POL 106 Chapter Notes - Chapter 7-11: Appellate Jurisdiction, Political Philosophy, Sonia Sotomayor
30 Jun 2018
School
Department
Course
Professor
●Judicial branch
○Judicial politics
■The constitution establishes the federal courts in Article III
●Judges are to be appointed for life
●Judges’ salaries cannot be reduced during their time in office
●Federal judicial power extends to any case under the Constitution
○Federal laws (a)
○Treaties (b)
○Cases that involve government officials from any nation or
state
■Judicial power is in the court’s ability to decide cases and controversies
●In doing so, the court determines what the Constitution and laws
really mean
●Judicial review powers of the Supreme court
○Authority to declare acts of Congress, and by implication
acts of the president, unconstitutional if they exceed the
power granted by the Constitution
○The court became the arbiter of the Constitution (final
authority on what the document meant)
■Gives the SC a significant role in government
■Other powers
●1) courts make policy by interpreting “statutory laws” - laws of
congress
○a) congress has habit of making laws vague
■This gives power to the courts, allows court to
define
○b) congress may deliberately make vague laws, forcing
nonpolitical judges to make controversial decisions
●2) policy issues are regularly dealt with by the SC, particularly
concerning such civil and social concerns as
○Civil rights and treatment of women and minorities
○Right of criminals
○Freedoms of speech, press, religion
○Determining the nature of American federalism
○Structure and jurisdiction of federal courts
■There are 3 levels of courts in the federal system
●1) the SC
●2) the court of appeals
●3) district courts
■Court jurisdictions identify the power of a court to hear a case
●1) original jurisdiction means the court hears the case when it is
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Document Summary
The constitution establishes the federal courts in article iii. Judges are to be appointed for life. Judges" salaries cannot be reduced during their time in office. Federal judicial power extends to any case under the constitution. Cases that involve government officials from any nation or state. Judicial power is in the court"s ability to decide cases and controversies. In doing so, the court determines what the constitution and laws really mean. Judicial review powers of the supreme court. Authority to declare acts of congress, and by implication acts of the president, unconstitutional if they exceed the power granted by the constitution. The court became the arbiter of the constitution (final authority on what the document meant) Gives the sc a significant role in government. 1) courts make policy by interpreting statutory laws - laws of congress. A) congress has habit of making laws vague. This gives power to the courts, allows court to define.
