Introduction During the creation of the Constitution of the United States of America, the framers of this innovative document had the foresight to include the right of the American people to seek justice. For this reason, the attendants of the Constitutional Convention shaped the judicial branch of the United States government. This branch, along with the executive and legislative branches, each serve vital roles alone and in relation to one another to form the government of the United States. The purpose of this paper is to describe the judicial branch’s powers, functions, organization, outputs, and implementation of these outputs, as well as to discuss how these decisions come about and the accountability standards to which judges and courts …show more content…
must be held. Judicial Branch Organization and Functions The judicial branch of the United States government is arranged in Article III, Section 1 of the Constitution.
The document outlines that there shall be “one supreme Court,” giving this superior court the authority above all others. Other courts may also be formed by Congress as needed. In the text of the Constitution the organization of the judicial branch goes no further. As noted on the website of the Supreme Court, “the Constitution elaborated neither the exact powers and prerogatives of the Supreme Court nor the organization of the Judicial Branch as a whole.” With such little oversight by the Constitution, the organization was to be determined by Congress. The Judiciary Act of 1789 was “the first bill introduced in the United States Senate.” This bill establishes 13 judicial districts to be organized into three judicial circuits. Since then, the organization has expanded to 12 judicial circuits and 94 districts. The first courts below the Supreme Court are the U.S. Court of Appeals. These are organized to have one appellate court per circuit. Below these are the 94 district courts, organized within the circuits. Some circuits have established Bankruptcy Appellate Panels, serving as a unit of the federal courts of …show more content…
appeals. Each type of court also serves different functions. The function of each court is to produce outputs on the cases being presented. Function is determined by the types of jurisdiction that the court holds, which is determined by the Constitution. Not only is the organization of the judicial branch included in the Constitution, but the powers each court holds are also included. Constitutional Powers In the Constitution of the United States of America, each branch of government is given different powers. The first power given to the courts is the power to interpret the law as judges see fit, including treaties made by the United States. The courts also have the power to hear “cases that affect ambassadors, public ministers and consuls,” meaning any public servant and other officials. Any cases involving ships at sea or ships in U.S. ports, the United States and other parties, controversies between two states, citizens and a state, or between citizens, the courts have the power to hear. Jurisdiction is also established in the Constitution. The United States district courts have original jurisdiction, meaning they do not hear appeals and hear cases involving federal crimes, civil suits, among other cases assigned by Congress. The United States Court of Appeals only hears appellate cases and have no original jurisdiction, hearing only cases appealed to them by lower courts. The Supreme Court has appellate and original jurisdiction depending upon the case. Appeals can be made from lower Unites States courts and State Supreme Courts. The Supreme Court hears cases involving “two or more states, the United States and a state, foreign ambassadors and other diplomats, and a state and a citizen of a different state.” Appointment of Judges For courts to properly function, they must be staffed with effective judges. Judges are appointed to the Supreme Court by the President of the United States of America with confirmation coming from the Senate. As a system of checks and balances, both the executive and legislative branches have a part in choosing the justices that will serve on the Supreme Court. After selection, the Supreme Court Justices and federal judges serve during “good behavior,” meaning they are eligible to serve for life unless impeached for wrongdoings. Since these Justices serve for life, selection is very important, and many people give suggestions to the President on who they feel should fill the vacancy. Many factors are considered when appointing a judge, but there are no concrete requirements in the text of the Constitution. Outputs of the Court System Principal outputs of the court systems vary widely depending on the type of case that is being heard by the court and the jurisdiction type the court holds.
