Ms. Valentine's Notes

Unit 4

The Judicial Branch

Article III

•Section 1- states that judicial power shall be vested in one supreme court and whatever inferior courts that Congress establishes.

•Judges shall hold their offices during good behavior.

•They shall receive compensation for their services that will not go down during their time in office.

•Justices are appointed by the President for life terms with Senate approval.

•Justices can be removed by the President with Senate approval.

•Justices can be impeached by Congress.

•Congress sets the number of justices on the court.

•There are currently 8 associate justices and 1 chief justice.

Compensation

          As of 2005, the chief justice receives a salary of $208,100 and associate justices receive $199,200.

          Justices also receive the same medical, dental and health benefits that Congress and the president get.

Section 2 – Jurisdiction

•Clause 1 - Supreme court power extends to all cases

–involving the Constitution, U.S. laws and Treaties.

–Affecting  Ambassadors, other public Ministers and Consuls

–Of admiralty and maritime jurisdiction.

– in which the U.S. is a party

–Between two or more states

–Between citizens of different states

–Between citizens of the same state claiming land under grants from different states

–Between states or citizens of a state and a foreign state or foreign citizen.

Clause 2 - types of jurisdiction

•Original jurisdiction – the authority to try a case.

–Cases affecting Ambassadors, other public ministers and Consuls, and those in which a states is a party.

•Appellate jurisdiction – the power to hear and rule on legal appeals.

–All other cases mentioned before.  Most of the Supreme court cases come under this type of jurisdiction.

•The Supreme Court is the only court with both kinds of jurisdiction.

Clause 3

•Trial of all crimes shall be by jury and shall be held in the State where the crime was committed.

•Crimes not committee in any state, the trial will be held where designated by Congress.

Section 3 – Treason

l Clause 1 defines treason.

l Treason shall consist only of levying war against the United States or siding with the enemy by giving aid and comfort.

l No person shall be convicted of treason unless there is testimony of two witnesses to the same covert act or upon confession in open court.

Clause 2 - punishment for treason

l Congress has the power to declare punishment for treason

lPunishment for treason may not "work Corruption of Blood, or Forfeiture except during the Life of the Person" so convicted. The descendants of someone convicted for treason could not, as they were under English law, be considered "tainted" by the treason of their ancestor. Furthermore, Congress may confiscate the property of traitors, but that property must be inheritable at the death of the person convicted

Federal Court System

•Courts established by Congress under Article III are constitutional courts.

•Constitutional courts include the federal district courts, federal courts of appeals, and the United States Court of International Trade.

Federal District Courts

•Congress created district courts in 1789 to serve as trial courts.  These are the workhorses of the federal judiciary hearing thousands of cases each year.

•There are 94 districts in the United States with each state having at least one district court.

•District courts serve as trial courts for both criminal and civil federal cases.

Juries

•District courts use two types of juries.

•A grand jury, usually 16 to 23 people, hears charges against a person suspected of committing a crime.

•The grand jury issues an indictment or formal accusation charging a person with a crime, if they believe there is enough evidence to bring a person to trial.

•A petit jury, usually 6 or 12  people, is the trial jury.  This jury weighs the evidence presented at trial in a civil or criminal case.

•In civil cases, they find in favor of either the plaintiff, the person bringing the suit, or the defendant, the person being sued.

•In criminal cases, they hand down a verdict of guilty or not guilty.

Federal Courts of Appeals

•The U. S. has 13 courts of appeal which have only appellate jurisdiction.

•The United States is divided into 12 judicial circuits, or regions, with one appellate court in each region.

•The 13^th appellate court, the United States Circuit Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit, has national jurisdiction.

n Appellate courts may decide an appeal in one of three ways:

n Uphold the original decision.

n Reverse the original decision.

n Send the case back to the original court to be tried again.

nUnless appealed to the Supreme court, appeals court decisions are final.

Legislative Courts

•Based upon powers in Article I, Congress has set up Legislative courts to help exercise it powers.

•U.S. Federal Claims Court has original jurisdiction over claims against the U.S. for money damages.

•United States Tax Court hears cases relating to federal taxes.

n U.S. Court of Appeals for the Armed Forces hears cases involving members of the armed forces convicted of breaking military law.

n Territorial Courts are similar to district courts in function, operation and jurisdiction.  They were created by Congress to be the court system for the Virgin Islands, Guam, Puerto Rico, and the Northern Mariana Islands.

n Courts of the District of Columbia handle both civil and criminal cases within the District of Columbia.

Texas Court System

Organization

The Texas Constitution sets up five levels in the state court system:

          -a supreme court and a court of criminal  appeals

          -courts of appeals

          -district courts

          -county courts

          -municipal and justice of the peace courts

§Texas has two high courts.

§The Supreme Court is the highest court for appeals of civil cases.

§It consists of a chief justice and eight justices elected for six-year terms.

§The Court of Criminal Appeals is the highest court for criminal appeals.

§It has a presiding judge and eight judges, also elected for six-year terms.

Texas District Courts

l Texas is divided into 14 districts.

l Each district has a district court of appeals.

n Appellate courts hear both civil and criminal appeals from lower courts.

l There are nearly 400 district courts across Texas.

n These usually have original jurisdiction over felonies.

County Courts

n Texas has two kinds of county courts:  constitutional county courts and county courts-at-law.

n Both have original jurisdiction over civil and criminal cases that are too serious for the lower courts.

nThey also hear appeals from lower courts.

Local Courts

o Local courts are the lowest level in the Texas judicial system.

o Municipal courts handle violations of city laws, often known as traffic courts.

n The presiding judge is usually chosen by the city council.

o Counties are divided into Justice of the Peace precincts.  They handle less serious crimes, known as misdemeanors.

n Judges elected by precinct voters.