The Judicial Branch
The 3rd part of the government.
The role of the judicial branch.
Order in the court!!! The role of the Judicical branch is to approve the bills that the president approves. They also determine the juristiction of federal courts. They very rarely hear many trials. Unless its a very big crime that works its way up throught the court system, they trial leaders of war crimes, and impeachment.
The congress and president are voted buy the people, but the Judicial branch is special. The president pick the canidates and the congress votes on the canidates. These judges serve till death, or they retier, or get impeaches by they congress. This makes them not bias or following short political fads, because they have to serve for a lifetime.
The Supreme Court of the United States and the Judicial Process.
The Supreme Court of the United States is the highest court in the land and they are the only judical system or court the US Constitution. There have been as few as 6 judges in the supreme court and a max of 9. And as the last approval before a bill becomes a law is of course that the Supreme Court must make sure that the bill is Constitutional and dose not interfear with the Bill of Rights. To make sure that the bill is constitutional the court gose through what we call the Judicial Process:
- Garuntee that no person will be deprived of life, liberty, or property with out the due process of law.
- Protection against being tried for the same crime twice ("double jeopardy")
- The right to a speedy trial by a unbias jury.
- The right to cross-examine witnesses, and to call witnesses to support their case
- The right to legal representation.
- The right to avoid self-incrimination
- Protection from excessive bail, excessive fines, and cruel and unusual punishments
What exactly dose Article III Section I say?
Guess what? There's 2 types of courts! There is the National court and then the state courts. National which is all the judges that are in the Supreme Court. Then the state courts which are all the courts within a state. The Constitution gives Congress the power to make inferior courts, which mean they can make a court over the supreme court if they needed to. There are 2 types of Inferior courts: 1. Special 2. Constitutional. Special courts do Not exercise broad judicial power- where created by congress to hear the cases based on the Expressed powers given to Congress. Constitutional courts created under Article III to exercise the Judicial Powers of the United States The Constitution made the Supreme Court.
Interesting People: Clarence Thomas
- NAME: Clarence Thomas
- OCCUPATION: Lawyer, Supreme Court Justice
- BIRTH DATE: June 23, 1948 (Age: 65)
- EDUCATION: Immaculate Conception Abbey, Holy Cross College, Yale University
- PLACE OF BIRTH: Pin Point, Georgia
This is the order of power in the Judicial Branch
Article III Section I
The 9 justices
The Different Jurisdictions
- Exclusive Jurisdiction- Cases that can ONLY be heard in Federal Courts
- Cases involving foreign government official
- Trial of person charged with Federal Crime
- Patent/copyright case
- Case involving an act of Congress
2. Concurrent Jurisdiction- Federal and State courts SHARE the power to hear cases
- Disputes involving citizens of different States - federal district court can hear the case ONLY if it involves more than $75,000
3. Original Jurisdiction- Court that is the first to hear the case
- District Courts ONLY have original jurisdiction
- Supreme Court has BOTH original and appellate jurisdiction.
- can uphold, overrule, or modify original court ruling. (Examples are the same as those under original jurisdiction)
- Court of appeals ONLY has appellate jurisdiction
- Supreme Court has BOTH!
Key Terms!!!:
- Concurrent Jurisdiction - jurisdiction that is shared by different courts and that may allow for removal (two states may have concurrent jurisdiction over crimes committed on boundary rivers)
- Original Jurisdiction - the jurisdiction granted a court to try a case in the first instance, make findings of fact, and render a usually appealable decision
- Appellate Jurisdiction - the jurisdiction granted to particular courts to hear appeals of the decisions of lower tribunals and to reverse, affirm, or modify those decisions
- Litigant -person engaged in a lawsuit
- Due Process Clause - a clause in a constitution prohibiting the government from depriving a person of life, liberty, or property without due process of law (5th and 14th amendment)
- Marbury vs. Madison - landmark case where in the U.S. Supreme Court established judicial review as a legitimate power of the Court on constitutional grounds. The Court ruled that it had the power to declare a statute void that it considered repugnant to the Constitution.
- Judicial Review - a constitutional doctrine that gives to a court system the power to annul legislative or executive acts which the judges declare to be unconstitutional
- Grand Jury - A jury of 12 to 23 persons convened in private session to evaluate accusations against persons charged with crime and to determine whether the evidence warrants a bill of indictment.
- Indictment - A written statement charging a party with the commission of a crime or other offense, drawn up by a prosecuting attorney and found and presented by a grand jury.
- Petit Jury - jury that sits at civil and criminal trials (trial jury)
- Judicial Circuit - a district established within a state or the federal judicial system
- Riding the Circuit- traveling within the assigned circuit and consider cases alongside local judges (abolished in 1891)
- Opinion- A formal statement by a court or other adjudicative body of the legal reasons and principles for the conclusions of the court.