POSC 4370

Social norm, the infraction of which is sanctioned in threat or in face by the application of physical force by a party possessing the socially recognized privilege of so acting

1) Force
2) Official Authority
3) Regularity

Constitutions, Acts of legislative bodies, decisions of quasi-legislative/judicial bodies, orders and rulings of political executives, and judicial decisions

- U.S constitution serves as primary source of law
- Constitutions introduce supremacy dynamics
- federal law supersedes state law

- most law comes from legislatures
- Congress, states, county commissions, city councils
- ~88,000 governments in US
- Law can vary in jurisdiction and type
- Supremacy

- Bureaucracy
- Ex: SEC or Post office
- Legally binding until overturned by judicial entity (Or future administrative action)
- Universities also serve as sources of law

- Law are vague; executives fill in the gaps (EOs)
- Federal Register and Code of Federal Regulations
- State level executive action (ordinances)
--> are limited and usually temporary, but still carry full force of law

- INTERPRETATION OF LAW IS LAW
- All court decisions contribute to the Corpus Juris (the body of law)
- Precedent and Common Law are sources of power for the judiciary

Standards set by previous related decisions

Dual
- Federal Courts (the supreme court, circuit courts of appeals, U.S. DC)
- State Courts (State supreme courts, state courts of appeals, local)

- Supreme Court with one chief justice and five associate justices
- Three circuit courts, with two justices and one district judge on each
- Thirteen district courts, each with one district judge

- Randolph Plan
- Paterson Plan
- Article III postponed the decision on which plan would be adopted

Supreme Courts and inferior federal courts

- a single federal Supreme Court
- States could hear all cases with appeal to Supreme Court

- 1801 - 1835
- single opinions handed down by Court
- Marbury v. Madison represents the introduction of the Courts into Policymaking
- Established the power to declare Congressional action unconstitutional
- JUDICIAL REVIEW

Supreme Court's role in policy stems from its role of interpreting the Constitution, and also deciding which of the others' interpretations are correct
- ex: Brown v. Board of Education (1954)

- The Supreme Court is mostly an appellant court
- Has final word in the interpretation of the Constitution, acts of legkslative bodies, and treaties (unless altered by Constitutional amendments of congressional acts)
- definition of certiorari

- Court convenes via statute on the first Monday in October
- Court is comprised on 9 Justices, with seating order based on seniority
- Court terms broken into two-week sittings
- During sittings, Justices follow a routine pattern for cases granted certiorari (Oral argument, The Conference, Opinion Writing)

- Scheduled Monday through Wed
- Opposing Attorneys have 30 mins to present

- Discuss the cases heard that week and handles other matters like certiorari petitions
- A quorum is 6 justices

- Authors of opinions are set based on roles and seniority

- Concurring: Agree on outcome but not on reasoning
- Dissenting: Disagree both on reasoning and outcome
- Concur/dissent in part: Agree with part, disagree with other part
- Per Curiam: Opinion written without a named author

- are positioned between the trial courts and the Supreme Court
- Less discretion in choosing which cases to hear
- final say in most cases, pending threats
- 12 regional circuits + 1 Federal Circuit
- 179 courts of appeal judges

- error correction
- preparing significant cases for supreme court

- Interpretation function exacerbated by the reality that these courts are the courts of last resort in most cases
- regional courts make regional decisions

- 5th Circuit rules that law schools cannot use race as a determining factor for admissions
- Supreme Court denies petition for certiorari
- Admissions legal standard set in texas, Louisiana, and Mississippi

Screening, Three-Judge panels, En Banc Proceedings, oral argument, decisions

- Courts must sort through appeal petitions to weed out and consolidate
- Rely largely on law clerks and staff attorneys
- Almost 70% of appealed cases end here without oral arguments

- most cases with full treatment go before panels
- Panels randomly composed and randomly assigned

- When three judge pannels disagree
- All circuit judges sit on one panel to hear case
- Ninth circuit is EXCEPTION (11 - Judge en banc panels)

- Similar to Supreme Court cases, short opportunity for lawyers to argue case and answer questions (Moot Court)

Most cases are decided with short, unsigned opinions

- point of entry in the Federal Judiciary
- federal cases originate in one of the 94 district courts
- 677 judges preside over these courts
- District may be broken into smaller divisions each including specific counties
- Represented population and number of judges vary by district

- District courts have little opportunity to make policy
- policymaking is for the future, norm enforcement is for now
- As American society has become more litigious, district courts have increased policymaking

Constitutional
Legislative

Courts established via Article III of the Constitution
- Constitutional courts have life tenure and salaries cannot easily be reduced

- are subject to Congress
- can be appealed to federal court
- ex: Tax, territory, vetern appeal and Bankruptcy courts

- magistrate judges
- Law Clerks
- Administrative Offices of the U.S. Courts
- The Federal Judicial Center

- Duties established by the District Court under which they serve
- Conduct all proceedings of a non-trial civil case
- Enter judgments in cases
- Conduct trials of persons accused of misdemeanors
- Duties and norms change between districts

- Most courts have law clerks
- Generally serve as research assistants
- review motions, including issues and positions of parties
- research important points raised in motions
- prepare written memoranda for judges
- disproportionate amount of time spent with attorneys and witnesses
- Supreme Court law clerks play an essential role in determing which cases are heard

- Judiciary's housekeeping agency
- Staffs Judicial Conference of the U.S.

- is the federal courts' agency for continuing education and research
- Duties include
- conducting research on the federal courts
- making recommendations to improve the administration and management of the federal courts
- Developing educational and training programs for personnel in the judicial branch

- reconstruction and industrialization led to increased scope of legal disputes (small-claims, juvenile, domestic relations courts)
- fragmentation (court fees, procedures, delays, judge reputation)
- Court Unification as a reform

- Court unification effort have succeeded in soe failed or never attempted in other
- Case studies: California and New York
- Trial courts of limited jurisdiction

- Trial Courts of Limited Jurisdiction (85% OF ALL COURTS IN THE U.S.)
- Trial courts are limited in types of cases and penalties given
- Not recorded, so appeals to general jurisdiction courts as a trial de novo

- handle more serious cases conpared to limited jurisdiction courts
-usually divided into district or circuits (geo. boundaries)
- In larger jurisdictions, these judges may be limited to either criminal or civil cases (it varies)
- Common names for these courts include district, circuit, and superior
- Professionalism starts here in the state courts

- Exist to help with the load of cases handled by state supreme courts
- most states have only one, others have many set by region
- like U.S. Circuit Courts these are pragmatic Courts of Last Resort

- All states have one, two states have two
- In state with intermediate appellate courts, these courts can decide which cases to hear.