...A supreme court is the highest court within the hierarchy of many legal jurisdictions. Other descriptions for such courts include court of last resort, instance court, judgment court, apex court, and highest court of appeal. Broadly speaking, the decisions of a supreme court are not subject to further review by any other court. Supreme courts typically function primarily as appellate courts, hearing appeals from decisions of lower trial courts, or from intermediate-level appellate courts. However, not all highest courts are named as such. Civil law states do not tend to have singular highest courts. Additionally, the highest court in some jurisdictions is not named the "Supreme Court", for example, the High Court of Australia; this is because decisions by the High Court could formerly be appealed to the Privy Council. In a few places, the court named the "Supreme Court" is not in fact the highest court; examples include the New York Supreme Court, which is superseded by the New York Court of Appeals, and the former Supreme Court of Judicature of England and Wales. Some countries have multiple "supreme courts" whose respective jurisdictions have different geographical extents, or which are restricted to particular areas of law. In particular, countries with a federal system of government typically have both a federal supreme court, and supreme courts for each member state, with the former having jurisdiction over the latter only to the extent that the federal constitution extends...
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...The Supreme Court The purpose of the Supreme Court is to review or address cases that involve issues on a federal level or of constitutional law, just as appellate courts hear cases on a state level. Their responsibilities include deciding how to apply the principles of constitutional law to new matters and issues that arise in today’s day to day legal process; they also play the role of the “parent” to lower federal appellate courts when their decisions on legal issues are contradicting to one another, overlap, goes against constitutional rights, or allows room for confusion as to whose decision takes precedent. Bottom line the purpose of the Supreme Court is to provide the rules and statues for state level courts to abide by when they involve federal or constitutional matters, making them the highest court of law. The Supreme Court is made up of nine judges or justices of the peace that are appointed by the President of the United States and the advice of the senate, their titles include one chief and eight associates that serve a life term. By law there are no particular requirements, educational experience or background, or law degrees necessary to become a Supreme Court judge, but because the advice of senate is used by the President of the United States to select the justices their experience and background is taken into consideration. These nine justices makeup what is considered a full court, however it only takes six justices to makeup a lawful bench and in some circumstances...
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...Court system of California is the largest systems about 12% of the U.S population are served. Major cases California courts starts in trail courts which are present in each and every 58 counties of California State. These courts hear criminal, civil, family, juvenile, probate, mental health and traffic cases. Before courts of appeal Supreme Court review most of the cases. Supreme Court is the highest Court in the California and reviews decisions of the court of appeal in order to solve the conflicts and settle the law questions. California Supreme Court has one Chief Justice and six Associate Justices. It has 7907 fillings and about eighty five written opinions. Each Justice is appointed by Governor. The decision of Supreme Court provides guidance for the lower courts which shows effects on the residents of California. Supreme Court has decisions to decide which decisions can be review but is definitely want to review all the cases where death penalty is imposed. Supreme Court can also review the decisions of state Bar of California regarding the suspension of judges for misconduct. All the decisions of Supreme Court are in the form of written and available for public. They are made accessible through websites and official reports. Supreme Court functions for the development of law which are applied by trial and appellate courts. Supreme Courts reviews cases which will enable it to settle legal questions and to see that the law is uniformly applied throughout the state. Normally...
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...What's the Supreme Court of the United States? The Supreme Court of the United States is headed by a Chief Justice and currently has eight associate justices; this number can be fixed by Congress. The Supreme Court has a mission statement that states "The Supreme Court is the highest tribunal in the nation for all cases and controversies arising under the Constitution or the laws of the United States. The Court stands as the final arbiter of the law and guardian of constitutional liberties." It is the highest federal court in the United States and has jurisdiction over all federal courts and state courts. Who are the current members? Provide a brief summary of each. John G Roberts Jr.; Chief Justice. From Buffalo, New York, and born on January 27 of 1955, thus making him sixty years old. He attended Harvard University; he received his bachelor's degree in 1976 and his JD in 1979. He has had much experience in law, from assisting law, associate to various presidents, such as Ronald Reagan, to the US Department of Justice. He was nominated by former President George W. Bush to be Chief Justice; he has currently been active since September 29, 2005. Antonin Scalia; Scalia was born in Trenton, New Jersey. He was born on March...
