I.CHAPTER OUTLINE - of the Federal Courts I.CHAPTER OUTLINE The Jud...

ONE Jurisdiction and Organization of the Federal Courts

I.CHAPTER OUTLINE

The Judicial Power Fifty-Two Judicial Systems Jurisdiction of the District Courts Jurisdiction of the Courts of Appeals Jurisdiction of the Supreme Court Self-imposed Limitations on Judicial Power Supreme Court Decision-Making Access to the Supreme Court The Justices at Work Agenda Setting Briefs on the Merits Oral Argument Conference Opinions and Decisions Source Materials Supreme Court Decisions United States Reports United States Reports, Lawyers’ Edition Supreme Court Reporter United States Law Week Electronic Access The LII and Hermes FindLaw The U. S. Supreme Court Case Record Lower Federal Court Decisions State Court Decisions Miscellaneous Judicial Resources Online

Oyez: The Oyez Supreme Court Multimedia site

The Federal Judicial Center The Federal Judiciary Home Page The Law and Politics Book Review SCOTUS blog Legislative and Administrative Materials General Reference Works American Constitutional Law Introductory Essays and Selected Cases, 17e Alpheus Thomas, Mason Deceased (Instructor Manual All Chapters, 100% Original Verified, A+ Grade) (Lecture Notes Only) 1 / 4

Reading a Supreme Court Decision Litigants and the Facts Question(s) Decision Reasoning of the opinions

II.CHAPTER OVERVIEW AND OBJECTIVES

Chapter One provides an overview of what Article III of the Constitution refers to as “The Judicial Power” and describes the national judicial system in the United States which consists of 52 judicial systems: The courts of the 50 states, the courts of the national government, and the courts of the District of Columbia. The courts of the national government are those that are commonly referred to, somewhat misleadingly, as “federal courts.” The chapter also presents certain rules and procedures guiding the justices in choosing the cases they will decide and sketches the major steps leading to a decision. These steps describe the process by which nearly every case in the casebook was actually decided. Furthermore, as the chapter depicts, the rules governing jurisdiction and standing to sue vest in the justices considerable discretionary power. The justices control their workload by selecting the cases that demand attention at the highest level. In the governing process, the Supreme Court has an important, if circumscribed, role to play. This information and analysis on both organization and process is important in setting the context for the work of the Supreme Court. In this respect, American Constitutional Law is written from the conviction that grasping the context in which the Court functions and the methods by which it decides cases is essential if one is fully to comprehend the place of the third branch in the operation of the American political system.Moreover, the chapter devotes considerable space to a listing of various sources that students of the Court and the judicial process generally will find helpful in delving more deeply into the issues and processes explored in American Constitutional Law. Finally, the chapter concludes with a section on suggestions for reading and comprehending a Supreme Court decision. This section follows the same information presented earlier in this manual. Instructors may choose to refer students to the appropriate pages in the casebook to duplicate the same material from this manual for distribution to class.

III.KEY TERMS

federal courts state courts jurisdiction Article III courts Article I courts original jurisdiction appellate jurisdiction 2 / 4

federal question diversity jurisdiction magistrate judges certiorari appeal direct appeal Ashwander rules case or controversy ripeness advisory opinion standing nonjusticiable political question doctrine judicial activists judicial restraintists briefs rule of four solicitor general amici curiae oral argument conference opinion of the Court plurality opinion dissent concurring opinion law clerks briefing a case petitioner respondent appellant appellee affirming reversing remand cert pool

IV. QUERIES AND SUGGESTED TOPICS FOR LECTURES, CLASS DISCUSSION, AND SELF-

ASSESSMENT

• Should it be a matter of concern that today, as one study has shown, the more

conservative justices are much more likely than were their predecessors to hire clerks who worked for judges appointed by Republicans, and that the more liberal justices are more likely than in the past to hire from judges appointed by Democrats? If so, should Congress intervene in some way? Under separation of powers principles developed in Chapter Three, may Congress intervene with 3 / 4

respect to this matter? Should clerks be hired as a group and then randomly assigned to the justices? Should a nonpartisan committee of former clerks, law professors and lawyers who regularly appear before the court choose clerks and then assign them?

• Review Table 1.1. What do the data suggest about the importance of state and

lower federal courts in helping to shape American constitutional law?

• How can “threshold questions” such as standing be crucial in the outcome of a

constitutional case?

• Between 1800 and the 1940s, nonunanimous Supreme Court decisions were the

exception, not the rule. Rarely did a published dissent appear in as many as 25 percent of the cases, and the dissent rate usually hovered near 10 percent. The pattern in the past 60 years has been sharply different. Nonunanimous decisions are the rule, not the exception. Published dissents routinely appear in at least half the decisions. What factors might account for this change? Is the Court helped or hurt by dissenting opinions?

• Fred Graham, former Supreme Court reporter for the New York Times and CBS

News and a founder of Court TV, once said, “The only groups who don’t appear on television are the Supreme Court and the Mafia.” Although the Court’s argument sessions are open to the public, the justices resolutely refuse to allow oral arguments to be telecast or broadcast at all and only rarely permit even tape- delayed audio transmission of proceedings. Moreover, few justices grant interviews to journalists and, when they do, rarely speak about specific cases.Should oral arguments be telecast in the same way that the House and Senate allow televised coverage of their floor proceedings? Would the Court appear less mysterious to the public if the justices sought publicity like other officials in Washington? Would increased exposure negatively affect the Court?

• Today Supreme Court justices ordinarily hire four law clerks. What are some of

the duties law clerks perform? To what degree are the clerks central to the Court’s work? Are the risks real that, as some critics insist, clerks have too much influence?

• Consider the decision-making steps listed below in light of the theories of

decision-making discussed in Chapter Two. How might the Court’s decision- making procedures enter into the strategic model?

• Senator Patrick Leahy of Vermont, a former chair of the Senate’s Committee on

the Judiciary, once introduced legislation that would allow a retired justice to sit with the Court when one of the nine justices has recused herself or himself from participation in a case. This would reduce the chances of a 4–4 decision. Such 4–4 decisions establish no precedent, merely affirm the decision of the Court below, yet consume as much time and energy from the parties and the justices as one not

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