judicial branch

1. Judicial Branch
ARTICLE III

3. “That I will execute
the office of President
of the United States
faithfully”
“THAT I WILL
FAITHFULLY EXECUTE
THE OFFICE OF
PRESIDENT OF THE
UNITED STATES”

4. K-W-L Chart
Topic: Judicial Branch
What I Know What I Want to Know What I Learned

5. Today’s Goals
 PURPOSE: To introduce the judicial branch and its evolution of
powers over the years.
 OBJECTIVES:
 Recall facts, terms and concepts related to their prior learning on
the judicial branch.
 Compare and contrast their opinions on the Marbury case with
those of Chief Justice John Marshall.
 Reason and draw conclusions as to the significance of the
Marbury case.

6. Who’s got the power?
 Jurisdiction = the authority to hear certain cases
 Federal Court Jurisdiction:
 Federal laws
 Treaties with foreign nations
 Interpretations of the Constitution
 Bankruptcy
 Admiralty or maritime law
 Cases involving certain people:
 Ambassadors and other representatives of foreign governments
 Two or more state governments
 U.S. government or one of its agencies
 Citizens who are residents of different states
 Citizens of the same state, but with properties out of state

7. 3 Types of Jurisdiction
Concurrent
Both federal and state courts
have jurisdiction.
EX) A dispute concerning
more than $75,000 between
citizens of different states
Original
Given to the court the
originally heard the
case.
EX) District courts and
other lower courts
Appellate
The power of a court to
review decisions and
change outcomes of
decisions of lower
courts.
EX) Courts of Appeals

9. JOURNALING: WRITE AN ANSWER TO THE FOLLOWING QUESTIONS IN PEN: “YOU HAVE
BEEN ELECTED THE NEW MAYOR OF GAHANNA. BEFORE LEAVING OFFICE, THE OLD
MAYOR GAVE JOBS TO SEVERAL OF HIS POLITICAL FRIENDS, BUT THE PAPERWORK
HASN’T MADE IT TO THE PERSONNEL OFFICE YET.
A. SHOULD YOU…
1) honor the jobs promised by the old mayor, or
2) cancel the jobs since they aren’t “officially” in the system yet?
B. WHAT ARE THE POSSIBLE NEGATIVES TO DENYING THESE PEOPLE THEIR JOBS? WHAT
ARE THE POSSIBLE POSITIVES TO ALLOWING THEM TO TAKE THESE JOBS?
C. WOULD IT MAKE A DIFFERENCE IF THE PERSPECTIVE EMPLOYEES HAD WORKED
AGAINST YOU IN THE MAYORAL ELECTIONS?

10. Marbury vs. Madison
 As President Adams’ term was about to expire in 1801,
Congress passed a bill giving him the power to appoint
42 justices of the peace in D.C.
 The Senate quickly confirmed the nominees.
 The Secretary of State had delivered all but four of the
commissions by the time Jefferson assumed office.
 Jefferson stopped the delivery of the remaining
commissions.
 Marbury was one of those who did not receive his
commission.

11. In the order in which the court has viewed this subject, the
following questions have been considered and decided:
1. Has the applicant a right to the commission he demands?
2. If he has a right, and that right has been violated, do the laws
of his country afford him a remedy?
3. If they do afford him a remedy, is it a mandamus issuing from
this court?

13. Chief Justice
Jon Marshall
 Extended the Court’s
power to review state
laws
 Broadened federal
power at the expense of
the states

14. DUE PROCESS (14th Amendment)
“No state may deprive a person of life, liberty, or property
without due process of law.”
 Slaughterhouse Cases = the 14th
Amendment did not increase the rights
of an individual
 Plessy v. Ferguson = “Separate, but
equal”
 Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka
= “Separate facilities are inherently
unequal”

15. K-W-L Chart
Topic: Judicial Branch
What I Know What I Want to Know What I Learned

16. The Supreme Court

17. Today’s Goals: What are we talking about
today?

18. “FDR Packs
the Court”

19. Watcha know about me?
Duties of a Justice
 Hear and rule on cases by deciding on which
cases to hear, deciding the case itself, and
determining an explanation.
 One justice is assigned to each federal circuit
with three handling two each (for a total of 12).
 Occasionally, they take on other duties.