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...The chain of events leading up to the Supreme Court case U. S. v Clarke included summonses issued by the IRS to four people associated with Dynamo Holdings, L.P. for evidence and documents related to Dynamo’s tax liability for 2005-2007. Large interest expenses reported in those years were in question. Dynamo had agreed to two year-long extensions of the usual 3-year limitation period for assessing tax liability. When the four individuals failed to comply with the summonses issued in September and October 2010, the IRS pursued the issue in District Court in April 2011 to enforce the summons under United States Code Section 7602(a), which gives the Secretary the power to examine relevant or material information and to summon liable parties. Under Reisman v. Caplin, 375 U. S. 440, 449 (1964), the summons was challenged by respondents, attempting to question the responsible agents and claiming the IRS had questionable motives in issuing the summonses. The respondents held that the IRS issued the summonses to “punish Dynamo for refusing to a further extension of the applicable statute of limitations.” Additionally, the respondents claimed that the IRS decided to enforce the summonses following Dynamo filing suit in Tax Court in order to avoid the Tax Court’s limitations on discovery, thus gaining an unfair advantage. This request was deemed incorrect matter of law and was denied by the District Court because the respondents did not point to specifics that might raise interference...
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...Karen Franklin Grantham University GP 210 04/14/2016 Supreme Court Cases The 9 members of the United States supreme court: Justice | Date of Birth | Appointed by | Sworn in | Vacant (Antonin Scalia) | 3/11/1936 Died 2/13/2016 Age: 79 yr 11 mo | Ronald Reagan | 9/26/1986 Served: 29 yr 4 mo | Anthony Kennedy | 7/23/1936 Age: 79 yr 8 mo | Ronald Reagan | 2/18/1988 Served: 28 yr 1 mo | Clarence Thomas | 6/23/1948 Age: 67 yr 9 mo | George H. W. Bush | 10/23/1991 Served: 24 yr 5 mo | Ruth Bader Ginsburg | 3/15/1933 Age: 83 yr 0 mo | Bill Clinton | 8/19/1993 Served: 22 yr 7 mo | Stephen Breyer | 8/15/1938 Age: 77 yr 7 mo | Bill Clinton | 8/3/1994 Served: 21 yr 8 mo | John G. Roberts | 1/27/1955 Age: 61 yr 2 mo | George W. Bush | 9/29/2005 Served: 10 yr 6 mo | Samuel A. Alito, Jr. | 4/1/1950 Age: 66 yr 0 mo | George W. Bush | 1/31/2006 Served: 10 yr 2 mo | Sonia Sotomayor | 6/25/1954 Age: 61 yr 9 mo | Barack Obama | 8/8/2009 Served: 6 yr 8 mo | Elena Kagan | 4/28/1960 Age: 55 yr 11 mo | Barack Obama | 8/7/2010 Served: 5 yr 8 mo | http://www.thegreenpapers.com/Hx/SupremeCourt.html A Texas resident wanted to terminate her pregnancy through abortion, but Texas law prohibited abortions unless they were happening to save the mother’s life. The right to privacy which is in the fourth amendment is the laws that was being challenged and in this case it was protected under the fourteenth amendment...
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...The Power of the Supreme Court Cannot be Justified in a Democracy (45) The US Supreme Court has a number of powers. These include the power to declare acts of Congress, the executive or state legislatures unconstitutional through the power of judicial review. The supreme court justices are also given the power to interpret the constitution when making decisions, again, through their power of judicial review. It is arguable that it is essential for the supreme court to have such powers in order to allow the American democracy to flourish. However, there is much evidence to suggest that the supreme court holds too much power for an unelected body, thus hindering democracy. The ambiguity of the constitution means that there is much room for interpretation. Since interpreting the constitution is the role of the supreme court, the supreme court is often seen as a quasi legislative body. This is because through its interpretations, particularly those made by loose contructionists, the supreme court acts as an additional legislature. It's decisions can have the same effect as passing legislation. For example, the Grutter vs Bollinger decision (2008) involved the courts laying down a time frame for which affirmative action can be deemed necessary. This effectively acted as a piece of legislation even though it did not pass through Congress. This can be seen as being problematic and potentially damaging for a Democracy. Justices are unelected, they therefore lack legitimacy and should...
