The U.S. Judiciary
  1. COURTS AND THE LAW
    1. St. Thomas Aquinas and categories of law
      1. eternal law
      2. divine law
      3. natural law
      4. human law (i.e., "positive law")
    2. Sources of American Law
      1. U.S. Constitution
      2. Statute and Treaty
      3. Executive Orders/Executive Agreements/Federal Regulations
      4. Case Law/Common Law/Equity
        1. stare decisis
    3. Subjects and Objects of Law
      1. Civil Law
        1. Subjects of civil law are private persons
          1. Plaintiff (Standing to Sue) v.
          2. Defendant
        2. Objects of civil law include:
          1. Torts
          2. Contracts
          3. Probate
          4. Family Matters
          5. Juveniles
        3. Civil judgments may involve
          1. money judgments
            • actual damages
            • punitive damages
            • nominal damages
          2. Orders to do something (mandamus) or not do something (injunction)
      2. Criminal Law
        1. Subjects of criminal law are:
          1. State (prosecutorial discretion) v.
          2. Defendant
        2. Objects of criminal law are:
          1. Infractions
          2. Misdemeanors
          3. Felonies
      3. Jurisdiction
        1. Original
        2. Appellate
    4. Structure of U.S. Federal Courts
      1. Original Jurisdiction
        1. U.S. District Courts
      2. Appellate Jurisdiction
        1. U.S. Court of Appeals (Circuit Court)
      3. U.S. Supreme Court
        1. Nine justices, Hon. John Roberts, Chief Justice
        2. Original and appellate jurisdiction
        3. Opinions: Majority, Concurring, Dissenting

  2. JUDICIAL POLITICS
    1. Checks and Balances (enforcement powers)
      1. Public Opinion and the Courts
      2. Consensus and the death penalty (Roper v. Simmons, 2005)
    2. The selection of federal judges is political
      1. U.S. Circuit Courts
      2. Texas judicial elections
      3. 2004 L.A. County Ballot
      4. "Chamber of Commerce Gets Behind Judicial Campaigns," NPR

        Partisanship of Presidential Court Appointees

        		Johnson Nixon Ford Carter Reagan Bush Clinton
        Percent Democrat 94 7 21 93 5 4 89
        Percent Republican 6 93 79 4 93 94 5

      Source: Christine Barbour and Gerald C. Wright, Keeping the Republic: Power and Citizenship in American Politics, Brief Edition, Table 9.1, p. 260. Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 2002.

    3. Control of judicial agenda is political
      1. writ of certiorari
    4. Access to court is class biased
    5. History of court demonstrates deep involvement in political controversies
      1. John Marshall (Federalist, 1801-35)
      2. Roger Taney (Democrat, 1836-64)
      3. Reconstruction, Jim Crow, Depression
      4. Earl Warren (Republican, 1953-69)
        1. race relations (Brown v. Board of Education, 1954)
        2. 1st amendment freedoms (Engel v. Vitale, 1962; New York Times v. Sullivan, 1964; Roth v. United States, 1957
        3. reapportionment and gerrymandering (Baker v. Carr, 1962)
        4. rights of criminal defendants (Mapp v. Ohio, 1961; Gideon v. Wainwright, 1963; Miranda v. Arizona, 1966)
      5. Warren Burger (Republican, 1969-86)
      6. William Rehnquist (Republican, 1986-05)
        • Current court is conservative, as illustrated by its members' rulings in the 1999-2000 term
        • The court issued 86 written opinions that year, including 11 per curiam rulings
        • 23 opinions were unanimous
        • 20 were split 5-4
        • The two justices who voted against each other most often were J. P. Stevens, a "liberal," and Antonin Scalia, a "conservative"

        1999-2000 U.S. Supreme Court Term

        J. P. Stevens (R, Ford)
        46
        0
        22
        24
        		  
         
        45
        1
        21
        25
        		  
         
        44
        2
        20
        26
        		  
         
        43
        3
        19
        27
        		  
         
        42
        4
        18
        28
        		  
         
        41
        5
        17
        29
        		  
         
        40
        6
        16
        30
        		  
         
        39
        7
        15
        31
        		  
         
        38
        8
        14
        32
        S. D. O'Connor (R, Reagan)
         
        37
        9
        13
        33
         
         
        36
        10
        12
        34
         
        R. Ginsburg (D, Clinton)
        35
        11
        11
        35
        A. Kennedy (R, Reagan)
         
        34
        12
        10
        36
        W. Rehnquist (R,Nixon-Reagan)
         
        33
        13
        9
        37
         
        D. Souter (R, G.H.W. Bush)
        32
        14
        8
        38
         
         
        31
        15
        7
        39
        C. Thomas (R, G.H.W. Bush)
         
        30
        16
        6
        40
         
         
        29
        17
        5
        41
         
         
        28
        18
        4
        42
         
         
        27
        19
        3
        43
         
         
        26
        20
        2
        44
         
         
        25
        21
        1
        45
         
        S. Breyer (D, Clinton)
        24
        22
        0
        46
        A. Scalia (R, Reagan)

      7. John Roberts (Republican, 2005- )
        1. current court
    6. Judicial Review necessarily involves court in politics
        1. Marbury v. Madison, 1803
        2. Judicial Activism v. Judicial Restraint
        3. Robert Bork and judicial restraint
          1. Strict Construction
          2. Original Intent
          3. Judicial Deference
  3. Nina Totenberg Round-up, 2002-03 Term of Supreme Court