1. How Judges are Selected

2. Judicial Selection
Presidential Legacy – leave their mark on the legal system.
Lifetime terms – granted by the Constitution “during good behavior.”
- can be removed by conviction of impeachment.
- 7 times, never from the Supreme Court

3. Selection in the Lower Courts
Senatorial Courtesy – If the home Senator objects, Senate will object.
District court jurisdictions are more limited. Allows Senators greater influence.
Presidents consider Senatorial opinions before making appointments.

4. Selection in the Lower Courts
Recommendations of Candidates:
- Home Senators
- Department of Justice (DoJ)
- Current Judges
- Individuals actively seek nominations

5. Appellate Courts President maintains greater influence in the process.
- Appellate decisions have greater implications.
Appellate Courts have larger jurisdictions.
- 13 Courts as opposed to 94 District Courts.
- Jurisdictions expand across multiple states, decreases the influence of individual Senators.
Confirmations have become a longer process.
- party politics

6. Supreme Court
Considered by Presidents to be their most important appointments.
Legacy after leaving office.
Have little impact on the Court except during vacancies. On average, once every two years.

7. Selecting a Justice Chief Justices
- can be selected from current Justices.
- often selected from outside the Court to widen the pool of candidates.
Justice candidate pool influenced by:
- current Justices
- DoJ
- aides to the President
- Attorney General

8. Selecting a Justice Individual Senators have little influence
Process can be influenced by the Judiciary Committee.
- openly questions a candidate’s ideology and ethics.
Higher scrutiny if:
- President is not of the Senate’s majority party,
- candidate holds different ideals and philosophies
- ethical concerns

9. Court as Policymakers Supreme Court controls its own docket.
docket – schedule of cases to be heard.
8,000 to 10,000 cases a year presented
- approx. 150 will be heard.
Weekly conferences
- all 9 Justices consider cases for the docket.
Likely to be heard:
- civil liberty cases
- conflicts between courts
- Justices disagree with lower courts decisions

10. Court as Policymakers
Judicial restraint - minimal policy making roles, rely heavily on presidents to make decisions.
Judicial Activism – bold policy changes, take an active role in interpreting acts of Congress.
Statutory Construction – judicial interpretation of legislation. Establish how a law should be carried out.
Congress can pass new legislation in response to any Supreme Court decision.

11. Solicitor General Officer of the Department of Justice
Represents the government in the Supreme Court.
- appeals cases the government has lost
- reviews and modifies briefs for government appeals
- submits briefs on behalf of litigants
- takes great care to present only strong cases and prepares well.
- as a result is well respected.
- justices will hear a high percentage of the presented cases.