21. Considerations in the Nominating Process
 Party
 Similar political beliefs
 American Bar Association rating
 Interest groups’ opinions
 Justices’ opinions

22. Quick Review: Political Spectrum

23. Washington Prepares for a Fight Over Any Nominee
1. What has President Obama said he will be looking for in a new Supreme Court justice? Do you
agree that these are the right qualities to seek out in a justice? Why or why not?
2. Why do you think there is pressure for President Obama to nominate a woman to the bench?
3. Why do you think Wendy Long said that “there could not be a better issue to latch on to for a
Republican renaissance to start building on — drawing some distinctions on issues”? Do you agree?
Why or why not?
4. What is potentially at stake in finding a suitable replacement for Justice Souter?
5. How do you think Republican Party leaders should approach this nomination? What about
Democratic Party leaders?

24. Sonia Sotomayor
• First Hispanic on the U.S. Supreme
Court
• 3rd female justice in U.S. Supreme
Court history
• Attended Princeton and Yale
• Roman Catholic
• Married
• She shops at Costco
• She rescheduled on the VP
• She was born the same year as
Brown vs. Board of Education (1954)

25. Clarence
Thomas
Sonia
Sotomayor
Antonin
Scalia
Chief Justice
John Roberts
Anthony
Kennedy
Ruth Bader
Ginsburg
Elena
Kagan
Stephen
Bryer
Samuel
Alito Jr.

26. Female vs. Male Judges?

27. HOMEWORK
 Write a letter to either Senator Brown or Portman or President Obama
detailing yours views on how to approach the nomination and approval
process. Letters should answer the following questions:
a. Who are you and why are you writing?
b. What is at stake in the nomination and approval process? (You can
write about constitutional issues, hot button political issues that will likely
be addressed by the court in the upcoming years, and/or issues facing
political parties that could be addressed in the debate over the
nominee).
c. What is your advice to your subject about how to navigate the
nomination and approval process to secure the best outcome for his or
her political party and the American people as a whole?

32. The Supreme Court at Work

34. Selective Service: Who must Register?
Almost all male U.S. citizens, and male immigrants living in the U.S., who are 18
through 25, are required to register with Selective Service. to be in full compliance
with the law, a man turning 18 is required to register during the period of time
beginning 30 days before, until 30 days after his 18th birthday...a 60-day window.
NON-CITIZENS: undocumented immigrants, legal permanent residents, and
refugees. The general rule is that if a male non-citizen takes up residency in the
U.S. before his 26th birthday, he must register with Selective Service.
SEX GENDER CHANGE / TRANSEXUAL: Individuals who are born female and have a
sex change are not required to register. U.S. citizens or immigrants who are born
male and have a sex change are still required to register.

35. What Happens If You Do Not Register?
STUDENT FINANCIAL AID: Men, born after December 31, 1959, who aren't registered with Selective
Service won't qualify for Federal student loans or grant programs. This includes Federal Pell Grants, Federal
Supplemental Educational Opportunity Grants (FSEOG), Direct Stafford Loans/Plus Loans, National Direct Student Loans,
and College Work Study.
CITIZENSHIP The U.S: Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) makes registration with Selective Service a
condition for U.S. citizenship if the man first arrived in the U.S. before his 26th birthday.
FEDERAL JOB TRAINING: The Workforce Investment Act (WIA) offers programs that can train young men
seeking vocational employment or enhancing their career. This program is only open to those men who register with
Selective Service. Only men born after December 31, 1959, are required to show proof of registration.
FEDERAL JOBS: A man must be registered to be eligible for jobs in the Executive Branch of the Federal
government and the U.S. Postal Service. Proof of registration is required only for men born after December 31,
1959.Some states have added additional penalties for those who fail to register.

36. Conscription (The Draft) in the United States.

37. Step 1: Events lead to legislation

38. Vietnam War: Facts
 Cost: $200 B
 58,220 Americans sacrificed their lives
(1.3 M total + 1 M civilians)
 Average age of men killed: 23.1 years.
 Of those killed, 61% were younger than 21
 1961-1975 (long war in America’s history)
 Unpopular (on par with Iraq War)

39. Step 2: The Lottery

40. Step 3: All Parts of Selective
Service are Activated.

41. Step 4: Physical and Mental Evaluations.

42. Step 5: Appeals and Induction Notices Sent Out

43. Step 6: Inductees are Delivered to the Military.

44. Who is excluded from this process?

45. Today’s Goals
 PURPOSE: To understand how a court case reaches the Supreme Court and
subsequently how the Court reaches its decision.
 OBJECTIVES:
Identify both the steps a case must take in order to reach the Supreme
Court and the steps Supreme Court justices take to reach a decision.
Convert information gathered from online sources to comic form in studying
Tinker v. Des Moines Independent Community School District.
Make connections across time and space (Tinker to Ferguson) to explain
how the Supreme Court functions as the primary interpreter of the
Constitution.

