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…
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…
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
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 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 hierarchal structure of the federal court system consists of the Supreme Court, Courts of Appeals, Bankruptcy Appellate Panels, District Courts, Bankruptcy Courts, and Article I Courts (Hogan, 2010). The Supreme Court is the highest court in the nation. Its primary role is to review decisions made by lower courts of appeals, where the case involves the federal law or Constitutional law. The Court of Appeals primary role is to hear cases involving challenges to the judgment made in District Courts, as well as appeals from federal administrative agencies decisions. Bankruptcy Appellate Panels primary role is to hear decisions made in bankruptcy court and determine if they follow the law. District Courts primary role is to determine all facts and evidence in a case while applying the law to decide who is right. Bankruptcy
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"...
First, according to justice.gov, “The federal court system has three main levels: district courts, circuit courts, and the Supreme Court of the United States.” The courts all have a different role to play in the judicial system. Court systems exist to provide justice for all. Now, the district court system is the beginning of the judicial system. A good amount of the cases handled by the district court system are either criminal or civil trial cases.
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 very first bill introduced in the United States Senate was the Judiciary Act of 1789, led by Connecticut's Oliver Ellsworth. It divided the country in 13 judicial districts. They were further organized into the Eastern, Middle, and Southern circuits. The 1789 Act called for the Supreme Court to consist of a Chief Justice and only five Associate Justices, and for the Court to meet in the Nation's Capital.
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.
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.
These Appeal courts make sure that the trial courts did the correct evaluation and followed the correct proceedings of the law. “In addition, the court of Appeals for the federal circuit has nationwide jurisdiction to hear appeals in specialized cases such as those involving patent laws, and cases decided by the U.S. court of federal claims” (Court Role and Structure). These courts do not use a jury and only have about three judges.
The Judicial Branch consists of the United States Supreme Court and the lower federal courts. Their role is to hear cases that challenges the legislation or are in need of interpretation of that legislation. (Phaedra Trethan, 2013) (Federal Government, 2003) (Sparknotes, LLC, 2011) (Independence Hall Association, 2008-2012)
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.
Based on Judicature Acts of 1873 and 1875 , the High Court is divided into few specialist divisions which are the King’s Bench, Common Pleas, Exchequer and Admiralty Division.