How A Supreme Court Case is Chosen…a journey

Step 1 Writ of certiorari – Request to Supreme Court to order lower court records Must meet two criteria – Must come from U.S. court of appeals, military court of appeals, district court or state court – Must involve a federal question Justices look over cases up for vote

Step 2 Rule of 4 – 4 justices must vote for a case for it to be put on the docket and the calendar Lawyers (for both sides) provide briefs for the justices to read

Step 3 Oral arguments begin: – each side allotted one ½ hour to present their case – including questioning by justices Must stop when they see the red light!

Step 4 Justices Conference – cases discussed Vote taken – Chief Justice discusses first followed by the order of seniority Minds can still be changed at this point!

Step 5 Writing the opinions – assigned by the chief justice if in the majority – otherwise, most senior member in majority

Opinions Court must provide legal reasons for its opinions Stare decisis: reliance on past decisions or precedents to formulate decisions in new cases Principles of stare decisis dictate that the justices follow the law of previous cases in deciding cases at hand

Writing Opinions Majority opinion: written by one member of the Court and reflects the views of at least a majority of the justices—sets out legal reasoning and this becomes precedent for future cases Concurring opinion: written by a justice who agrees with the outcome of the case, but not the legal rationale for the decision—outlines its own rationale Dissenting opinion: written by one or more justices who disagree with the opinion of a majority or plurality of the court

Judicial Implementation How do Supreme Court rulings translate into public policy? J. I. : how and whether judicial decisions are translated into actual public policies Brown v. Board of Education—perfect example of how much the Supreme Court needs the support of both federal and state courts, as well as other governmental agencies Ruling was in 1954, schools still desegregating in the 1970s… REMEMBER: The Executive and Legislative Branches of government must use their powers to help implement the decisions of the court!