1. The Judicial Branch
AP Government

2. Learning Goals
 Explain the structure of the federal court system.
 Evaluate factors important in appointing judicial nominees.
 Compare and contrast arguments in favor and against judicial
activism.
 Describe the process of reaching a decision in the U.S. Supreme
Court.
 Assess the influences on U.S. Supreme Court decision making.
 Compare and contrast the limits on judicial action.
 Assess the role of the judiciary in a constitutional democracy.

3. Federal Court Structure

4. Structure Cont.…
 Set up by the Constitution
 All Federal Judges serve for life & are nominated by the
President & confirmed by the Senate (they can be impeached)
 Each of these courts have jurisdiction (the right to hear a case)
 State courts also have jurisdiction, but state cases can enter the
Federal system through state supreme courts
 The case HAS to include a federal law or a US Constitutional
issue (these are justiciable disputes)
 Can hear civil or criminal cases
 Criminal (punishment can be prison; attorney appointed; right to jury)
 Civil (lawsuit; punishment is usually $$$; no attorney or jury rights)

6. District Courts & Appeals Courts
 District Courts:
 94 total; 678 judges
 hear trials and decide
cases (original
jurisdiction)
 Appeals Courts:
 12 (one in DC)
 Three judge panels
(appellate jurisdiction)
 Can only review cases
decided by District
Courts

7. Jurisdiction (a court’s right or authority
to hear a case)
 Original (trial court): Federal—US laws, the Constitution, 2
or more state governments, US government, citizens of
different states or citizen and a different
state, ambassadors or foreign officials
 Concurrent (choice of courts): both Federal & state
governments have jurisdiction
 Appellate (hears an appeal): includes Supreme Court

8. The Supreme Court
 Original jurisdiction: certain cases
in which a state is a party; cases
involving reps. of foreign
governments
 Appellate jurisdiction: almost all
cases
 They set precedents that lower
courts must follow
 Steps:
1. Grant certiorari/case on docket
2. Briefs accepted from both sides
3. Oral arguments (Solicitor General
represents the USA—Donald
Verrilli)
4. Judges conference
5. Decision issued/opinion read

9. Who Are The Judges
(appointed by
President, approved by
Senate)?

10. First, what factors are considered when
nominating someone to a judgeship?
 No qualifications are required by the Constitution
 Presidents almost always appoint ideological allies.
Why?
 Lower Court judges—Senators from those states
recommend names to the President
 The President submits names back to the Senators
(senatorial courtesy)
 Like everything in DC, this has become VERY
politicized (Presidents are relying on recess
appointments)
 Senate hearing usually held (Judiciary
Committee)—sometimes use a litmus test
 Recent failure: Robert Bork (1987)
 Race and Gender are factors too
 Ideology is key: judicial activism v. judicial restraint

11. Reagan Appointees
Antonin Scalia (C) Anthony Kennedy (M)

12. H.W. Bush Appointee
Clarence Thomas (C)

13. Clinton Appointees
Ruth Bader Ginsburg (L) Stephen Breyer (L)

14. W. Bush Appointees
Chief Justice John Roberts
(C)
Samuel Alito (C)

15. Obama Appointees
Justice Sonya Sotomayer
(L)
Justice Elena Kagan (L)

16. Oral Argument
Planned Parenthood v. Ayotte

17. Decision
 Most important ever: Marbury v. Madison

18. Major
Supreme
Court
Cases
Or, who do these judges think they are interpreting the constitution?
SHS Social
Studies

19. Marbury vs. Madison
Judicial Review is established.
SHS Social
Studies

20. After the 1800 election, Adams
appoints new judges…
John Adams (Federalist) signs
appointments on his last night in
office.
Thomas Jefferson (Democratic
Republican) is to take over as
President.
What political party do you think the
judges Adams appointed belonged
to? Why did he did this?

21. “midnight judges”- what these
new judges were referred to.
William Marbury was one of
these “midnight judges.”

22. Why is Madison involved?
James Madison, TJs new Secretary of State,
was supposed to officially present Marbury
with his new position…But he didn’t!
So… Marbury sued and appealed to the
Supreme Court to get Madison to award
him the position…

23. The Verdict.
Supreme Court refuses to grant Marbury
his position!!
Why?
A section of the Judiciary Act of 1789
(which set up the federal court system in
the first place) was unconstitutional and
void.

24. Lasting Impact
This is the first time the Supreme Court
overturns an act of Congress.
Checks & balances in action!
Judicial Review- Supreme Court’s
ability to declare a law or act
unconstitutional

25. McCulloch v. Maryland
More major
cases…
A Federalism case.

26. Federalism and the Issue
 Federalism: Coexistence of Federal, state, and local POWERS
 Second Bank of the United States created
 Maryland tried to impede operation of the BUS
 imposed a tax on all notes of banks not chartered in Maryland
 BUS was the only out-of-state bank in Maryland

27. Fundamental Issues
 Does the Constitution grants Congress implied powers for
implementing the Constitution's express powers?
 Can a state’s action impede valid constitutional exercises of power
by the Federal government?

28. The Verdict
 On the first question, Marshall argued that the necessary and proper
clause of the Constitution implied that Congress could charter a
national bank
 Congress was exercising of its explicit power to regulate interstate
commerce and coin and regulate money.
 On the second question, Marshall wrote that "the power to tax is the
power to destroy”
 Allowing the state to tax the national bank violated the supremacy
clause (Article VI) of the Constitution.
 The Bank therefore is legal

29. U. S. Constitution
 Article I: “The Congress shall have power . . . to regulate commerce with
foreign nations, and among the several states, and with the Indian tribes.”
 Article VI: “This Constitution, and the laws of the United States which shall
be made in pursuance thereof . . . shall be the supreme law of the land.”

