Judicial Power in the United States

American Constitutional LawJudicial Power

Slide 1

Common Law Legal System

Judicial Power


Slide 2

Article III

The judicial Power of the United States, shall be vested in one Supreme Court, and in such inferior Courts as the Congress may from time to time ordain and establish.


Slide 3

Judges (Justices)

Art. II says President appoints judges with “advice and consent of Senate.”

Art. III says judges are appointed for life

Art. III says salary of federal judges cannot be reduced.

Although funding for the court system can.

Can only be impeached

Members of the U.S. Supreme Court


Slide 4

Qualifications and Size

The Constitution sets forth no specific requirements.

Supreme Court Size – no set number of members in Constitution.

Current law says nine.

Federal Courts – set by Congress


Slide 5

What can Federal Courts Hear?

“The judicial Power shall extend to all Cases, in Law and Equity, arising under this Constitution, the Laws of the United States . . . (and) to Controversies . . . .”

Article III, Section 2

Constitutional Limitations on What the Court Can Hear

nature of the dispute – subject matter jurisdiction

standing – real controversies

no advisory opinion

Mootness and Ripeness


Slide 6

Subject Matter Jurisdiction

Generally, cases in which federal government has an interest (federal question jurisdiction).

Constitution, laws, treaties

Ambassadors, public Ministers and Counsels

Supreme Court has original jurisdiction

admiralty and maritime

where U.S. is party

between 2 or more states

Supreme Court has original jurisdiction


Slide 7

Subject Matter Jurisdiction

Federal Court also has “diversity jurisdiction” where amount at issue is over $75,000.

between citizens of different States

between citizen and foreign states.

NOTE – when subject matter jurisdiction is lacking, there still could be a state claim.


Slide 8

Original Jurisdiction Explained

“In all cases affecting ambassadors, other public ministers and consuls, and those in which a state shall be party, the Supreme Court shall have original jurisdiction. In all the other cases before mentioned, the Supreme Court shall have appellate jurisdiction, both as to law and fact, with such exceptions, and under such regulations as the Congress shall make.”

Article III, Section 2

When the Supreme Court has original jurisdiction, a case begins and ends in the Court!

Is this an exclusive list?


Slide 9

Cases & Controversies

Must be a real and substantial controversy

Several theories, we will only discuss:

Advisory Opinions

Ripeness

Mootness

Standing


Slide 10

From the Beginning: No Advisory Opinions

“The lines of Separation drawn by the Constitution between the three Departments of Government, their being in certain Respects checks on each other, and our being judges of a court in the last Resort, are Considerations which afford strong arguments against the Propriety of our extrajudicially deciding the questions alluded to; especially as the Power given by the Constitution to the President of calling on the Heads of Departments for opinions, seems to have been purposely as well as expressly limited to executive Departments.”

Chief Justice John Jay (1793) in a letter to President Washington rejecting his request for the Court to advise him on the proper interpretation of the Neutrality Treaty which prohibited the U.S. from siding with either France or England.


Slide 11

Advisory Opinions

“real and substantial” controversy = no advisory opinions regarding:

statutory interpretation

constitutionality of proposed legislation

any other matter

What this basically means is, if you want the Court to answer a question, you must have STANDING!

see next slides


Slide 12

Standing

The Standing Question:

“Whether the litigant is entitled to have the court decide the merits of the dispute.”

This is always the first question the court will address whether parties raise the issue or not.

Requirements:

Injury

Injury is traceable to D's conduct

Favorable Court decision will remedy the injury.


Slide 13

Ripeness

Matters that are premature for litigation cannot be heard.

In Poe v. Ulman, a 5-4 Court decided that “a sense of immediacy” was necessary to avoid a ripeness claim.

see background reading for more info on Poe v. Ulman.

Threatened harm must be real and immediate

In Epperson v. Arkansas (1968) the Court created a “double contingency” test:

Court must be unsure whether state will prosecute AND

the plaintiff is someone who would likely be prosectued.


Slide 14

Mootness: Roe v. Wade

Mootness defined:

An actual controversy must exist at all stages of the federal court proceedings.

If events subsequent to filing resolve dispute, then case is moot.

Are there exceptions?

Roe was pregnant and denied an abortion because Texas law prohibited the procedure.

She challenged the law in court.

At the time of the both the first hearing and the appeal she was no longer pregnant. Moot case?