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...Supreme Court justices are just politicians in black robes Supreme court justices are politicians. They are politicians alongside their duties of judges of the highest court in the land. The most basic definition of a politician is, a person that achieves a position of policy making over an organized community. Judges, in theory, should be fair, unbiased, neutral, impartial and not based or linked to any political party or movement. However, decisions made by the Supreme Court judges have had huge political significance. While it’s not the standard in lower courts, the United States Supreme Court is forced to make political and judicial decisions. A judicial decision is based on the question was a law broken. However, because the Supreme Court is the highest court of the land, they also must make political decisions some of which have been more powerful that the actual laws congress had written. The Supreme Court is in charge of making sure congress and the president don’t overstep their authority, and to do this job of keeping these branches accountable it would be impossible for the justices to not be politicians yielding real power. One of the examples of the supreme courts political power the court case Griswold v. Connecticut (1965). Estelle Griswold was the executive director of Planned Parenthood in Connecticut; she and Dr. Buxton of Yale Medical School opened a clinic in Waterbury and after only serving 10 patients Griswold and Buxton were arrested and convicted...
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...Supreme Court of the United States, In the case of the Supreme Court of the United States, Michael D. Crawford v. Washington. Michael Crawford was tried for assault and attempted murder for stabbing a man who was named, Kenneth Lee. Crawford stabbed Lee at his apartment on on August 5,1999. Police arrested petitioner later that night. Crawford claimed he had acted in self-defense when he believed Lee had picked up a weapon. Lee denied doing anything that might make Crawford believe he was trying to attack him. Michael Crawford contended that Lee had attempted to rape his wife, Sylvia. The police arrested him for the stabbing, and after giving both Michael and his wife, Sylvia, Miranda warnings, they interrogated both husband and wife twice. The statement Michael challenged under the Confrontation Clause came from a tape recorded interrogation of Sylvia. In her second interrogation, she gave a version of the fight between Michael and the alleged victim that at least appeared inconsistent with her husband’s self-defense claim. Sylvia’s tape recorded statement was introduced at trial against Michael even though he had no opportunity for cross examination. In reviewing the statement’s admission by the trial court, the Washington Court of Appeals and Washington Supreme Court applied slightly different tests grounded in the framework described by...
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...I believe that the courts rule the nation because even though they don’t have many powers, they are the last ones who get a say on a matter. This is Judicial Review which gives the court the right to “strike down acts that violate the constitution” (Morone & Kersh 577). The Judicial system also has the shortest article in the constitution; therefore it has fewer constraints on its power. The Judicial Review was never in the constitution, but the court gained that power saying that it fit under its umbrella of powers. The court’s power enhances more by pragmatism than originalism. Morone and Kersh say that “The Court breaks relatively evenly along the partisan divide” (591). I believe it leans towards pragmatism because of its...
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...Supreme Court Case Happy Villa May 19, 2014 Loanan Ase In the case of Robert Tolan and Marian Tolan vs. Jeffrey Wayne Cotton, I will be discussing what interest me about this case. I will also deliberating on the liability and criminal liability of this case. The Tolan vs. Cotton case interests me because the United States have so many police that are brutalizing citizens. In some cases the police officers are getting away with it. After reading, reviewing, and studying this case I have learn a lot about the criminal system and laws that men and women should obey. I will explain how the nine judges on the Supreme courts all came to a verdict against the police officer Jeffrey Cotton after he shot an innocent suspect. This people will explain how a person technical error can cause such harm mentally, physically, and finically on a single family. Sources, Purposes, and Jurisdictions Robert and Marian Tolan are mother and son that is suing a former officer by the name of Jeffrey Wayne Cotton for using deadly force against an unarm innocent man. Cotton was indicted in May 2009. According to "Find Law" (2014), “Sergeant Cotton and Officer Edwards violated Robbie and Marian Tolan's right to freedom from excessive force (under Fourth Amendment, incorporated in Fourteenth); and both Officers acted in furtherance of a City of Bellaire official policy of racial profiling and discrimination.” The purpose of the Tolans taking their case to the Supreme Courts was “because no genuine...
