US Legal System and Court Jurisdiction

Constitutional Regulations

Chapter 4 & 5- Interactive

Why study the US Constitution?

“One thousand Americans recently took the U.S. citizenship test as a part of an experiment for Newsweek and The Daily Beast. According to Newsweek, 10 questions were chosen at random from a pool of 100 for the test, with six correct answers needed to pass. After 38 percent failed, Newsweek declared the ‘country's future is imperiled by our ignorance.’ These are some of the startling results that were published in the May issue of Townhall Magazine.” May 2011

The Constitution of

the United States is unique for two reasons:

1.It is the oldest written national Constitution

2.It was the first to include a government based on the concept of a separation of powers.

"Proclaim liberty throughout all the land unto all the inhabitants thereof - Lev. XXV, v. x. By order of the Assembly of the Province of Pensylvania [sic] for the State House in Philada."

Liberty Bell Inscription

Allocation of PowerLegislative Power: “The Power of the Purse” – Article I - Fiscal and monetary powerExecutive Power: “The Power of the Sword” – Article II Armed forces of the United States.Administrative Agencies – An Additional Executive Power – LegislativeInvestigativeAd judicatory Enforcement

Judicial Power – Article IIIT h e Fe d era l Jud ica l S ystem

In fe r io r C o ur ts

C o ur ts o f G en e ra l Ju r isd iction

In te rm e d ia te C o u rts o f A p pe a l( i f a ny)

U .S . C o ur ts o f A pp e a ls1 2 C ircu its

S ta te A d m in is tra tiv e A ge nc ies

U .S . C o ur t o f A p pe a lsfo r th e F ed era l C ircu it

U n ite d S ta te s S u pre m e C o u rt

"T he h ig h es t co ur t in the lan d"

Sample State Court SystemA p p ea l to U S S up re m e C o u rt

C rim in a l C o u rt C iv i lC o u rt

D o m e s ticR e la tio ns

P rob a teC o u rt

Ju ve n ileC o u rt

S m a ll C la im sC o u rt

M u n ic ip a lC o u rt

Ju s tice o fth e P ea ce

G e n e ra l Ju risd ic tionT ria l C o u rt

S ta te A p p e lla teC o u rt

S ta te S u p re m eC o u rt

Federal and State Court Jurisdiction

Exclusive Federal Jurisdiction

Federal Questions

Admiralty Law

Antitrust Law

Bankruptcy Law

Patents

Copyrights

Suits against the US

Trademarks

Concurrent Jurisdiction

Diversity of Citizenship* Cases- (Parties on one side of the controversy are citizens of a different state than the parties of another side)

Exclusive State Jurisdiction

All Matters not subject to federal jurisdiction

Allows for clear process of lawwithout compromising the judicial system.

*The word “citizenship” refers to a different state, not country.

Federal Court System

M an y F ed era lA dm in istra tive

A ge n cies

U S D is tr ictC o u r ts

(9 6 d istr ic ts)

U S B a nk rup tcyC o u r ts

U S T axC o u rt

U S Co u rts o f A pp e a lfo r 1 1 c ircu i tsa n d D C circu it

U S C la im sC o u rt

U S C ou r t o fIn te rna tio na l

T rade

U S P a te n ta n d T ra de m a rk

O ffice

U S Co ur t o f A p pe a lsfo r th e F ed era l C ircu it

U S S up rem eC o u rt

US Patent and Trademark Office

US Patent office home page

Patent Search

Application Forms

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http://www.oyez.org/oyez/tour/street-from-introduction

Virtual Tour of the US Supreme Courthouse http://www.oyez.org/tour

U.S. Supreme Court Justices

INTRODUCING THE

Chief Justice Roberts Education: John Roberts Jr. is the seventeenth and current Chief Justice of the US Supreme Court. He was a judge for the US Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Third Circuit and spent 14 years in private law practice. He held positions in Republican administrations and in the US Department of Justice and Office of the White House Counsel.

Point of Interest: Roberts won his nomination by a vote of 13-5. That’s an extremely impressive margin. Roberts was confirmed by the full Senate on September 29, passing by a margin of 78 – 22.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_G._Roberts_Jr.

Point of Interest: Roberts was slated to take the place of Sandra Day O’ Connor when she retired. However, when Chief Justice William Hubbs Rehnquist passed away, President Bush quickly making provisions for Roberts to take Rehnquist’s place.

CURRENT U.S. SUPREME COURT

JUSTICES

Former Chief Justice William Rehnquist (October 1, 1924 – September 3, 2005)

Chief Justice Roberts

CURRENT U.S.