30. Gibbons v. Ogden
Steamboat ferries impacted the constitution? Really?
The commerce clause…

31. Ogden’s Steamboat Monopoly
Under a New York law adopted in 1798,
Robert Livingston obtained a monopoly, or
exclusive right, for steamboat navigation
within the state of New York.
Any boats that competed with this
monopoly would be forfeited by the owner.

32. More facts…
In 1815, after the deaths of Livingston and
Fulton, Aaron Ogden obtained a right under
the monopoly and began to run a
steamboat between New Jersey and New
York City.
In 1818 Thomas Gibbons, one of Ogden’s
former partners, began a competing
operation between Elizabethtown, New
Jersey, and New York City.
Ogden sued Gibbons for violation of his
monopoly and in 1820 New York's highest
court found in Ogden’s favor.

33. In the US Supreme Court
 The Supreme Court unanimously concluded that the New York law
granting the monopoly was invalid. Chief Justice John Marshall
wrote the Court’s opinion.
 Marshall: “Commerce, undoubtedly, is traffic, but it is something
more…” Marshall concluded that commerce included all
navigation that is “in any manner connected with commerce.”

34. Intra- versus Inter-State Commerce
 Marshall stated that the power of Congress to regulate
commerce did not include commerce that was
“completely internal” and that did not “extend to or
affect other States.” The states had the power to
regulate such completely internal commerce.
However, the issue before the Court concerned
commerce between two states and therefore involved
federal authority over commerce.

35. Plessy v. Ferguson & Brown v.
Board of Education
Quick review—I know that you know these cases
14th Amendment
Landmark Cases

36. Miranda v. Arizona
How much power can the police exercise on a suspect?
Warren Court
decision

37. Background
Ernesto Miranda
Arrested for
kidnapping and
rape
Poor, uneducated,
English may not
have been his
native language
Intensively
questioned for 2 to
3 hours

38. The Interrogation
Miranda was not told
that he had a right to
remain silent.
He was not told that he
had a right to an
attorney.
After about 3
hours, police obtained a
signed, written
confession.

39. What
Amendments
Apply?
5th: Self-
Incrimination
6th: Right to an
attorney
14th: Equal
protection of the
laws

40. Ruling
 Miranda should have been told of these rights
 Therefore, police must explain these to anyone who is a
suspect or arrested (once a suspect is in custody)
 Police must ask “Do you understand these rights?”
 A suspect can decide at any time to exercise these
rights
 Or, they can voluntarily waive them

41. Exclusionary Rule
 Illegally obtained evidence cannot be used to convict a person of a crime.
 Statements made by any suspects was not informed of his/her Miranda
rights may be excluded from trial.
 Statements made by any suspects who did not understand his/her Miranda
Warning may be excluded from trial.

42. US v. Nixon
Executive
privilege

43. First…Nixon and Watergate
He was a bad, bad boy.

44. Origins: Pentagon Papers
 Daniel Ellsberg, an employee of the
Defense Department , leaked a
classified assessment (negative) of the
Vietnam War in 1971 (Pentagon Papers)
 Senior government officials had serious
misgivings about the war.
 New York Times and Washington Post
began to publish the Pentagon
Papers, the Nixon Administration sued
(prior restraint)
 Supreme Court ruled the papers could
continue to publish the documents

45. White House Plumbers
 After the release of the Pentagon
Papers, the White House created
a unit to ensure internal security
(stop leaks)
 1971: burglarized the office of
Daniel Ellsberg’s
psychiatrist, seeking material to
discredit him.
 Nixon’s domestic advisor John
Ehrlichman knew of and
approved the plan
Howard Hunt G. Gordon Liddy
James McCord Chuck
Colson

46. The Watergate Break-in
 1972: Plumbers turned their activities
to political espionage (re-elect
Nixon)
 June 17, 1972, 5 men were arrested
while attempting to bug the
headquarters of the Democratic
Party inside the Watergate building
in Washington D.C.
 One of the men arrested, James
McCord, was the head of security
for the Republican Party.

47. The Election of 1972

48. Investigations
 Original investigation: White
House. Guess what they
concluded?
 Watergate came to be
investigated by a Special
Prosecutor, a Senate
committee, and by the judge in
the original break-in case
 John Dean: testified about a
cover-up
 Alexander Butterfield: taping
system in the Oval Office
 Saturday Night Massacre

49. The Tapes Sirica: tapes are
evidence; Nixon:
Executive Privilege
US v. Nixon: Supreme
Court ruled tapes
must ne turned over
Reasoning: the
separation of
powers, nor the
generalized need for
confidentiality of
high-level
communications, ca
n sustain an
absolute, unqualified,
presidential privilege

50. The Tapes  Tapes showed the cover-up:
 authorizing the payment of
hush money
 attempting to use the CIA to
interfere with the FBI
investigation.
 18 ½ minute gap
 Nixon’s secretary Rosemary
Woods “accidently” stepped
on the mute button
 Audio experts: it was erased
at least 5 times
 After “The smoking gun
tapes,” were released in
August 1974, the House
Judiciary Committee
approved Articles of
Impeachment against Nixon
 Nixon resigns later that month