Slide 15

Mootness: The Case of Jose Padilla

Padilla was arrested in Chicago's O'Hear Airport on suspicion of being a terrorist.

We was labeled an “enemy combatant.”

Before his case was heard before Supreme Court, government removed combatant label. Moot case?


Slide 16

Judicial Review

Art. III does NOT expressly provide for judicial review of constitutional questions.

Federal Courts are courts of limited jurisdiction:

Constitution lists subject areas – subject matter jurisdiction.

Federal Courts may hear matters only when there is BOTH constitutional and statutory authorization

The scope of the Court's power to review constitutional question remains contentious even today.


Slide 17

Marbury v. Madison

Chief Justice John Marshall

Is Marbury entitled to his commission?

Does Sec 13 of the Judiciary Act authorize the Court to issue a writ of mandamus?

Is Section 13 constitutional?

If Section 13 is unconstitutional, does the Supreme Court have the power to declare it void?


Slide 18

Impact of Marbury

Holding – section of Judiciary Act giving court original jurisdiction to hear mandamus suits violated Constitution which specifically set forth issues on which Court has original jurisdiction.

Impact – Court answered the question “who has the power to determine constitutionality of federal laws and Executive actions”.

Court said that it (the Court) did!

This case is arguably the most important case in U.S. history.


Slide 19

Questions to Consider

Marbury makes clear that the Court has jurisdiction to consider whether acts by the other FEDERAL branches violate the Constitution. But what about state actions?

Can the Supreme Court review an interpretation of the U.S. Constitution made by a state court?

Can the Supreme Court review a state criminal case if it also implicates rights found in the U.S. Constitution?

Can the Supreme Court review actions by state officers to see if it conflicts with the U.S. Constitution?

Does the Constitution expressly address these questions?


Slide 20

Martin v. Hunter's Lessee

Deceased English Loyalist left land in Virginia to his nephew, a British subject. Under Va. law British subject were prohibited from owning land. Virginia gave land to someone else. Under Federal treaty British subjects were allowed to own land in the U.S.. The Supreme Court declared that Fairfax was so entitled, but the Virginia courts, refused to follow the Supreme Court's decision.

Question - Does the appellate power of the Supreme Court extend to the Virginia courts?

Conclusion – YES pursuant to Supremacy Clause.


Slide 21

Supremacy Clause

“This Constitution, and the laws of the United States which shall be made in pursuance thereof; and all treaties made, or which shall be made, under the authority of the United States, shall be the supreme law of the land; and the judges in every state shall be bound thereby, anything in the Constitution or laws of any State to the contrary notwithstanding.”

Article VI


Slide 22

Cohens v. Virginia

FACTS - D.C. law (act of Congress) provided right to sell lottery tickets. Cohen brothers sold D.C. tickets in Virginia, where it was illegal to do so. They were tried and convicted under Virginia law.

ARGUMENTS:

Cohens claimed that an act of Congress was supreme and gave them right to act.

Virginia claimed U.S. Supreme Court had no right to review this case.

HELD – U.S. Supreme Court has right to review whether federally created rights are violated in state criminal proceedings.


Slide 23

Cooper v. Aaron

Under Brown v. Board of Education, Court ordered states to desegregate their schools. Arkansas officials refused to follow the Court's order claiming that federal courts could not order state officials to act.

HELD - Arkansas officials were bound by federal court orders that rested on the Supreme Court's decisions, which are the supreme law of the land and binding on the states.


Slide 24

To Summarize

Can U.S. Supreme Court review and set aside state court decisions? YES, Martin v. Hunter's Lessee (1816)

Can U.S. Supreme Court review whether U.S. Constitutional rights of Defendant convicted in state were violated? YES, Cohens v. Virginia (1821)

Can the U.S. Supreme review constitutionality of state laws and actions of state officials? YES, Cooper v. Aaron (1958)


Slide 25

Interpreting the Constitution

Which of the following statements best describes the approach to constitutional interpretation that you believe judges should follow?

Judges should try apply the intentions of the framers, as best as they can determine it.

Judges should look at the words of the provision in question and base their decisions as best they can on the plain meaning of the language.

Judges should generally follow precedent as much as possible, looking to the text and intentions of the framers only when the caselaw is unclear.

Judges should interpret the Constitution in such a way as to produce the decisions that provide the greatest benefits to the nation as a whole.

Judges should interpret the Constitution in a way consistent with the approach favored by whatever president appointed them.