SUPREME COURT

JUSTICES

Justice Stephen Breyerhttp://supct.law.cornell.edu/supct/justices/breyer.bio.html

Stephen Breyer was born August 15, 1938, in San Francisco, California.

Education Harvard Law School, LL.B., magna cum laude,

Associate Justice, Supreme Court of the United States, August 3, 1994 (nominated by President Clinton)

Recreation: Bicycling, jogging, cooking and reading.

Point of Interest: Both Souter and Breyer voted in favor for private lands to be taken for public use. Both justices are now in a quandary over their own personal property being taken for public use.

CURRENT U.S. SUPREME COURT JUSTICESJustice Ruth Bader Ginsburghttp://supct.law.cornell.edu/supct/justices/ginsburg.bio.html

Ruth Bader Ginsburg was born March 15, 1933, in Brooklyn, New York

Education: Columbia Law School, LL.B. (J.D.) 1959, Kent Scholar.

Nominated by President Clinton as Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States; took oath of office August 10, 1993.

Note: Her views on reproductive rights, capital punishment and affirmative action have given her a reputation for being left of center politically.

CURRENT U.S. SUPREME COURT JUSTICESJustice Anthony M. Kennedyhttp://supct.law.cornell.edu/supct/justices/kennedy.bio.html

Born July 23, 1936 in Sacramento, California.

Education: Harvard Law School, LL.B., 1961. Nominated by President Reagan as Associate Justice of the United States Supreme Court; took oath of office February 18, 1988.

Note: Since being on the high court he has frequently cast the deciding vote, sometimes voting with liberals, sometimes with conservatives.Read more: http://www.answers.com/topic/anthony-kennedy#ixzz1CLn4gImC

CURRENT U.S. SUPREME COURT JUSTICESJustice Antonin Scaliahttp://supct.law.cornell.edu/supct/justices/scalia.bio.html

Born March 11, 1936 in Trenton, NJ.

Education: Harvard, LL.B., 1960

Nominated by President Reagan as Associate Justice of the United States Supreme Court; took oath of office September 26, 1986. Note of Interest: Scalia has stated on numerous occasions that the power of the Supreme Court is only as effective as the laws created by Congress.

CURRENT U.S. SUPREME

COURT JUSTICES

Justice Clarence Thomashttp://supct.law.cornell.edu/supct/justices/stevens.bio.html

Born June 23, 1948 in the Pinpoint community, near Savannah, Georgia.

Education: Yale Law School, J.D., 1974.

Nominated by President Bush as Associate Justice of the United States Supreme Court: took oath of office October 23, 1991.

Point of Interest: Charged with Sexual Harassment by Anita Hill just prior his appointment to the Supreme Court in 1991. Most recent point of interest, his opinion in the McDonald v. City of Chicago (130 S.Ct. 3020; 2010),was written from a strict interpretation of the Constitution favoring the 2nd Amendment to stand alone rather than to be inducted into the 14th Amendment.

CURRENT U.S. SUPREME COURT

JUSTICES

• Birth, Residence, and Family – Born 1950 in Trenton, NJ

• Education – Princeton University, A.B., 1972; Yale Law

School, J.D., 1975

• Nominated by President Walker Bush as Associate Justice of the United States Supreme Court: 2006

• Point of Interest: When Roberts took the appointment of Chief Justice, this left a second position open for Associate Justice. President Bush then nominated Harriet E. Miers. Such criticism came from the media, and both political parties, that Miers withdrew her nomination on October 27, 2005. President Bush then nominated Samuel Alito. There was far less questioning about his credentials, and he was confirmed by the full Senate.

Justice Samuel Alito

CURRENT U.S. SUPREME COURT

JUSTICESNomination:– Sonia Sotomayor – managed an easy

win in her confirmation to the United States Supreme Court in 2009. In cruising to a 68-31 confirmation vote in the Senate, largely along party lines, Sotomayor entered the record book as the first Hispanic and the third woman to serve on the High Court.

Point of Interest:– As President Barack Obama's first pick

to the Court to replace the retiring Justice David H. Souter. Barack Obama said he wanted: a Supreme Court nominee with a "common touch."

Education . Attend Princeton University. She graduated summa cum laude and Phi Beta Kappa, went on to Yale Law School

Justice Sonia Maria Sotomayor

http://www.oyez.org/media/sotomayor_oath

David H. SouterRetired

CURRENT U.S. SUPREME

COURT JUSTICES

• Elena Kagan -- policy adviser in the Clinton White House, dean of Harvard Law School, and Solicitor General in the Obama administration -- won approval from the Senate on August 5, 2010 to succeed Justice John Paul Stevens as an associate justice on the U.S. Supreme Court.

