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Pol Sci Notes Ch 10
Introduction to American Politics (Pol 101)
University of Mississippi
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Pol Sci Notes Ch 10
The Judiciary
The American Legal Tradition:
- Common Law Tradition
- Relies on Precedent
● Stare decisis
- Let the decision stand
● Adversarial System
● Litigious
● Types of Law: Criminal V. Civil
- Criminal - illegal, murder, go to jail, defendent vs state / government
- Civil - tort, person vs. person, car wreck
Powers of the Courts:
- Constitution was intentionally vague about the powers of the Court system
- Judicial Review ● Marbury V. Madison (1803)
The Exercise of Judicial Review:
- Components of Judicial Review: ● Federal Courts can declare national, state, and local laws unconstitutional ● National laws or treaties are supreme when conflict with state of local laws ● Supreme Court is the final authority on the meaning of the Constitution
The Dual Court System:
- Congress established the system in the Federal Judiciary Act of 1789
- Dual System ● Federal ● State
Selection of Judges:
- States: Method varies by state ● Appointments ● Elections ● Merit Plan ● Mix of appointments and election
- Federal Constitution:
● When position comes up President appoints, Senate Confirms, lifetime appointment
- Are we doing this the right way?
The Basics:
- 9 Judges - Public Tends to trust the Supreme Court more than the other institutions - Supposed to be above politics - 4 Key Political Methods ● How members are chosen ● How those members chose cases ● How they make decisions ● The effects of those decisions
Membership Selection:
- Merit - Political Ideology: ● Traditional Left-Right Dimension ● Constitutional Ideology
- Strict Constructionism: ● A judicial approach holding that the Constitution should be read literally with the framers’ intentions uppermost in mind
- Judicial Interpretivism: ● A judicial approach holding that the Constitution is a living document and that judges should interpret it according to the changing times and values
Membership Selection:
- Reward
- Representation
- “Confirmability” ● Getting “borked” (named after a crazy person wanting a lifetime term)
Membership:
- Conservatives: ● Alito, Thomas, Gorsuch?, Kavanaugh?, Barrett? ● Roberts
- Liberals: ● Breyer, Kagan, Sotomayor
Choosing the Cases:
Writing Opinions:
Opinion - written decision of the court that states the judgement of the majority
Concurring Opinions - Documents written by judges in the majority expressing agreement with the ruling but describing different or additional reasons
Dissenting Opinions - Documents written by judges in the minority expressing disagreement with the majority ruling
● All 3 types can be used as precedent in future decisions
Pol Sci Notes Ch 10
Course: Introduction to American Politics (Pol 101)
University: University of Mississippi
