Chapter 16

The Judiciary

1. Where in the Constitution does it say that the

Supreme Court has the power of judicial review?
2. What is meant by an Article III federal judge?
3. What is the difference between original and
appellate jurisdiction?
4. Why should federal judges serve for life?
5. Why should federal courts be able to declare
laws unconstitutional?
6. Should federal judges only interpret existing
laws or should they be able to create new laws?

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Learning Objectives

WHO GOVERNS?
1. Why should federal judges serve for life?

TO WHAT ENDS?
1. Why should federal courts be able to declare
laws unconstitutional?
2. Should federal judges only interpret existing
laws or should they be able to create new laws?

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Introduction

 Decline in federal appeals court

nominee confirmations
Lengthier confirmation hearings
Federal judges making more policy
decisions nomination process
becomes longer, more ideological and
more uncertain

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Introduction

U.S. Court of Appeals

Federal Court Nominees, Time

From Hearings to Confirmation

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Judicial Nominations and

Confirmations

 Judicial review: the power of courts to

declare laws unconstitutional
Judicial restraint approach
Activist approach
Two approaches are NOT parallel to liberal
and conservative

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Judicial Review

 Founders View
Did not expect courts to play significant
role in public policy
Courts supposed to apply existing law

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The Development of the

Federal Courts

 National Supremacy and Slavery

Marbury v. Madison
McCulloch v. Maryland
Dred Scott

Government and the Economy

14th Amendment and private property

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The Development of the

Federal Courts

 Government and Political Liberty

FDR and the New Deal
The Warren Court

The Revival of State Sovereignty

Movement to restore states rights since
1992
National Federation of Independent
Business v. Sebelius

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The Development of the

Federal Courts

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Chief
Justices
of the
United
States

10

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Economics and Civil Liberties Laws

Overturned by the U.S. Supreme Court, by
Decade, 19002006

11

 Lower Federal Courts

Constitutional Courts
District courts
Courts of appeals

Legislative Court
Court of Military Appeals & territorial courts

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The Structure of the

Federal Courts

12

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U.S. District and Appellate Courts

13

 Selecting Judges
Party background
Judicial selection surprises
Federal judge characteristics
Senatorial courtesy
The Litmus Test
.

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The Structure of the

Federal Courts

14

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Female Judicial Appointments

19632013

15

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Minority Judicial Appointments

19632013

16

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Senate Confirms Sotomayor

17

Click picture to play video

Taking a closer look:

1. Why is the selection of justices such a
highly political process?
2. Is the current Court an advocate of
political change? Is Justice Sotomayor?
3. How does lower court jurist selection
differ from that of the Supreme Court?

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Senate Confirms Sotomayor

18

 Federal-question cases
Diversity cases
Writ of certiorari

Clarence Earl Gideon studied law

books while in prison so that he could
write an appeal to the Supreme Court.
His handwritten appeal asked that his
conviction be set aside because he had
not been provided with an attorney. His
appeal was granted.

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The Jurisdiction of the

Federal Courts

19

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The Jurisdiction of the Federal

Courts

20

 In forma pauperis
Fee Shifting
Standing
Class Action Suits
Brown

Linda Brown was refused admission

to a white elementary school in
Topeka, Kansas. On her behalf, the
NAACP brought a class-action suit
that resulted in the 1954 landmark
Supreme Court decision Brown v.
Board of Education.

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Getting to Court

21

 Brief
Amicus curiae
Per curiam opinion
Opinion of the court
Concurring opinion
Dissenting opinion

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The Supreme Court in Action

22

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The U.S. Supreme Court Justices in 2010. Front row: Justices

Clarence Thomas and Antonin Scalia, Chief Justice John
Roberts, Justices Anthony Kennedy and Ruth Bader Ginsburg;
second row: Justices Sonia Sotomayor, Stephen Breyer,
Samuel Alito, and Elena Kagan.

23

 The Power to Make Policy

Stare decisis
Political question
Remedy

Views of Judicial Activism

Legislation and the Courts

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The Power of the Federal

Courts

24

 Congress and the Courts

Confirmations
Impeachment
Number of judges
Jurisdiction

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Checks on Judicial Power

25

 Public Opinion and the Courts

Restrains and energizes
Activism coincides with political change
Most changes in Court come from changes
in its personnel (not from Congress)

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Checks on Judicial Power

26

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Public Approval of the Supreme

Courts Performance, 19742011

27