Jurisdiction
Authority vested in a particular court to hear and decide the issues in a particular case.
Original jurisdiction
The jurisdiction of courts that hear a case first, usually in a trial. These courts determine the facts of a case.
Appellate jurisdiction
The power vested in particular courts to review and/or revise the decision of a lower court.
Judicial branch in the Constitution
+ Only 1 federal court created (the US Supreme Court)
+ Gives power to Congress to create any lower federal courts
Judiciary Act of 1789
+ Established the basic three-tiered structure of the federal court system (district and court of appeals)
+ Designated size of Supreme Court - set it at six, was fixed at 9 in 1869
Precedent
A prior judicial decision that serves as a rule for settling subsequent cases of a similar nature.
Stare Decisis
Subordinate courts must rule the same way that superior courts have ruled/A reliance of past decisions or precedents to formulate decisions in new cases.
Senatorial Courtesy
A process by which presidents generally allow senators from the state in which a judicial vacancy occurs to block a nomination by simply registering their objection
Current Chief Justice
John Roberts
Selection of federal judges
- Investigation of potential nominees by the White House Staff, FBI, and ABA
- Nomination occurs
- Senate Judiciary Committee investigations
- Lobbying by interest groups
- Senate judiciary committee hearings
- Vote in Senate (majority)
Presidential selection critera
Competence/experience, ideology, rewards, pursuit of political support, religion, race, and/or gender.
Writ of certiorari
A request for the Supreme Court to order up the records from a lower court to review the case. Nearly all appellate cases have arrived through a writ of certiorari and they allow the Supreme Court to control their own caseload.
Rule of 4
At least 4 justices of the Supreme Court must vote to consider a case before it can be heard.
Solicitor General
They represent the president’s and United States’ interests to the Supreme Court by handling nearly all appeals on behalf of the U.S. government to the Supreme Court.
What is an amicus curiae brief, and why are they important?
Amicus curiae briefs are briefs filed by “friends of the court” or parties/interest groups invested in a case and they are important because expand the positions of both parties in a case.