Former Justice John Paul Stevens

Justice Elena Kagan

The distinguished women with one major thing in common…

Justice Sandra Day O‘Connor

Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg Justice Sonia Sotomayor

Justice Elena Kagan

Procedural Law

• Gives “we the people” the right to process of the law.

• Also called adjective law the law governing the machinery of the courts and the methods by which both the state and the individual (the latter including societies, whether incorporated or not) enforce their rights in the several courts. It prescribes the means of enforcing rights or providing redress of wrongs and comprises rules relative to jurisdiction, pleading and practice, evidence, …

Cases and Controversies

What determines a case not to be considered?

1. Advisory Opinion – consulting in nature – but not a case.

2. Moot Case – no real issues exist.

3. Lacks sufficient standing 4. Political Questions -

Note: For a matter to be tried it must be “definite and concrete in nature.”

Rights of the Court

The Long Arm of the Law

Long Arm Statutes – “Most states have laws called Long Arm Statutes. The purpose of these statutes is to permit the state to exercise authority over a person who drives on it’s roads.” It also can have jurisdiction over a person who has committed a crime in a state in which they currently do not have residence.

The Long Arm of the Law

Choice of Laws: is the selection of which jurisdiction's laws should be applied to a particular incident.

Read The Case Regarding the “Choice of Laws Case” between Julia and Karen. What do you think should be done?

Providing Police Power:     Police function to enforce the

laws of the land. They are on our streets and

highways to maintain peace and status quo. They are there to protect the civil

rights of people.  Civil Rights: Laws that are

extremely important and have their historical background in the first 10 amendments under Article VII of the US Constitution fashioned in 1791.

(Read Appendix, starting with Article

VII of the US Constitution and ending with Article XI [1798].)

 Maximum Security – Where Scott Peterson is kept

LEGAL TERMINOLOGY

MAKE SURE THESE ARE IN YOUR NOTES!

Legal Terminology • Plaintiff – Individual bringing the complaint• Defendant – Respondent to that complaint• Appellant – Party bringing the case forward to the Court of

Appeals• Appellee – Party who “defends the decision of the lower

court.• Justifiability – a case capable of a court’s decision • Judicial Question – Questions that are proper for a court to

decide.• Judicial Restraint – A judicial policy of refusing to hear

and decide certain types of cases.• Standing to Sue - Plaintiff must have a stake in the

outcome of case

Legal Terminology Continued

Make sure these words are in your notes:• “Writ” – (Written) A writing issued by the court to bring a

party before a court or judgeWrit comes in the form of:

SummonsBody of EvidenceWrit of Assistance – or warrantWrit of Coram Nobis – Latin for “Before us” meaning “bringing attention of the matter before the court.

• Habeas Corpus – “You have the body” –

Legal Terminology Continued

Make sure these words are in your notes:• Habeas Corpus – “You have the body” – known as

“the Great Writ” – obtaining judicial determination of the legality of an individual’s custody.

• Due Process of Law – “Nor shall any state deprive any person of life, liberty or property without the due process of law.”

• Ex Post Facto Law – A law passed after an occurrence or act, which retrospectively changes the legal consequence of such act.

Legal Terminology

•Service of Process – court papers being served to an individual or corporation.•Foreign Corporation – A corporation that had its articles of incorporation approved in another state.

In Personam Jurisdiction

• Personal jurisdiction is obtained by:– Plaintiff

• by virtue of filing the suit

– Defendant• by serving summons within the state• by mailing summons• by publication

• Party disputing jurisdiction may make a special appearance

Legal Terminology • In Rem Jursidiction – Action taken against property –

The ability and authority for a court of take control of an individuals or corporations land or property.

• Condemnation Proceeding – The ability of a court to take land or property for public use or declare the property forfeited.

• Attachment – Seizure of the defendants property

In Rem and Quasi In Rem Jurisdiction

• In rem:– Court has jurisdiction over the property of the

lawsuit– Within the state borders

• Quasi in rem:– Attachment jurisdiction

• Attach property located in another state

How to Find The Law

15 CAL. 3d 162

15 = volume # Cal = California Reports

3d = Series #

Page #

Other Citations:United States Reports Federal SupplementFederal Reporter Bankruptcy ReporterSupreme Court Reporter National Reporter System

Computer Library Research Databanks:

Westlaw – Nexis/Lexis – (Lexis – available through FCC Law Library)

Websites to View:For more information on the Supreme Court Justices:http://supct.law.cornell.edu/supct/cases/judges.htmLaws: http://www.alllaw.com http://www.findlaw.comhttp://www.oyez.org/oyez/frontpage