2302+Spring+2009+Week+Thirteen


 * The Judiciary: Current Organization and Personnel**

This week we look at the concept of judicial review and the organization of the courts.

Below you will see a variety of links that take you to the substantive information relevant to this week's material.

First we cover how the abstract ideas offered in Federalist #78 regarding judicial review were materialized in Marbury v. Madison. This involves a discussion of the Judiciary Act of 1789 and the concept of a Writ of Mandamus. The power of judicial review has led to two important questions. The first is how the Supreme Court interprets the language of the Constitution and statutory law, the second is how active or restrained it is in how it apporaoches its job.

In addition, we will cover the basic design of the United States and Texas Court systems, the courts' relationship with related legislative and executive institutions.

We will also touch on the nature of the individuals currently on the Supreme Court.

Study Guide:

- What is Judicial Review and how was it established in the case of Marbury v. Madison? What are the basic facts of the case? - What are the arguments for and against strictly and loosely interpreting the Constitution? Give examples. - What are the arguments for and against judicial restraint and judicial activism? Give examples. - Know the following terms: textualism, originalism, living constitution - What is Judicial Minimalism?

Written Questions for Fall 2009 Online Students:

1. As fully as you can, decribe the nature of the current composition of the U.S. Supreme Court. Who is on it? What are the ideological leanings of each? What direction does the court seem to be heading? - Times Topics: The [|Supreme Court]. - Washington Post: The [|Supreme Court]. 2. Answer the question above, but this time for the [|Texas Supreme Court] and [|Court of Criminal Appeals]. Be sure to discuss the impact that elections have on the behavior of these courts. - Report from [|Texans for Public Justice]. 3. Select a recently decided Supreme Court case, and summarize the decision. Select a case from the following site: Oyez: [|Cases from the 2008 term], click on the case you select (you may wish to do some research to determine which case to select), then look to the left. Under "Case Basics" you will see the word opinion. Click on that, then click again on the case you selected. This will take you to the actual Supreme Court decision. This is what I want you to summarize. They tend to be long, so don't get bogged down in detail, just hit the main points. 4. We recently witnessed one of the few times in American history that hearings have been held on a new Justice for the Supreme Court. Review the arguments that were presented for and against Sonia Sotomayor. What impact is she likely to have on the Supreme Court? You shoudl be able to do a google search for relevant news items.

Unless otherwise noted, you'll need at least 150 words to answer each question. Due midnight August 9th.

This week we further explore the design of the judiciary. The links below take you either directly to the various courts that are pertinent to us, or information abou them. The most important is the United States Supreme Court. In that website you'll find information about its structure and most importantly, links to its decisions. The New York Times link takes you to a variety of stories related to the court, as does the wikipedia page. The American Bar Association can be considered to be the interest groups representing lawyers in the United States, and since judges now tend to all have had legal training, has emerged as an important institution in determining who should and would become a federal judge.

I also have linked you to uscourts.gov, a webpage which outlines the federal judicial structure, the Federal Judiciary Center provides background information about the role of federal courts as well as historical information. The Office of Solicitor General is important because that is the officer who argues cases that the United States is a party to before the Supreme Court. This individual, along with his or her assistants, often develop legal strategies for their administration. It is not unusual for people who had been members of this office to wind up in the Federal Court, or even the Supreme Court.

Note also the links to the House and Senate Committees on the Judiciary. These are the two institutions that oversee the actions of the courts as well as the Justice Department. These are the institutions responsible for the design and jurisdiction of the federal courts. The Senate Committe plays a unique role in overseeing the approval of presidential nominees to the Supreme Court.

I have also provided links to similar institutions on the state level.

You will also notice a handful of links to wikipedia pages abotu some of the more interesting judicial personalities on the national state and local levels.

Judicial Review

Origins: - [|The Judiciary Act of 1789]. - Exploring Constitutional Conflicts: [|Marbury v. Madison]. - Exploring Constitutional Conflicts: [|Judicial Review].

How to Interpret the Constitution? - Strict Interpretation - Wikipedia: [|Strict Construction]. - Wikipedia:[|Textualism]. - Wikipedia: [|Originalism]. - [|Theories of Interpretation].

Loose Interpretation - Wikipedia: [|The Living Constitution].

Robert's Purported View: [|Judicial Minimalism].

What is the Court's role? - Wikipedia: [|Judicial Activism]. - Wikipedia: [|Judicial Restraint].

Design of the Judiciary

The Supreme Court: - [|The United States Supreme Court]. - Wikipedia: [|Chief Justice of the United States.] - NYT Topics: [|The Supreme Court]. - Wikipedia: [|The Supreme Court].

Notable Supreme Court Justices: - Wikipedia: [|List of Justices of the Supreme Court.] - [|John Jay]. - [|John Marshall]. - [|Joseph Story]. - [|Oliver Wendel Holmes]. - [|William Howard Taft]. - [|Earl Warren]. - [|William Rehnquist].

The Inferior Federal Courts - [|The Federal Judiciary]. - [|The Federal Judicial Center].

Executive Institutions Involved in Judicial Matters: - Justice Department. - [|Office of Solicitor General].

Legislative Institutions Involved in Judicial Matters: - [|Senate Committee on the Judiciary]. - [|House Committee on the Judiciary].

- [|American Bar Association].

The Texas Judiciary - [|The Supreme Court of Texas]. - [|The Texas Court of Criminal Appeals]. - [|Texas Court Structure].

- Texas Solicitor General. - [|Texas House Committee on the Judiciary and Civil Jurisprudence]. - [|Texas Jurisprudence Committee].

- [|Texas Center for the Judiciary]. - [|The State Bar of Texas]. - [|William Wayne Justice].

Spring 2009
 * Past Assignments**

Internet Students: Write at least 150 word on each of the following:

1. As fully as you can, decribe the nature of the current U.S. Supreme Court. Who is on it? What are the ideological leanings of each? Also discuss some of the controversies associated with its recent rulings. 2. Answer the question above, but this time for the Texas Supreme Court and Court of Criminal Appeals. 3. Investigate the municipal court system for your city or county. Select one of the people who occupy one of the "lower" positions in the judiciary and provide information about them and their job description. 4. A number of interesting people have served on the U.S. Supreme Court. I've linked you information about a small handful of them above, it isn't difficult to find information about all of them. Select one and describe them and the nature of the influence they had on the court.

Lecture Students, prepare for a multiple choice quiz.