Civics_Ch6_info

=**Chapter 6: Judicial Branch Background Information**=

**Equal Justice Under the Law:**
The United States of America is a nation of laws, which are necessary for a civil society. Remember from previous chapters that justice means the same as fairness. Laws are society's rules and promote the common good. In addition, __//NOTE//__: laws protect you and your property and set limits on behavior. __//NOTE//__: A crime is any behavior that is illegal because society - with use of government lawmaking power - considers it harmful. There are two major categories of law that our nation deals with. One type deals with a law code in which breaking the law leads to jail time or a fine. The other type of law in America's system deals with lawsuits. __//NOTE//__: Criminal law deals with illegal activity and civil law refers to lawsuits. In terms of criminal law, there are laws that protect people from harm such as laws against murder, rape, and assault. There are also laws that protect property such as laws against stealing and vandalism. There are four major sources of American law - that is four places that American law can come from. __//NOTE//__: One law source is statutes or laws passed by lawmaking bodies. __//NOTE//__: A second law source is common law or type that comes from a precedent - past decision of a judge or court. __//NOTE//__: A third law source is called administrative law and covers areas of our daily lives (health, safety, education, banking, etc.). __//NOTE//__: A fourth source is Constitutional law or law based on the Constitution.

There court system has the central role in the justice system. An accused person has several rights, which include __//NOTE//__: accused person's right to an attorney, right to confront accuser, and right to a jury trial. The Constitution also guarantees due process of law or that everyone has to be treated fairly under the law. There can not be any discrimination or treating someone differently because of race, gender, ethnicity, or any reason. Furthermore, in the U.S. a __//NOTE//__: accused person is innocent until proven guilty. Another important right of a person going through the judicial system is the __//NOTE//__: right to appeal a case or seek a review by a higher court. This is important because if a person is wrongly convicted of a crime, it's important to have the ability to have the case be reviewed especially if new evidence would surface.

**The Federal Court System:**
There are three tiers to the United States federal court system. State and local courts work differently, which we'll learn more about in the chapter on state and local government. __//NOTE//__: U.S. District Courts are the first level of the federal court system. The federal court system is set up by the Congress according to the Constitution. __//NOTE//__: Jurisdiction is the extent of authority that a court has to hear a case. Original jurisdiction in a federal case is the U.S. District court level. This means that when a federal crime is committed, it goes to the District court first, not the Supreme Court. There are a total of 94 U.S. Districts (for District courts) in the nation. __//NOTE//__: All federal judges are appointed by the president and approved by the Senate and can serve for life. Judges are subject to the impeachment process for removal if a federal judge were to abuse his/her power.

If a person on trial for a federal crime is unhappy with the result of the District court, that person can appeal the case or seek a review from a higher court. The __//NOTE//__: next level that hears appeals from District courts are Circuit Courts, or Courts of Appeals. These courts have appellate jurisdiction, which means having the power to review decisions made by lower courts. There are 12 Circuits in the nation plus one additional Circuit in D.C. Circuit Courts do not hold trials, but rather consist of a panel of 3 judges that make a decision with the job of determining whether or not the original law was fair and if the law was interpreted correctly.

__//NOTE//__: The highest court in the land is the U.S. Supreme Court with 9 justices headed by a chief justice. So, in review if a federal crime has been committed, it begins in the District court, the can go to the Circuit Court if appealed and if appealed again goes to the U.S. Supreme Court.

**The U.S. Supreme Court:**
The Supreme Court is the highest court in the land. The main power of the Supreme Court is judicial review, which is also an important check and balances that the Supreme Court has to make sure the other two branches don't abuse power. __//NOTE//__: Judicial review is the power of the Supreme Court to declare a law passed by Congress or an act of the President or bureaucracy as unconstitutional. This power was first established in 1803 in the court case //Marbury v. Madison// under Chief Justice John Marshall. There are usually more than 7,000 cases filed each year, but accepts 130 or 150 of the cases each year. The Supreme Court listens to a case and then interprets the Constitution to determine whether or not the law that was applied in the case was against the Constitution. When the court rules, each justice gives their reasoning for ruling how they did on the case, which is called the Court's opinion.

In terms of checks and balances, the Supreme Court has a check on the other two branches since the Supreme Court has the power of judicial review, or the power to declare a law or act of the executive branch as unconstitutional. The other two branches also have checks on the power of the Supreme Court. The justices on the Supreme Court are appointed by the President. Also, if the Supreme Court declares a law unconstitutional, Congress can write a different law or begin the process to amend the Constitution in order to make the law constitutional. For example in the 1890s, income tax was considered unconstitutional. The 16th amendment was put on the Constitution in 1913, which allows the passing of an income tax and so today income tax is completely constitutional.

The __//NOTE//__: first Supreme Court Chief Justice was John Jay. The __//NOTE//__: current Chief Justice is John Roberts. The __//NOTE//__: first African-American judge on the Supreme Court was Thurgood Marshall. He was the famous attorney who helped argue the case that led to desegregation of schools. The __//NOTE//__: first female on the Supreme Court was Sandra Day O'Connor. Here is the current Supreme Court: Back row (left to right): Sonia Sotomayor, Stephen G. Breyer, Samuel A. Alito, and Elena Kagan. Front row (left to right): Clarence Thomas, Antonin Scalia, Chief Justice John Roberts, Anthony Kennedy, and Ruth Bader Ginsburg.

There have been numerous Supreme Court rulings over the years. The Supreme Court usually only tries to hear cases that deal specifically with the Constitution or cases that can impact the entire nation. Some of the landmark or important decisions are: __//NOTE EACH CASE AND RESULT//__:
 * Marbury v. Madison - first case to establish judicial review.
 * Brown v. Board of Education - desegregated schools (a.k.a. schools could no longer keep blacks and whites separated).
 * Miranda v. Arizona - when being arrested, police must read rights (called the Miranda Rights).
 * Engel v. Vitale - start of secular push to remove religion from schools by banning school prayer.
 * Roe v. Wade - made abortion legal - one that is gaining support across the nation to be overturned to make abortion illegal.

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