How the Supreme Court Works          

     The Supreme Court is set up so it is unbiased. The way this is done is that the justices are appointed by the President and approved by the Senate and then serve life terms so they do not have to worry about running for office. This allows a justice to focus on the law and not the opinions of the public. A justice will serve his or her term until death, retirement, or impeachment.   

     The Judicial System in the United States is adversarial. That means that there are always two sides to a conflict that are represented.  The federal court system is set up mainly to decide on the constiutionality of laws and their enforcement. This is done through a variety of means; one of the more common methods is using precedents. A precedent is an earlier decision that can be used to influence subsequent or later cases. For instance, the question of civil rights for African Americans in the 20th century was often shot down by the Plessy vs. Ferguson case of 1896. 

How the Supreme Court Chooses a Case

      In the U.S, there are two levels of the Judicial Branch: federal and state.  The highest court in the nation that supersedes all of other courts is the United States Supreme Court.  It hears appeals from the United  States Courts of Appeals (the highest federal level court), federal district courts, and from state supreme courts (the highest state level courts). The Supreme Court only accepts certain cases that the court feels are the most important.

     The Supreme Court is in session from the first Monday in October to the end of June. During the first two weeks of every month, the justices listen to oral arguments about cases that are presented to the Court.^[1] The next two weeks of the month the justices spend time considering the each case presented and then they write their opinions on the case^[2]. This process goes on until the end of April. In each decision made six justices must take part and a case and each case needs four votes to be heard.  ^[3] Cases are chosen by a majority vote and in the event of a tie the decision of the lower court that presented the case is sustained^[4]. Also in the event of a tie the case can be reargued but this is a rare occurrence^[5]. These decisions are made during a conference in a private room so the Justices are not influenced by reporters or anyone else. This allows the Justices to speak their mind in confidence with the other Justices.^[6]

How the Supreme Court Hears and Decides on a Case

     When the Supreme Court takes a case to trial there is no jury or witnesses. This is because the Justices have reviewed all of the material form the trial that occurred in the lower courts. This leaves the decision solely up to the justices.^[7] When a case is heard, the final decision is made by a majority vote (five out of four). The Justices then explain their decisions in opinions of the court which is how the Justices explain their individual opinions on how they decided on a case. If a Justice agrees with the majority decision but for a different reason, then it is called a concurring opinion, but if a Justice disagrees with the majority then it is called a dissenting opinion^[8]. 

For more information on the cases the Supreme Court hears, click on this awesome link  http://www.supremecourthistory.org/index.htm

Federal System

            The federal judicial system is selective about the cases it chooses to hear.  Usually its cases involve federal law rather than state law- that is called Federal Question Jurisdiction.  The other kinds of cases that can be brought to the federal court are called diversity cases. “Diversity” indicates that it is a dispute brought between citizens of different states or between citizens of the United States and foreign countries.  

            Federal cases are usually initiated in Federal District Courts.  Federal District Court judges are appointed by the President and approved by the Senate. There are also federal magistrates who have more limited powers and are selected by the local United States district judges.  District court magistrates and judges preside over trials- both criminal and civil.  Some of these involve juries.

     The Federal courts have the ability to refuse to allow a law to be enforced if the law is believed to conflict with the Constitution. This is called judicial review and was established in the case of Marbury v. Madison.  

          The party that loses a case at the district court level can appeal the case to a United States Court of Appeals.  There are 12 geographical divisions of these called circuits.  The 9^th circuit is the biggest.

         Arizona is located in the 9^th circuit and so cases brought to the Arizona district court are brought to the 9^th circuit Court of Appeals.  Appeals court judges do not hold trials.  They read and review the record of the evidence and testimony and arguments of the district court trial proceedings. Then they listen to the lawyers’ arguments and decide based on that evidence whether the decision of the District Court was correct. 

            The party who loses in the circuit Court of Appeals may be able to bring an appeal to the United States Supreme Court. In order to appeal to the supreme court, the petitioning party must present a Petition in Certiorari. This petition explains why the case is important enough to deserve the attention and valuable time of the United States Supreme Court.  If the United States Supreme Court grants Certiorari, then the appellant will get to present the case before the Supreme Court.  This happens with less than 5% of the cases. 

            One of the best reasons for the Supreme Court to accept a case for review is that there are similar cases that have been decided differently by different Circuit Courts of Appeals.  

            Example: There are two cases that involve age discrimination.  The two different cases have similar facts and deal with the same statutes discussed.  One is in San Francisco (part of the 9^th circuit) and one is in Boston (part of the 1st circuit).   The 9^th circuit may interpret the law differently. One or both parties could petition for certiorari. One reason for the United States Supreme Court to grant certiorari is to decide whether the 1st Circuit is right or the 9th Circuit is right, so in the future, everyone understands that part of the law more clearly.   

The Supreme Court

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Photo from: 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_Court_of_Appeals_for_the_District_of_Columbia_Circuit