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| “We Command.” A court-issued writ commanding a public official to carry out a specific act or duty. |
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| The authority of a court to declare legislative and executive acts unconstitutional and therefore invalid. |
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Landmark decision by the Supreme Court. The state of Maryland had attempted to impede operation of a branch of the Second Bank of the U.S. by imposing a tax on all notes of banks and not charted in Maryland. The court invoked the Necessary and Proper Clause in the Constitution, which allowed the Federal government to pass laws not expressly provided for in the Constitution’s list of express powers as long as those laws are in useful furtherance of the express powers.
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| American statesman and jurist who shaped American constitutional law and made Supreme Court a center of Power. Marshall was Chief Justice of the U.S. from Feb 4, 1801, until his death. He was the Chief Justice for McCulloch v. Maryland case. |
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| Ruled that people of African descent imported into the U.S. and held as slaves, or their descendants—whether or not they were slaves—were not protected by the Constitution and could never be citizens of the U.S. It also held that the U.S. Congress had no authority to prohibit slavery in federal territories. They also ruled that they could not sue in court. Lastly, the Court ruled that slaves—as chattel or private property—could not be taken away from their owners without due process. |
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| Landmark Supreme Court case held a ‘liberty of contract’ was implicit in the due process clause of the 14th amendment. The cause involved a NY law that limited the number o hours to ten that a baker could work each day, and to 60 the hours that baker could work each week. Supreme Court rejected the argument that the law was necessary to protect the health of bakers, deciding it was a labor law attempting to regulate the terms of employment. |
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| Roosevelt’s court packing plan |
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| Legislative initiative to add more justices to the Supreme Court. Although the bill was aimed generally to overhaul the modernize all the federal court system, its most important provision would have granted the President power to appoint an additional Justice to the Supreme Court for every sitting member over the age of 70 ½ up to a maximum of six. |
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| The trial courts of original jurisdiction in the federal judicial system. The ninety-four district courts are the third tier of the federal judicial system, below the Supreme Court and the courts of appeals. |
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| The second tier of courts in the federal judicial system (between Supreme and district courts). One court of appeals serves each of eleven regions or circuits, plus one for the District of Columbia. |
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What did it do for the Court in terms of the docket?
Currently means an order by a higher court directing a lower court, tribunal, or public authority to send the record in a given case for review.
-- The Rule of Four was first adopted by the Supreme Court in 1891, but wasn’t made public in 1924. Although it’s not listed in the official rules for the Supreme Court, it requires four of the nine justices to agree to hear a case, and is taken to be official because it has been in use for so long. |
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| Highest judging body in U.S. |
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| Direction or exercise of authority over subordinate or other organizations in respect to administration and support, including organization of Service forces, control of resources and equipment, personnel management, unit logistics, individual and unit training, readiness, mobilization, demobilization, discipline, and other matters not included in the operational missions of the subordinate or other organizations |
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| A court is the right to hear a case for the first time as opposed to appellate jurisdiction when a court has the right to review a lower court’s decision. |
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| Power of a court to review decisions and change outcomes of decision of lower courts. Most appellate jurisdiction is legislatively created, and may consist of appeals by leave of the appellate court or by right. |
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| “Friend of the Court.” A brief filed in a lawsuit by an individual or group that is not party to the lawsuit but that has an interest in the outcome. |
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The official responsible for representing the U.S. government before the Supreme Court The solicitor general is a ranking member of the U.S. Department of Justice.
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| “Maintain what has been decided and do not alter that which has been established” is the legal principle by which judges are obliged to obey the precedents established by prior decisions. |
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| The written opinion of one or more Supreme Court justices who disagree with the ruling of the Court’s majority. The opinion outlines the rationale for their disagreement. |
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| A written opinion by a Supreme Court justice who agrees with the decision of the Court but disagrees with the rationale for reaching that decision. |
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| Process of interpreting and applying legislation. Some amount of interpretation is always necessary when case involves a statue. |
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| An informal practice in which senators are given veto power over federal judicial appointments in their home states. |
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Is an English phrase frequently used in enacting formulae of bills and in other legal or constitutional contexts, describing a situation in which the executive branch of a government enacts something previously approved of by the legislative branch. |
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| What is judicial review and why is it important? |
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| Judicial review is the authority of a court to declare legislative and executive acts unconstitutional and therefore invalid. Judicial review allows the Judicial Branch to keep the Congress and the Executive Branch in balance. |
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| What are the three eras of the Court? |
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Three eras of the court are: Nation versus State, Regulating the National Economy, and the rise of civil rights and civil liberties.
