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Post by Charity on Oct 31, 2005 10:32:29 GMT -5
This unit will be to learn all about the Surpreme Court of the United States. Often you will hear the term SCOTUS, which stands for (The Supreme Court of The United States). In this unit I will be putting many links and history and information.
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Post by Charity on Oct 31, 2005 10:33:35 GMT -5
Religious Affiliation of the U.S. Supreme Court John Roberts was confirmed by Congress on 29 September 2005 as the new Chief Justice of the Supreme Court, replacing Chief Justice William H. Rehnquist. The chart below reflects what the composition of the Supreme Court will be if Sandra Day O'Connor (who has announced her retirement effective immediately once her replacement is confirmed) is replaced by Samuel Alito, who was nominated on 31 October 2005 to take her place: Justice Affiliation John Roberts (Chief Justice) Catholic Stephen G. Breyer Jewish Ruth Bader Ginsburg Jewish Anthony M. Kennedy Catholic Antonin Scalia Catholic David H. Souter Episcopalian John Paul Stevens Protestant Clarence Thomas Catholic Samuel Alito Catholic Religious Affiliation Justices % of Justices in this religion % of U.S. Pop. in this religion Christian Kennedy, Scalia, Thomas, Souter, Stevens, Roberts, Alito 78% 76.5% Protestant Stevens 11% 53.0% Catholic Kennedy, Scalia, Thomas, Roberts, Alito 56% 24.5% Episcopalian * Souter 11% 1.7% Jewish Breyer, Ginsburg 22% 1.8% more... www.adherents.com/adh_sc.html
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Post by Charity on Oct 31, 2005 10:35:35 GMT -5
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Post by Charity on Oct 31, 2005 10:38:02 GMT -5
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Post by Charity on Oct 31, 2005 10:39:10 GMT -5
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Post by Charity on Oct 31, 2005 10:39:51 GMT -5
Qualifications The Constitution does not explicitly establish any qualifications for Justices of the Supreme Court. In fact it does not even specify citizenship or age as it does for the executive and legislative branches. However, Presidents normally nominate individuals who have prior legal experience. Typically, most nominees have judicial experience, either at the federal or state level. Several nominees have formerly served on federal Courts of Appeals, especially the Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit, which is often considered a stepping stone to the Supreme Court. Another source of Supreme Court nominees is the federal executive branch—in particular, the Department of Justice. Other potential nominees include members of Congress and academics. On the current Supreme Court, seven Justices previously served on federal courts (including three on the D.C. Circuit); two served on state courts; three were former law school professors; and three held full time positions in the federal executive branch.
Nominees to the Supreme Court, as well as to lower federal courts, are evaluated by the American Bar Association's Standing Committee on Federal Judiciary. The panel is composed of fifteen federal judges (but not Supreme Court Justices), including at least one from each federal judicial circuit. The body assesses the nominee "solely to professional qualifications: integrity, professional competence and judicial temperament," and offers a rating of "well qualified," "qualified," or "not qualified." The opinions of the committee bind neither the President nor the Senate; however, they are generally taken into account.
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Post by Charity on Oct 31, 2005 10:40:55 GMT -5
Jurisdiction Article Three of the United States Constitution outlines the jurisdiction of the federal courts of the United States. It provides: The judicial Power shall extend to all Cases, in Law and Equity, arising under this Constitution, the Laws of the United States, and Treaties made, or which shall be made, under their Authority; to all Cases affecting Ambassadors, other public Ministers and Consuls; to all Cases of admiralty and maritime Jurisdiction; to Controversies to which the United States shall be a Party; to Controversies between two or more States; between a State and Citizens of another State; between Citizens of different States; between Citizens of the same State claiming Lands under Grants of different States, and between a State, or the Citizens thereof, and foreign States, Citizens or Subjects. The jurisdiction of the federal courts was further limited by the Eleventh Amendment, which forbade the federal courts from hearing cases "commenced or prosecuted against by Citizens of another State, or by Citizens or Subjects of any Foreign State." However, the Eleventh Amendment is not deemed to apply if a state consents to be sued. Moreover, the Supreme Court has ruled that Congress may abrogate the states' immunity from lawsuits in certain circumstances. In addition to constitutional constraints, the jurisdiction of the federal courts is also limited by various federal laws. For example, the federal courts may consider "Controversies ... between Citizens of different States" only if the amount in controversy exceeds $75,000; otherwise, the case may only be brought in state courts (see diversity jurisdiction).
