POLSCI 111 Lecture Notes - Lecture 18: Certiorari, Old Age, Senatorial Courtesy
12 Jun 2018
School
Department
Course
Professor
3/14/18 - Courts
● Historical Background:
○ Far less background about what courts should do
■ Weren’t worried about tyranny being a huge issue
○ Federal court:
■ Decide should we have one at all
■ Agreed on supreme court but still wondered about other federal courts
● Reached a compromise
■ Framers did not make a decision, left it up to congress to decide
○ Judicial Review:
■ Constitution does not give power that courts get to decide whether actions of
other branches are constitutional
● Left unsettled for first couple of decades
■ Marbury V. Madison
● Court established it had the power to judge other branches based on
interpretation of constitution
○ Life Tenure:
■ Judge for life unless you are impeached, retired, resign, etc.
■ Pros:
● Don’t have to run campaigns so they can focus on their work
○ Don’t feel pressured by congress or president - can’t be fired by
them
● Experience
■ Cons:
● Society goes through changes and people think through things differently
● Old age means lower intellectual vitality
● Very hard to get rid of unpopular judges
○ Checks:
■ President and senate have to agree on nominations
■ Congress can amend constitution to reverse decisions
■ Congress can impeach justices
■ Congress can alter course of jurisdiction
● What court can and can’t do
● Supreme court:
○ There are very low odds of getting the court agree to hear your case
■ Doesn’t matter who asks
● ex) court and daca - doesn’t want to get involved in politics
○ Original jurisdiction - cases that go directly to courts
■ Dispute between two states
○ Appellate: appealing what the lower courts have done
■ Or loose in state court and appeal to federal supreme court
■ Petition for Writ of Certiorari - grant that asks to be able to hear the case
● If they don’t grant, they don’t have to tell you why
○ Explaining docket size
find more resources at oneclass.com
find more resources at oneclass.com
Document Summary
Far less background about what courts should do. Weren"t worried about tyranny being a huge issue. Decide should we have one at all. Agreed on supreme court but still wondered about other federal courts. Framers did not make a decision, left it up to congress to decide. Constitution does not give power that courts get to decide whether actions of other branches are constitutional. Left unsettled for first couple of decades. Court established it had the power to judge other branches based on interpretation of constitution. Judge for life unless you are impeached, retired, resign, etc. Don"t have to run campaigns so they can focus on their work. Don"t feel pressured by congress or president - can"t be fired by them. Society goes through changes and people think through things differently. Very hard to get rid of unpopular judges. President and senate have to agree on nominations. Congress can amend constitution to reverse decisions.