Nation v. State: First and least active of these issue eras, the judiciary’s most significant cases probed the unresolved jurisdiction boundaries between the national and state government. (Famous court cases: McCulloch v. Maryland; Dred Scott v. Sandford, Marbury v. Madison)
Regulating the National Economy: The major issue during the second era of judicial review, from the end of the Civil War to the 1930s, was the government’s regulation of the economy. (Famous court case: Lochner v. New York)
Rise of Civil Rights and Civil Liberties: the third era of judicial review began in the earnest in the 1940s. During this period Court’s concern was the relationship between the individual and government. |
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| How are the federal courts structured? |
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| U.S. several hundreds of federal courts, but only the Supreme Court is explicitly mentioned in the Constitution. Lower-level courts, designed to handle litigation, exercise the same power of judicial review available to the Supreme Court. In this sense the entire federal judiciary serves as agents of the Supreme Court. |
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| What are the limits of the administrative control that the Supreme Court exerts over the lower courts? |
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| Supreme Court is like a CEO of a major corporation. It would routinely check the lower courts, and lower courts motivated by the knowledge that making wrong choice might result in an unfavorable merit, review, demotion, or even dismissal, subordinates would defer to their principal and seek guidance. Even though Supreme Court is the upper division of the courts, sometimes lower courts do not listen to the Supreme Courts. Supreme can reverse lower-court decisions when it disagrees; even the threat of reversal often deters deviation from Court Doctrine. |
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| What are the important differences between the Supreme Court’s original and appellate jurisdictions? |
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| Original jurisdiction is when there is a dispute between two states, while appellate jurisdiction is federal question cases that are petitioned to Supreme Court through writs of certiorari from the court of appeals. |
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| What do we mean when we say “judicial doctrine”? |
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| Judicial Doctrine is the practice of prescribing a decision a set of rules that are to guide future decision on similar cases. Used by the Supreme Court to guide the lower courts in making decisions. Judicial doctrine consists of two forms: procedural and substantive. Procedural doctrine is principle of law that governs how the lower courts do their work and substantive doctrine is principle that guides judges on which party in a case should prevail—akin to policymaking. |
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| What is the difference between substantive and procedural doctrine? |
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| . Procedural doctrine is principle of law that governs how the lower courts do their work and substantive doctrine is principle that guides judges on which party in a case should prevail—akin to policymaking. |
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| Why is the Court’s absence of judicial enforcement important? |
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| The absence of enforcement authority has allowed Congress and the president at times to ignore Supreme Court ruling. President realize that Congress is more willing to relax control when it knows it can easily reassert its preferences if it disagrees with the bureaucracy’s implementation of a policy. By continuing to honor these statutory provisions, designed to create more flexible principal-agency relations, the elected branches have colluded informally to “overall” the Supreme Court’s verdict on the unconstitutionality of the legislative veto. |
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| How is the Justice Department linked to the Federal Courts? |
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| The federal government, represented primarily by the Department of Justice, is by far the most frequent and most important litigant in the federal court system. The structure of the department parallels that of the federal courts, giving it the power (and efficiency) to press for legal action at all levels of the federal court system. The head of the department, the attorney general of the US, can select cases and choose to file in courts where the Justice Department is most likely to win and create precedent for its legal position on an issue. |
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| How are justices selected for the federal courts? |
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| For Supreme Court, President appoints it and Senate approves. |
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| William Marbury, who had been appointed by President John Adams as Justice of the Peace in the District of Columbia. But whose commission was not subsequently delivered. Marbury petitioned the Supreme Court to force secretary of State James Madison to deliver the document, but the court, with John Marshall as Chief Justice, denied Marbury's petition, holding that the part of the statute upon which he based his claim, the Judiciary Act of 1789, was unconstitutional. Was the first time the Supreme Court declared something "unconstitutional" and established the concept of Judicial Review in U.S. |
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Supreme Court (1)
Court of Appeals (13)
District Court (94) |
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