Case types include civil, criminal, bankruptcy, and appeals cases. The proceedings of these cases are heard in different courts depending on the type of jurisdiction the court holds, as previously mentioned, which can be original or appellate. These two factors play a role in the type of decisions the court will make in relation to the case being heard. Civil complaints usually result in fines, with the court determining if one party is responsible for damages done to the other and making sure the responsible party is held accountable by paying damages. Criminal proceedings can result in much heftier rulings, including “time in prison, a fine to be paid to the government, and restitution to be paid to crime victims.” Bankruptcy cases involve disputes over property and debt, so the outputs of the cases usually involve decisions about the debts, who owns the properties, how much they are worth, and much is owed in debt, among others. Appeals cases can involve all of the previously mentioned case types and their outputs, and whether to uphold previous
rulings. Jurisdiction type is the other way in which outputs of the court can vary. Courts with original jurisdiction can rule in favor of one party versus the other, while appellate courts, as previously stated, decide whether to uphold past decisions made by inferior courts. Additionally, Congress has given the ability to the Supreme Court to make procedural rules that the inferior courts must follow. Overall, the judicial system in the United States has many different outputs, often affecting a vast number of citizens. Independent of the type of case and jurisdiction, the “courts decide what really happened and what should be done about it.” Without the court system and its outputs, Americans would not have the ability to effectively seek justice or protect themselves. Implementation of Court Decisions Although the courts have the power to interpret law and make decisions regarding law, they have no means to implement these decisions. For these decisions to be properly implemented, they must rely on the executive and legislative branches to support any decisions made by the courts and effectively implement them by upholding the decisions. In addition to the other branches of government, they also rely on the citizens of the United States to know the decisions that are being made, that way the citizens can challenge any individual or institution not following the laws set out by the court. Supreme Court Decision Making The decisions of the Supreme Court are meant to interpret the law as set out by the legislative and executive branches. Although the decisions are supposed to be technical in theory, sometimes the decisions made by the Supreme Court are more political in nature. Depending on the case and the Justices sitting at the time, the output of any case can be political or technical. Although the goal of the government should be to protect its people, the judicial branch does not always rule in favor of the citizens. The Supreme Court becoming increasingly political is shown in the fact that we currently have the “most conservative Supreme Court in modern United States history.” Even as vacancies are filled, the President and Congress are most likely to pick a judge that they feel will represent the values of their political party in the cases that are presented. Take, for example, the Supreme Court Case ‘Whole Women’s Health v. Hellerstedt,’ women’s access to abortion barely survived. The issue of abortion has been politicized, reaching the highest court of the United States. Although protection of citizens would mean unanimously voting for women’s right to access safe abortions, this is not what happened. Partisan beliefs are often getting in the way of the Supreme Court making decisions based upon the best interest of the American people, resulting in decisions being made for political reasons above technical ones. Although these political decisions are often made, administrative oversight typically ensures that judges are making decisions in what they feel is the best interest of the people and not necessarily themselves. Ethics laws and code of conduct bind public servants, with “federal judiciary oversight mechanisms deter[ing] and prevent[ing] fraud, waste, and abuse, and address[ing] mistakes should they occur.” This oversight makes sure the courts and judges are protecting the interests of the American citizens and governments. Conclusion The framers of the Constitution of the United States of America foresaw a government in which the citizens should have the right to seek justice. In reaching for this goal, they successfully created the judicial branch to serve alongside the executive and legislative branches. Although they did not elaborate too heavily on the organization of the branch, the system that has come from their Constitution is one that typically strives for the best of the American citizens. Although politics and self-interest can get in the way of equal justice under the law, the goal of the branch is justice for every citizen seeking it.
In Federalist no. 78 Hamilton explains the powers and duties of the judiciary department as developed in Article III of the Constitution. Article III of the Constitution is very vague on the structure of the federal courts. Hamilton had to convince Americans that the federal courts would not run amok. He presented that the federal courts would not have unlimited power but that they would play a vital role in the constitutional government. Hamilton limited judiciary power by defining it as a text-bound interpretative power. (R.B Bernstein) This essay was intended to endorse as well as interpret the Constitution.
The Constitution confers judicial power on the Supreme Court and on inferior courts as created by Congress (Hames & Ekern, 2013). Judicial review is the power of the court to interpret the Constitution and invalidate conflicting laws.
The United States of America is one of the most powerful nation-states in the world today. The framers of the American Constitution spent a great deal of time and effort into making sure this power wasn’t too centralized in one aspect of the government. They created three branches of government to help maintain a checks and balance system. In this paper I will discuss these three branches, the legislative, the executive, and the judicial, for both the state and federal level.
The Constitution was the first stepping stone in the national sovereignty of the United States. It is the supreme law that has been valued and upheld since its ratification in 1787. It holds the rights and freedoms of all Americans and gives structure to the government. To uphold this structure, the judiciary branch was established, alongside the legislative and executive, by the Constitution. However, the judicial branch did not always have the power and influence it does today. Because of the 4th Chief Justice, John Marshall, the Supreme Court eventually gained the power and ability to become coequal to the legislative and executive branches. John Marshall’s establishment of Judicial Review in the Supreme Court and his strong federalists
The United States Judicial System is made up of several different courts, which includes the federal court system, the state court system, and the local court system. All three of those court systems handle different types of cases and have their internal structures and roles.
The Supreme Court and Federal court have the same authority as in the Constitution. This system is called checks and balances which prevents the sole power of any one of the three branches. In addition, this power can be divided between the states and Federal government. The Federal government’s role in “domestic and foreign affairs and how they have grown” (Fe...
