Edwards, Wattenberg, and Lineberry

Government in America: People, Politics, and

Policy
Fourteenth Edition

Chapter 16

The Federal Courts

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The Nature of the Judicial
System
Introduction:
– Two types of cases:
• Criminal Law: The government charges an
individual with violating one or more specific
laws.
• Civil Law: The court resolves a dispute
between two parties and defines the
relationship between them.
– Most cases are tried and resolved in
state, not federal courts.
• Cases of burglary or divorce

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The Nature of the Judicial
System
Participants in the Judicial System
– Litigants
• Plaintiff—the party bringing the charge
• Defendant—the party being charged
• Jury—the people (normally 12) who often decide the
outcome of a case
• Standing to sue: plaintiffs have a serious interest in
the case; have sustained or likely to sustain a direct
injury from the government
• Justiciable disputes: a case must be capable of being
settled as a matter of law.

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The Nature of the Judicial
System
Participants in the Judicial System
– Groups
• Use the courts to try to change policies
• Amicus Curiae briefs used to influence the courts
– “friend of the court” briefs used to raise additional
points of view and information not contained in briefs of
formal parties
– Attorneys
• 800,000 lawyers in United States today
• Legal Services Corporation: lawyers to assist the poor
• Access to quality lawyers is not equal.

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The Structure of the Federal
Judicial System

Copyright © 2009 Pearson Education, Inc. Publishing as Longman.

The Structure of the Federal
Judicial System
District Courts (91 federal courts)
– Original Jurisdiction: courts that hear the case
first and determine the facts - the trial court
– Deals with the following types of cases:
• Federal crimes
• Civil suits under federal law and across state lines
• Supervise bankruptcy and naturalization
• Review some federal agencies
• Admiralty and maritime law cases
• Supervision of naturalization of aliens

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The Structure of the Federal
Judicial System
Courts of Appeal
– Appellate Jurisdiction: reviews the legal
issues in cases brought from lower
courts
– Hold no trials and hear no testimony
– 12 circuit courts
– U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal
Circuit – specialized cases
– Focus on errors of procedure and law

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The Structure of the Federal
Judicial System

Copyright © 2009 Pearson Education, Inc. Publishing as Longman.

The Structure of the Federal
Judicial System
The Supreme Court
– Ensures uniformity in interpreting national
laws, resolves conflicts among states and
maintains national supremacy in law
• 9 justices – 1 Chief Justice, 8 Associate Justices
• Supreme Court decides which cases it will hear—
controls its own agenda
• Some original jurisdiction, but mostly appellate
jurisdiction
• Most cases come from the federal courts
• Most are civil cases

Copyright © 2009 Pearson Education, Inc. Publishing as Longman.

 The Structure of the
Federal Judicial System

Copyright © 2009 Pearson Education, Inc. Publishing as Longman.

The Structure of the Federal
Judicial System

Copyright © 2009 Pearson Education, Inc. Publishing as Longman.

 The Politics of Judicial
Selection
Presidents appoint members of the
federal courts with “advice and
consent” of the Senate.
The Lower Courts
– Appointments handled through Senatorial
Courtesy:
• Unwritten tradition where a judge is not confirmed if a
senator of the president’s party from the state where the
nominee will serve opposes the nomination
• Has the effect of the president approving the Senate’s
choice
– President has more influence on appellate level

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 The Politics of Judicial
Selection
The Supreme Court
– Fewer constraints on president to nominate
persons to Supreme Court
– President relies on attorney general and DOJ to
screen candidates
– 1 out of 5 nominees will not make it
– Presidents with minority party support in the
Senate will have more difficulty.
– Chief Justice can be chosen from a sitting
justice, or as a new member to the Court

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The Politics of Judicial
Selection

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 The Backgrounds of
Judges and Justices
Characteristics:
– Generally white males
– Lawyers with judicial and often political
experience
Other Factors:
– Generally of the same party and
ideology as the appointing president
– Judges and justices may not rule the
way presidents had hoped they would
have.
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The Backgrounds of Judges and
Justices

Copyright © 2009 Pearson Education, Inc. Publishing as Longman.

The Backgrounds of Judges and
Justices

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The Courts as Policymakers
Accepting Cases
– Use the “rule of four” to choose cases
– Issues a writ of certiorari to call up the case
– Supreme Court accepts few cases each year

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The Courts as Policymakers
Accepting Cases (continued)
– The Solicitor General:
• a presidential appointee and third-ranking office in
the Department of Justice
• is in charge of appellate court litigation of the federal
government
• Four key functions:
– Decide whether to appeal cases the government lost
– Review and modify briefs presented in appeals
– Represent the government before the Supreme Court
– Submit a brief on behalf of a litigant in a case in which
the government is not directly involved

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The Courts as Policymakers
Making Decisions
– Oral arguments heard by the justices
– Justices discuss the case
– One justice will write the majority opinion
(statement of legal reasoning behind a judicial
decision) on the case

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The Courts as Policymakers
Making Decisions (continued)
– Dissenting opinions are written by justices
who oppose the majority.
– Concurring opinions are written in support of
the majority but stress a different legal basis.
– Stare decisis: let previous decision stand
unchanged
– Precedent: how similar past cases were
decided
• May be overruled
– Original Intent: the idea that the Constitution
should be viewed according to the original
intent of the framers
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The Courts as Policymakers
Judicial implementation
– How and whether court decisions are
translated into actual policy, thereby
affecting the behavior of others
– Must rely on others to carry out decisions
• Interpreting population: understand the
decision
• Implementing population: the people who need
to carry out the decision–may be disagreement
• Consumer population: the people who are
affected (or could be) by the decision
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The Courts and the Policy
Agenda
A Historical Review
– John Marshall and the Growth of Judicial Review
• Marbury v. Madison (1803) established judicial review
—courts determine constitutionality of acts of
Congress
– The “Nine Old Men”
– The Warren Court
– The Burger Court
– The Rehnquist Court

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Understanding the Courts
The Courts and Democracy
– Courts are not very democratic.
• Not elected
• Difficult to remove judges and justices
– The courts often reflect popular
majorities.
– Groups are likely to use the courts when
other methods fail, which promotes
pluralism.
– There are still conflicting rulings leading
to deadlock and inconsistency.
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Understanding the Courts
What Courts Should Do: The Scope of
Judicial Power
– Judicial restraint: judges should play a minimal
policymaking role
– Judicial activism: judges should make bold
policy decisions and even chart new
constitutional ground
– Political questions: means of the federal courts
to avoid deciding some cases
– Statutory construction: the judicial
interpretation of an act of Congress

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Understanding the Courts

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 Summary
Judicial policymaking and
implementation occur in lower
federal and state courts.
Many important questions are
heard by the courts.
– Much decision making is limited by
precedent.
Even the unelected courts
promote democratic values.
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