The Judicial Branch

Judicial Branch

The judical branch consists of three primary levels which are:

1. 94 District Courts

2.12 Courts of Appeal

3. Supreme Court

Judges that serve within this system are known as federal judges.

federal judges are nominated by the president and confirmed

by congress. However it is common practice to yield to a

senators request or denial of a federal judge serving in a court

in their state. this is known as senatorial courtesy. Perhaps one of

the more difficult nomonation processes would be the supreme court.

Since 1789 only 124 supreme court justices have been confirmed and

served. When nominating a judge for the federal court system but more

specifically the supreme court the president must take into account the

judges party affiiation, past rulings, criminal record and legal record in order

to select a canidate that is best suited for the job. Appointing a supreme court justice is considered the presidents longest lasting legacy; this is of course because they serve a lifetime and if the judge they appoint shares certain political views as them they will be able to carry out the presidents wishes

even after he has left office. there is almost no regulations or requirements on this position and as long as the judge is confirmed they are able to serve.

District and Appeals Courts

There are 94 district courts throughout the fifty states. these courts deal with both civil and criminal law. some examples of cases that district courts deal with are:

Bankruptcy
lawsuits across states
criminal cases involving more than one state

District courts are essentially the only federal trial courts so the cases they recieve are diverse.

The courts of appeals deal with cases whose decision was appealed by one of the parties and so it is sent on to a panel of judges.These judges then decide wether or not the lower courts ruling was right or not. however they ussually rule stare decisis which means the lower courts ruling stands.

Supreme Court

The supreme court consists of nine justices who have all went through the long and rigourous confirmation process. the justices all serve for as long as they want and all have a vote in some of the most contreversial cases of our nations history. In order to take a case on the supreme court must vote but the strange thing that they do is that only four of the nine justices need to vote to take a case on. In other words the minority rules. However this is not true when deciding on a case, then majority rules. The nine justices on the supreme court from left to right starting on bottom go as follows; Clarence thomas, Antonin Scalia Chief Justice John Roberts, Anthony Kennedy, Ruth Mader Ginsburg, Sonia Sotomayer, Stephen Breyer and next with perhaps the coolest name of the bunch is Samuel Alito and the last justice on the top right is Elena Kagan.

Supreme Court Cases

Tinker V Des Moine

Students wore black arm bands to protest the vietnam war and were reprimanded because of said action. The courts ruled that students shoulndn't expect to shed their constitutional rights when they enter into schools and the armbands were allowed

Plessy V Ferguson

Ruled that the segragation of public schools was seperate but equal.

Brown V Board of Education

Overturned Plessy V Ferguson and ruled that segregated schools were seperate but unequal.

Gideon V Wainwright

Gideon a very poor man was found guilty of petty larceny because he could not afford an attorney and the state refused to appoint one. the court ruled that he should get an attorney therefore setting the precedent that in every criminal trial you have the right to be represented by a lawyer even if the state has to appoint one.

Miranda V Arizona

Miranda raped a mentally ill girl and confessed to the police. However he claimed he didn't know that he had the right to not self incriminate himself. the court ruled that he must be found not guilty of the crime and he was let free. this is why police now have to read you your rights. However miranda had what was coming because a few months after the case he got "mysteriously" stabbed to death in a barfight that had no witnesses.

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