Slides

1. PO 379
Spring 2017

4.  Article 3, Section 1:
 “The judicial power of the
United States, shall be
vested in one Supreme
Court, and in such inferior
courts as Congress may
from time to time ordain
and establish.”

5.  Judges keep jobs for “good behavior”
 Establishes jurisdiction of Supreme Court

6.  How many members will be on the
Supreme Court?
 Will there be lower courts?
 What actual powers will the judiciary have?

8. .
U.S.
SUPREME
COURT
APPELLATE
COURTS
DISTRICT
COURTS

9. DISTRICT COURTS
 94 trial courts in federal system
 Original jurisdiction over
Constitutional questions
APPELLATE COURTS
 12 Circuit Courts
 Appellate jurisdiction;
Cases from lower courts

12. Gerald Ford John Paul Stevens

13.  Nominee’s Ideological and Policy Preferences
 Judicial Competence
 Demographic Factors
 Political Environment

14.  Views hot-button issues could tip the Court
(and future decisions) in president’s favor

15.  Nominating someone seen as generally
qualified can quicken confirmation process
George W. Bush nominating
White House Counsel Harriet
Miers for a vacancy on the
Supreme Court.
Miers eventually withdrew
her nomination.

16. Thurgood
Marshall
Sandra Day
O’Connor
Sonia
Sotomayor

17.  What factors should a president consider?
 Approval Rating
 Senate Control
 Legislative Goals

19. ORIGINAL JURISDICTION
 Straight to Supreme Court
 Many types of cases
APPELLATE JURISDICTION
 Heard via appeal from
lower court
 Majority of cases
 Writ of certiorari :
Court agrees to review a
case on appeal
 Stare Decisis
(“let the decision stand”)

20.  Four justices must agree hear a given case
(“Rule of Four”)
 Who else has influence over the Court?
 Solicitor General
 Amicus curiae briefs

22.  Legal Model
 Focus on legal principles
 Judicial Restraint vs. Judicial Activism
 Attitudinal Model
 Focus on policy preferences
 How we do know preferences? (Party of President)
 Strategic Model
 Focus on strategic considerations
 Justices’ decision-making; political environment

24.  Majority Opinion
 Role of Chief Justice in opinion assignment
 Plurality Opinion
 Absence of majority (4-3-2 decision)
 Agree on ruling, but NOT on exact reasoning
 Concurring Opinion
 Agree with ruling; Disagree with reasoning
 Dissenting Opinion
 Disagree with ruling; Disagree with reasoning