46. Tinker v. Des Moines School District
 Three students wore black armbands
protesting the Vietnam War
 School officials had announced beforehand
that these were not permitted
 Students were suspended
 Father filed complaint
 SC ruled in their favor (1st Amendment)

47. How Cases Reach the Supreme Court
1. Writ of Certiorari
 An order from the SC to a lower court
to send up the records of a case for
review.
 The party seeking review petitions the
SC for certiorari and must argue that
the lower case made an error or a
constitutional issue is at stake.
2. On Appeal
 The decision of a lower federal court
or state court has been requested to
be reviewed.

48. Solicitor General
 Appointed by the President (link between
executive and judicial branch)
 Represents the federal government before the SC
 Plays a key role in setting the Court’s agenda
Donald B. Verrilli
Sworn in June 9, 2011

49. Selecting Cases
 Justices or their clerks identify cases
worthy of serious consideration and the
chief justice puts them on a “discuss
list”
 At the Court’s Friday conferences, the
Chief Justice reviews the list with the
other justices—”Rule of Four”
 Once accepted, the justices decide to
either ask for more info or decide the
case quickly via a per curiam opinion

50. Steps in Deciding Major Cases
1. Submitting briefs
• Brief = written statement setting forth legal arguments, relevant facts, and precedents
• Amicus Curiae = “friend of the court”; briefs from individuals, interest groups, or government
agencies claiming to have useful info
2. Oral arguments
3. Conference
4. Writing the Opinion
• Unanimous (1/3)
• Majority opinion = expresses the views of the majority of the justices (assigned by Chief)
• Concurring opinion = agrees with the majority decision, but do so for different reasons
• Dissenting opinion = opinion of the justices on the losing side

51. ACTIVITY
Year of Case The Facts
(who, what, when, where, why,
and how)
The Issue
(the question the Court is asked
to answer)
Petitioner's Arguments
(petitioner—the person who
challenges the law)
Respondent's Arguments
(respondent—the person(s) that
want(s) to defend the law and
keep it as it is)
Decision and Reasons
Name of Case _________________________________________

54. Where was the 1st Amendment?
Ferguson vs. Tinker

55. Where are we headed?
Shaping Public Policy

56. Shaping Public Policy

57. Today’s Goals
 PURPOSE: To understand that although the Supreme Court is a legal institution it is a
political institution as well in that it often determines national policy as a result of its
decisions.
 OBJECTIVES:
Recall prior knowledge and learning on the 6 principles of the Constitution and the
powers reserved for the federal and state governments.
Compare and contrast the powers reserved for the state and national governments and
why the founder supported the principle of federalism.
Propose and recognize solutions regarding the legal issue of abortion.

58. Tools for Shaping Public Policy
#1: Judicial Review = SC power to examine the
laws and actions of local, state, and national
governments and cancel them if they violates
the Constitution.
 May also review presidential policies
 Used most frequently at state and local
levels

59. Tools for Shaping Public Policy
#2: Interpretation of Laws
 General language made specific
EX) Americans with Disabilities Act of
1990

60. Tools for Shaping Public Policy
#3: Overturning Earlier Decisions
 Stare Decisis = “let the decision stand”
Precedent = a model to base other
decisions in similar cases
 Flexibility

61. Limits on the Supreme Court
#1: Limits on Types of Issues – civil liberties, economic issues, federal legislation and
regulations, due process of law, and suits against government officials.
#2: Limits on Types of Cases
• Decision must make a difference
• Plaintiff must have suffered real harm
• Must involve a substantial federal question
• Must not involve a political issue

62. Limits on the Supreme Court
#3: Limited Control over Agenda
#4: Lack of Enforcement Power
#5: Checks & Balances

63. LAW BINGO
Marbury v.
Madison(1803)
Legislature Judiciary
System of balancing
power between the
states and the
national government
Former Chief Justice
of the Supreme Court
Power of the judicial
branch to declare
laws "unconstitutional"
Current Chief Justice
of the Supreme Court
President Roe v. Wade (1973