The Constitution specifies that the Supreme Court may exercise original jurisdiction in cases affecting ambassadors and other diplomats, and in cases in which a state is a party. In all other cases, however, the Supreme Court has only appellate jurisdiction. The Supreme Court considers cases based on its original jurisdiction very rarely; almost all cases are brought to the Supreme Court on appeal. In practice, the only original jurisdiction cases heard by the Court are disputes between two or more states.
The power of the Supreme Court to consider appeals from state courts, rather than just federal courts, was created by the Judiciary Act of 1789 and upheld early in the Court's history, by its rulings in Martin v. Hunter's Lessee (1816) and Cohens v. Virginia (1821). The Supreme Court is the only federal court that has jurisdiction over direct appeals from state court decisions, although there are a variety of devices that permit so-called "collateral review" of state cases.
The Supreme Court may only hear actual cases and controversies. It does not hear moot cases or issue advisory opinions. However, the Supreme Court does often hear test cases, or cases specifically designed to test the constitutionality of a statute (rather than to merely redress a particular wrong). Many significant Supreme Court cases were test cases; examples include Plessy v. Ferguson and Brown v. Board of Education. Furthermore, the Court may consider some cases, such as Roe v. Wade, that become moot during the judicial process, if it appears that the legal issue involved is likely to arise again but would not be reviewable by the Court under a strict mootness analysis. "Roe" had already had her baby when the case came to the Supreme Court, because judicial activity (trials, appeals and so on) takes much longer than human gestation. Because future abortion cases would face the same time constraints, the Court decided the case in spite of its mootness.
The Supreme Court is not required to hear every case presented to it. In cases that are heard by a three-judge United States district court (a practice that formerly was somewhat common but has been limited to very few cases by legislation in recent years), there is a right of appeal directly to the Supreme Court, although the Court may dispose of these appeals by summary order if it does not believe they are important enough for full briefing and argument. In most instances, however, the party must petition the Supreme Court for a writ of certiorari. By custom, certiorari is granted on the vote of four of the nine Justices. In most cases, the writ is denied; the Supreme Court normally only considers matters of national or constitutional importance. If the Court refuses to grant certiorari, it does not comment on the merits of the case; the decision of the lower court stands unchanged as if Supreme Court review had not been requested.
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Post by Charity on Oct 31, 2005 10:43:48 GMT -5
Seal of the United States Supreme Court
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Post by Charity on Oct 31, 2005 10:45:49 GMT -5
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Post by Charity on Oct 31, 2005 10:48:04 GMT -5
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Post by Charity on Oct 31, 2005 12:47:06 GMT -5
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Post by Charity on Oct 31, 2005 12:49:24 GMT -5
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Post by Charity on Oct 31, 2005 12:55:20 GMT -5
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Post by Charity on Oct 31, 2005 12:57:31 GMT -5
Alito would be fifth Catholic justice on Supreme Court Alito would be fifth Catholic justice on Supreme Court Associated Press WASHINGTON — If confirmed, Samuel Alito would be the fifth Roman Catholic on the current Supreme Court and the 11th Catholic to serve in the court's history. The others: Roger Taney, chief justice 1836-1864 Edward White, 1894-1921; chief justice 1910-1921 Joseph McKenna, 1898-1925 Pierce Butler, 1923-1939 Frank Murphy, 1940-1949 William Brennan Jr., 1956-1990 Antonin Scalia, 1986-present Anthony Kennedy, 1988-present Clarence Thomas, 1991-present John Roberts, chief justice, 2005-present Note: Thomas converted to Catholicism after joining the court. Another justice, Sherman Minton, served from 1949-1956 and became a Catholic after leaving the court. Source www.chron.com/cs/CDA/rssstory.mpl/politics/3427390
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