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...execution, which should have been only 30 seconds, lasted 14 minutes long. Whenever the phrase “death penalty” is brought up, two sides of extremists are riled up shouting for either approval or forbearance; thus creating a whirlpool of dissent and provocation. Many critics of this controversial issue may state that the moral aspects are inhumane and that the use should be discontinued from the United States; however, the crimes deemed worthy of capital punishment should not and cannot be overlooked simply because of a certain belief. The implementation of the death penalty should remain in practice to prevent heinous crimes and victimization of the innocent. Sometimes the “chair” truly is the best seat in the house. The supreme court case of Alabama vs John Louis Evans of 1977 shifted the viewpoint as to how the United States would approach the sensitive issue of the death penalty. John Evans was the first inmate to be executed by the state of Alabama after the United States re-instituted the death penalty in 1976 (Blanco). Over the course of two months, Evans and his accomplice participated in a crime spree involving in over thirty robberies, extortion schemes, and several kidnappings. He was charged with first degree murder and...
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...Supporters of affirmative action fear that the Supreme Court could curtail or further restrict the use of race-conscious admissions policies at public universities. On Wednesday, all eyes will be on Justice Anthony Kennedy, whose vote is considered pivotal in the case brought by a white Texan who has sued the University of Texas at Austin, claiming that she was denied admission to the school in 2008 because of her race. Abigail Fisher, who has since graduated from Louisiana State University, said she was subject to unequal treatment in violation of the 14th Amendment. "I was taught from the time I was a little girl that any kind of discrimination was wrong, and for an institution of higher learning to act this way makes no sense to me," Fisher said in an interview clip posted on the website of the Project on Fair Representation, a legal defense foundation that's providing her with legal representation. On the other side are lawyers for the University of Texas, who argue that, like many other universities, UT seeks to assemble a class that is diverse in innumerable ways -- including race -- and that "race is just one of many characteristics that form the mosaic presented by an applicant's file." More than 90 friend of the court briefs have been filed in the case, with the Obama administration weighing in favor of the university. Others, who support Fisher, argue that diversity can be achieved through race-neutral programs, and that race-preferential admissions policies can...
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...to deliver the highest level of quality of care that is necessary for the better health of the patient. For instance, healthcare professionals are to “only perform procedures [they] have been trained and are legally able to do; use only approved, correct procedures; obtain proper authorization before performing any procedure; and identify patent and receive their consent before performing procedure” (personal communication, November 12, 2015). According to the case, .the medical professionals did not adhere to the proper standards when performing the procedure on Elizabeth Bouvia. Legal obligations coincide with ethical obligations, but are quite different. By definition, legal obligations are “dut[ies] that [are] enforced by a court of law” Legally, they were unable to perform the procedure due to the fact that Bouvia did not consent to the procedure. After researching the legal obligations of a healthcare professional, there are several laws in which medical staff need to abide by legally. The 42 U.S. Code § 1320c–5 states that a practitioner will provide quality in which “meets professionally recognized standards of health care” (42 U.S. Code § 1320c–5 - Obligations of health care practitioners and providers of health care services; sanctions and penalties; hearings and review, n.d.). Legally, medical professionals need to have consent from the patient, or their medical power of attorney to perform any procedure. The medical staff has a code of ethics that they...
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...police that an auditory hallucination named Sarge was in control during the murders. He also referenced his act was of divine intervention, therefore his victims did not suffer during their deaths. Scott Panetti had a long history of mental illness. There was a report filed when he served in the Navy in regards to his mental health dating back to 1975. The prior 6 years before the shooting of his parents-in-law he was institutionalized over twelve times. He repeatedly was diagnosed as having schizophrenia, delusions, and hallucinations. He ex-wife has testified he believed he was in a battle with Satan and performed exorcisms on their home including burying their furniture and other belongs outside of the their home. The Texas state court held his initial trial in 1995,...
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