64. Activity: Who Should Decide What?

66. Roe vs. Wade
 1971 - The case is filed by Norma McCorvey, known in court documents as Jane ROE
against Henry WADE, the district attorney of Dallas County from 1951 to 1987, who
enforced a Texas law that prohibited abortion, except to save a woman's life.
 The Case:
The Constitutional Question: Does the Constitution embrace the right of a woman to obtain
an abortion, nullifying the Texas prohibition?
The ruling allows for legal abortions during the entire pregnancy, but set up conditions to
allow states to regulate abortion during the second and third trimesters.
 The Decision:
The Court held that a woman's right to an abortion fell within the right to privacy
(recognized in Griswold v. Connecticut) protected by the Fourteenth Amendment. The
decision gave a woman a right to abortion during the entirety of the pregnancy and
defined different levels of state interest for regulating abortion in the second and third
trimesters.

67. Activity: Write Chat
 No talking, only writing!
 Travel to 3 different stations.
 5 mins at each station.
 Respond to the prompt and each other’s responses.
 Recognize and propose solutions to handling the
legality of abortion.

68. The Impact of Roe v. Wade Today

69. Influencing Supreme
Court Decisions

70. Google Search: “Influencing the Supreme Court”

72. Today’s Goals
 PURPOSE: To explore the five forces that shape the decisions of the Court (i.e. existing
laws, personal views of the justices, interaction among the justices, social forces and
public attitudes, and Congress and the president).
 OBJECTIVES:
 Identify the 5 influences that shape the decisions of the Court.
 Classify the 5 influences according to whether they fall inside or outside the Court.
 Reason and draw conclusions surrounding the true democratic nature of the
Court and the extent to which it considers the American public in the decision
making process.

73. Influences on the Court
#1 Basing Decisions on the Law
• Principles of Law > Personal Opinions
• Meaning not always clear
• Logical interpretation

74. Influences on the Court
#2 Views of the Justices
• Active interests in important issues
• Voting blocs
• Swing vote
Justice William O. Douglas

75. Influences on the Court
#3 Relations Among Justices
• Independent
• Harmony > Conflict
• Influence of the Chief Justice
Chief Justice John Roberts

76. Influences on the Court
#4 Society
• Concern for public support in order to
enforce its decisions
• Influence of social forces

77. Influences on the Court
President
 Appointment power
 Enforcing court decisions
Congress
 Limited appellate jurisdiction
 Reenact a law in a different form
 Constitution amendment
overturning a decision
(unsuccessful)
 Salaries
 Sets the # of justices
 Confirmation power
#5 President and Congress

79. Activity: Thinglink Quest/Opinion Piece

80. Closer: 3-2-1
3 List three influences on the Supreme Court.
2 Explain two reasons why the Supreme Court might
be considered undemocratic.
1 Pose one solution to making the Supreme Court
more democratic

81. Homework
Create two test questions for our review
game of Bluff. Remember the idea is to stump
the other team, so focus on concepts/ideas
that you think need the most review. Write
your questions (and the answers!) on a
notecard with your name.

82. Judicial Branch Review

83. Today’s Goals
PURPOSE: To review prior learning on the judicial branch and prep for
the unit assessment.
OBJECTIVES:
• Recall facts and terms surrounding the powers, roles, and
structure of the judicial branch.
• Compare and contrast the powers, roles, and structure of the
judicial branch with the other branches.
• Convert information on the judicial branch to test
questions/answers.

84. CSPAN’s Supreme Court Week Documentary

85. Essential Questions
1. How are the powers of the judicial branch unique among the three branches of
government?
2. How does the principle of federalism work in the judicial branch?
3. How have court decisions defined the Constitution and the civil liberties of
American citizens?
4. How does the Supreme Court exercise judicial review to check the powers of the legislative
and executive branches?
5. What are the constitutional guidelines for the judicial branch and how is the federal court
system structured?
6. In what ways do the ideas of judicial restraint and activism reflect different ideals of our
society?

86. Activity: Bluff Review Game
 2 teams
 Ms. V takes turns giving each group a question. When Ms. V gives a question to group A,
all the students who think they know the answer stand up.
 Then, the students in group B get to decide which of the students in group A should
answer the question.
 If the selected student can answer the question, that group gets as many points as the
number of people who stood up, but if the student cannot answer the question, then
group B gets to answer (any student in that group can answer) and group B will get the
same number of points.
 The fun part of this game is that you can try and bluff the other team into thinking that
they know the answer so they can push their points up!

87. Test Format

88. Closure – Motivation to study!