In 1787 Article three of the constitution created the Supreme Court, but not until 1789 was it configured. The way it was originally set up was with one Chief Justice and five associate judges, with all six members being appointed for life. This court serves as the “supreme law of the land”, it has the power to determine if state or federal laws are in conflict with how the Court interprets the constitution.
The life of every American citizen, whether they realize it or not, is influenced by one entity--the United States Supreme Court. This part of government ensures that the freedoms of the American people are protected by checking the laws that are passed by Congress and the actions taken by the President. While the judicial branch may have developed later than its counterparts, many of the powers the Supreme Court exercises required years of deliberation to perfect. In the early years of the Supreme Court, one man’s judgement influenced the powers of the court systems for years to come. John Marshall was the chief justice of the Supreme Court from 1801 to 1835, and as the only lasting Federalist influence in a newly Democratic-Republican government, he and his fellow justices sought to perpetuate their Federalist principles in the United States’ court system. In one of the most memorable court cases of all time--the case of Marbury v. Madison-- Marshall established the idea of judicial review and strengthened the power of the judicial branch in the government. Abiding by his Federalist ideals, Marshall decided cases that would explicitly limit the power of the state government and broaden the strengths of the national government. Lastly, the Marshall Court was infamous for determining the results of cases that dealt with the interpretation of the Constitution and the importance of contracts in American society. The Marshall Court, over the span of a mere three decades, managed to influence the life of every American citizen even to this day by impacting the development of the judicial branch, establishing a boundary between the state and national government, and making declarations on the sanctity of contracts ("The Marshall Court"...
Throughout the years there have been limitless legal cases presented to the court systems. All cases are not the same. Some cases vary from decisions that are made by a single judge, while other cases decisions are made by a jury. As cases are presented, they typically start off as disputes, misunderstandings, or failure to comply, among other things. It is possible to settle some cases outside of the courts, but that does require understanding and cooperation by all parties involved.
Judiciary as the Most Powerful Branch of Government In answering this question I will first paint a picture of the power that the court holds, and decide whether this is governmental power. Then I will outline the balances that the court must maintain in its decision making and therefore the checks on its actions as an institution that governs America. "Scarcely any political question arises that is not resolved sooner or later into a judicial question." (Alexis de Tocqueville Democracy in America) If we take Tocqueville on his word then the American Judiciary truly is in a powerful position.
The US court system consists of a trial court, an appellate court, and a supreme or high court. The trial court is the first to hear the facts of a case and has original jurisdiction. The appellate court hears cases whose resolution is disputed by the losing party in the trial court. The supreme or high court hears cases whose outcome is disputed by the losing party in the appellate court. The supreme or high court chooses which cases warrant a hearing. The federal and the state court system have the same basic structure. Each consists of a trial court, an appellate court, and a supreme or high court. The Federal Court of Appeals has thirteen (13) circuits which cover most states except the District of Columbia. The federal system also has specialty courts such as the Court of Federal Claims and the United States Tax Court.
In 1789, the final draft of the constitution of the United States came into effect. In article three it calls for "[t]he judicial Power of the United States, shall be vested in one Supreme Court, and in such inferior Courts as the Congress may from time to time ordain and establish." In the article it neither says the duties, powers, or any organization of the supreme court. If left this up to congress and to the justices of the court itself for these details.
The United States government braces its power among three powerful branches, legislative, executive and judicial. These branches interact with one another to establish authority that is strong, yet equal to have power over the country. Each branch pursues certain responsibilities and duties to operate in an efficient and effective manner in which society upholds. The executive, legislative and judicial branches all interact amid each other to validate accuracy of the nation’s most powerful law of the land, the Constitution. It is important to know how these branches interact with each other to learn how a bill becomes a law. Reflecting on how the three branches promote a balance of power that is constructive to include the agendas and electoral roles that also plays a vast part in the government’s operation.
The Texas court system is structured and well organized but might seem quite confusing at first. There are different types of courts in Texas, which are the municipal courts, county courts, county courts of law, district courts, appeal courts, and the highest courts. All of which contribute to the state of Texas and help the community establish a well organized place to live upon. These court systems play a huge role in the safety of the citizens.
Where the Magistrates Court, Crown Court and the County Court are considered as inferior courts; both civil and criminal divisions of courts have little difference. The court hearing first instance of a criminal case is the Magistrates Court. However, when there is a case concerning on a more serious criminal offence, the case would be first heard in the Crown Court instead. First instance of civil cases are usually tried in the Magistrates Court and rarely in the County Court.