Judicial Branch of the US Many pictures in this PowerPoint are from the Supreme Court Historical Society.

US Supreme Court Building

Supreme Court Members Front: Thomas, Scalia, CJ Roberts, Kennedy, Ginsberg Rear: Sotomayer, Breyer, Alito, Kagan http://www.supremecourthistory.org/history-of-the-court/the-current-court/

Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. Appointed by George W. Bush (2005) Attended Harvard Undergraduate and Law School Law Clerk for William Rehnquist Served as Special Asst to the Atty General, Assc. Council to President Reagan Judge for the Federal Appeals Court

http://www.csmonitor.com/2005/0930/csmimg/p3b.gif

Associate Justice Antonin Scalia Appointed by Reagan (1986) Circuit court judge for the 5th district Served as a Law Professor UVA, Univ of Chicago, Georgetown, Stanford Attended Georgetown, Harvard & Univ of Fribourg (Switzerland)

Associate Justice Anthony M. Kennedy Appointed by Reagan (1988) Judge for the 11th circuit court Served as a Constitutional Law Professor @ Univ of Pacific, Army National Guard, US Court of Appeals Attended Stanford, London School of Economics, Harvard

Associate Justice Clarence Thomas Appointed by George H. W. Bush (1991) 8th Circuit court judge Asst Atty General (MO), Asst Secretary for Civil Rights (US Dept of Ed), Circuit Court of Appeals, Chairman US EEOC Attended Holy Cross College, Yale Law School

Associate Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg Appointed by Clinton (1993) Circuit court judge for the 2nd district Served as a Law Clerk for US District Court Judge, Research Assc& Assc director Columbia Law School Project, Prof @ Rutgers & Columbia, US Court of Appeals Judge Attended Cornell, Harvard, Columbia

Associate Justice Stephen G. Breyer Appointed by Clinton (1994) Circuit court judge for the 10th district Served as Law Clerk (US Supreme Ct), Asst to US Asst Atty General, Prof @ Harvard, Univ of Rome, Judge of US Circuit Court of Appeals Attended Stanford, Magdalen College (Oxford), Harvard

Associate Justice Samuel Alito, Jr. Appointed by George W. Bush (2006) Had served on the US Court of Appeals for 15 years Former Asst. to US Attorney, New Jersey Attended Princeton University & Yale Law School

Associate Justice Sonia Sotomayor Appointed by Barack H. Obama (2009) First Hispanic Justice Appeals court judge for 2nd Circuit, Federal Judge for NY Asst. District Attorney for NY, Private Practice Attended Princeton & Yale Law School

Associate Justice Elena Kagan Appointed by Obama (2010) Attended Princeton, Oxford, Harvard Served as law clerk for Justice T Marshall Former US Solicitor General, Harvard Law Dean,

Federal Court System

The Constitution The Ultimate Legal Document All laws must agree with the Constitution or they will be found Unconstitutional! Courtroom http://www.archives.gov/historical-docs/doc-content/images/constitution-m.jpg

Jurisdiction of the Supreme Court Original/Exclusive: The Supreme Court is the first court to hear the case. Appellate: The Supreme Court reviews decisions made by lower courts.

Key Judicial Terms Plenary Review-oral arguments before the court Sitting-when justices hear & deliver opinions Recess-when justices consider the business of the court Brief-written documentation submitted by the lawyers to explain and argue the case that is presented before the court. Judicial Review-the court can review any federal or state law to see if it is agreement with the Constitution

Terms continued Writ of Centiorari-directs the lower courts to send its records on the case to the Supreme Court (looking for errors) Majority Opinion-written documentation of the opinion of the majority voters Minority Opinion- written documentation of the opinion of the minority voters Concurring Opinion-written documentation of the majority but, with a different reason why

Authority of the Court From Article 3 of the Constitution Original Jurisdiction: foreign dignitaries involved, cases where states are involved Appellate Jurisdiction: where most cases are derived from (usually only hears cases with significant legal or Constitutional questions) Final legal authority of the land

Appointments By an act in 1948 the set # of associate justices at 8 1 Chief Justice + 8 Associate Justices = 9 total justices (no tied votes) A justice is appointed for life (death or choose to retire)

The Supreme Court @ Work The court begins its term the first Monday in October until the next first Monday in October the following year. (June/July is usually the time that the court has off (vacation). About 7,000 applications are filed during a term. 1,200 applications are also filed that may be acted on by one justice. Oral arguments = about 100 cases per term 50-60 other cases are decided without oral arguments A terms written opinions can add up to 5,000 pages!

Checks on the Judicial Branch The president appoints justices The President is responsible for carrying out the laws The Senate must approve all judicial appointments The Senate has the ability to impeach justices if they have inappropriate conduct.

Location The Supreme Court building was built where the Old Capital Prison was located during the Civil War. Address: One First Street NE Washington DC 20543 http://ocw.mit.edu/NR/rdonlyres/Global/C/C29AC488-4269-45D0-964E-55C53A4DA7C8/0/chp_supreme_court_1.jpg

Famous Justices Warren Burger William H. Taft John Marshall If for some reason the hyper links don’t work go to the Supreme Court Historical Society & then click on History of the Court, Timeline

US Supreme Court Trivia http://www.supremecourthistory.org/history-of-the-court/court-history-quizzes/