Read without ads and support Scribd by becoming a Scribd Premium Reader.
See Premium Plans
 
Ch 6 – The Federal Court System
1)Equal Justice Under the Law
a)4 Kinds of Lawi)Statutory Law(1)Law written by lawmaking bodiesii)Common Law(1)Rules of behavior or an action society accepts as legal even though there is no written law for it(2)A judge using a previous court case to help decide the current case the judge is working oniii)Administrative Law(1)Law written by and enforced by certain government agencies like the Securities and ExchangeCommission (SEC), Interstate Commerce Commission (ICC), Consumer Product SafetyCommission (CPSC), and National Labor Relations Board (NLRB).iv)Constitutional Law(1)Law based on the Constitution or US Supreme Court decisions. Highest law in the nation. b)Elements of a Fair Triali)Right to a Lawyer (1)Part of the 6
th
amendmentii)Right to a Bail Hearing(1)Purpose of bail is to ensure the freed person shows up for the trial. Judges can deny bail if theaccused is a flight risk or a threat to society. Bail hearing must happen within 24 to 48 houseafter your arrestiii)Indictment by a Grand Jury – a group of 12-25 people must answer two questions:(1)Is the accused probably guilty of the crime, based on evidence? If “no”, the accused goes free. If “yes” the accused is indicted by the Grand Jury and they move on to the next question.(2)Is there enough evidence to make it worthwhile to go to trial? If “no”, police continue to searchfor evidence. If “yes”, the accused goes to trial immediately.(a)The Grand Jury process can be skipped for minor crimes and the trial is still fair iv)Right to a Jury Trial – part of the 6
th
amendment(1)This is known as a “petit jury” because it only has 12 people. If the charge is murder, the jurymust 12-0 guilty or innocent. Otherwise, it is considered a “hung jury” and the accused is retriedwith a new jury. If the charge isn’t murder the jury verdict can be 11-1 or 12-2 guilty or innocentand it is a legal verdictv)Innocent Until Proven Guilty(1)The accused is assumed innocent and must be found guilty “beyond reasonable doubt” whichmeans that there must be no reason to doubt the evidence or testimony given against the accused.If there is a reason, the accused must be found innocent.vi)Right to Appeal(1)You have the right to appeal a guilty verdict, even if you are guilty. The Appeals court judgesdecide whether or not you got a fair trial.(a)If you did get a fair trial, you are still guilty.(b)If you didn’t get a fair trial, you can be retried with a new jury or the judges can decide youshouldn’t have been tried in the first place and set you free
2)Federal Courts
a)Federal Court Offensesi)Disobeyed Constitution, a Constitutional Amendment or a US Supreme Court decisionii)Disobeyed a law passed by Congressiii)Crime committed on a US ship at seaiv)Crime committed on US federal lands or in federal buildingsv)Lawsuit between citizens of different states
 
(1)90% of all federal court cases are this type b)Organization of Federal Courtsi)Geographic(1)Every state has at least one federal district court. There are 94 federal districts courts in the US.For those states that have more than one federal district court, the state is divided into geographicsection and each section has a federal district court.(a)EX: Louisiana has 3 federal courts: Western, Central, Eastern(2)Federal Courts of Appeal are organized into geographic units called “circuits.” There are 13Federal Circuit Courts of Appeal in the US. Texas, Louisiana, and Mississippi make up the 5
th
Circuit Court of Appeals. If you are tried in Texas, Louisiana or Mississippi and are convicted,you will appeal you conviction in the 5
th
Circuit Court of Appeals in New Orleans.(3)There is one US Supreme Court in Washington DC. If the Circuit Court of Appeals said you hada fair trial, you can appeal their decision to the Supreme Court.ii)Job Function(1)The Courts of Original Jurisdiction is where the legal process “originates”(2)The Courts of Appellate Jurisdiction handle the appeals of the Courts of Original Jurisdiction(3)The US Supreme Court is the highest authorityc)Federal Court Officialsi)Judges(1)Nominated by the President and approved by the Senate(2)Appointed for life. A judge can quit, retire or be impeached and removed by Congressii)United States Attorney(1)The government’s lawyer who is prosecuting the case in the federal district court and trying toget the accused found guilty. Can be fired by the Presidentiii)US Marshall(1)The police force for the federal court systemd)Specialized Federal Courts
1US SupremeCourt
13Courts of Appellate Jurisdiction
94Courts of Original Jurisdiction
 
i)US Claims Court(1)Hears cases involving money claims/lawsuits against the US governmentii)US Tax Court(1)Hears cases involving taxpayers who disagree with the IRS and owe taxes to the US governmentiii)Court of Military Appeals(1)Hears appeals cases of military member who have been court-marital and found guiltyiv)Territorial Courts(1)Federal courts for those living in US territoriesv)US Court of International Trade(1)Hears cases that involves tariff tax issues on imported products
3)US Supreme Court
a)The US Supreme Court is the highest court in the nation. It is the “court of last resort” because itsdecision is final and can only be appealed back to itself in the rarest of circumstances b)Three Instances in which the US Supreme Court Acts like the Court of Original Jurisdiction:i)Cases involving diplomatic representatives of foreign nationsii)Cases involving disputes between statesiii)Cases involving a state suing the federal governmentc)There are 9 judges on the US Supreme Court – 1 Chief Justice and 8 Associate Justicesi)John Roberts = current Chief Justiceii)Ruth Bader Ginsburg = one woman on Supreme Court today, 2
nd
woman ever on the court. SandraDay O’Connor was the 1
st
womaniii)Clarence Thomas – only African American on the Supreme Court today, 2
nd
African American ever on the court. Thurgood Marshall was the 1
st
.d)Thousand of cases are appealed to the Supreme Court each year, it takes only 150-200 cases a year for 2 basic reasons:i)Case involves an aspect of the Constitution/Amendmentii)Case involves important Social aspect society wants dealt withe)When the Supreme court make its decision it is called an “opinion”i)Majority Opinion(1)What 5 or more judges say about the case; this is the winning sideii)Dissenting Opinion(1)What 4 or fewer of the 9 judges say about the case; this is the losing sideiii)Concurring Opinion(1)Some of the judges who agree with the majority side but for different reasonsf)4 Important Court Casesi)Marbury v. Madison(1)Background: President John Adams appointed Marbury to be a judge. The paperwork got heldup by James Madison, the Secretary of State for Thomas Jefferson. Marbury sued Madison andin the lawsuit asked the Supreme Court to use its powers under the Judiciary Act of 1789 to forceMadison to deliver the appointment papers.(2)Supreme Court Chief Justice: John Marshall(3)Opinion: Congress tried to transfer powers in the Judiciary Act of 1789 to the judicial branch.However, these were stated in the constitution and could not really be changed without anamendment. This is unconstitutional, therefore null and void and not to be enforced. Therefore,the branch cannot make Madison give up the papers. Marbury loses.(4)Importance of the Case: The Judicial Branch unconstitutionally used powers it didn’t have toreview the law yet told Marbury that it couldn’t make Madison give up the papers(5)Nickname: “Judicial Review”ii)Plessy v. Ferguson
Search
Search History:
Searching...
Result 00 of 00
00 results for result for
  • p.
    • Notes
    Load more