person, one vote; Baker v. Carr, 1962)

viii.

⧣ We enjoy a variety of civil liberties, all of which have some limits on them (a variety of cases)

ix.

⧣ People have the right to privacy (Griswold v. Connecticut, 1965)

x.

⧣ A woman has a right to make her own reproductive decisions and to have an abortion in the first trimester of pregnancy (Roe v. Wade, 1973)

xi.

⧣ The president is not above the law (United States v. Richard Nixon, 1974)

xii.

⧣ Corporations can give unlimited funds to political campaigns and causes (Citizens United v. FEC, 2010)...