2 intro to the supreme court
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Intro to the U.S. Supreme CourtTRANSCRIPT
Unit VII Lesson 2
Intro to the U.S. Supreme Court
Essential Question:
• What are the basic civil rights
and liberties of Americans?
• How have significant decisions
of the Supreme Court affected
our basic rights?
• What are the strengths and
weaknesses of court decisions
as instruments of social
change?
Federal Court
System
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Miranda v Arizona
Arizona
Ernesto Miranda
The U.S. Supreme Court can review cases from both the federal
AND STATE court systems if they believe there is a constitutional
issue involved
How does the U.S. Supreme Court
decide which cases they will look at?
8,000 Appeals
Each Year
When at least FOUR of the NINE Justices on the U.S. Supreme Court
decide they want to review a case they will issue a “Writ of Certiorari”(A request to look at a lower court’s decision; they don’t have to rule on it)
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Writ of Certiorari
“The Rule of Four”
“Abstain”
Or
The U.S. Supreme Court only issues about 100 “Wits of
Certiorari” a year (out of about 8,000 appeals). It generally issues
a formal written opinion on about 75 of these cases
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3 4
“What’s Next?”
“Briefs”
“Petitioner”
“Respondent”
Oral Arguments
*Each side gets
just 30 minutes
to present their
case to the
justices
Petitioner
or
Respondent
After hearing oral arguments the justices adjourn to discuss
the case in private (this can take minutes, hours, days,
weeks, or even months!
Once discussions are over the justices vote in secret; a
simple majority (5 of the 9 justices) rules
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The Supreme Court can issue one of four different “opinions”
(written explanations of their decision):
1) Unanimous Opinion- When all nine
Justices agree
2) Majority Opinion- The decision supported
by MOST but not ALL of the justices
Five of Nine
3) Concurring Opinion- Opinion of a Justice who agrees
with the majority decision but for different reasons
4) Dissenting Opinion- The opinion expressed by
the losing minority of Justices on the Court
8-1
Almost all of the cases the U.S. Supreme
Court rules on come from:
A.It’s original jurisdiction
B.It’s appellate jurisdiction
C.Instruction from the president
D.Petitions from Congress
When a decision is appealed to the U.S.
Supreme Court, which of the following is MOST
likely to occur?
A.The Supreme Court will consider the case
and overturn a lower court’s decision
B.The Supreme Court will replace the lower
court judge and restart the case
C.The Supreme Court will change the venue
and order a retrial
D.The Supreme Court will not hear the appeal
A writ of certiorari from the U.S. Supreme
Court indicates that the Court:
A.Will review a lower court decision
B.Has rendered a decision on on a case
C.Has decided not to hear an appeal
D.Plans to overturn one of its previous
rulings
Which of the following statements about writs
of certiorari is accurate?
A.Cases appealed by the president are
automatically granted certiorari
B.The Supreme Court grants certiorari for very
few of the thousands of cases appealing for it
C.The Supreme Court has historically granted
certiorari to most of the cases appealing for it
D.The Supreme Court does not grant certiorari
to cases involving state laws
1.Unanimous Opinion
2.Majority Opinion
3.Concurring Opinion
4. Dissenting Opinion
B. When all nine Justices agree
A. The opinion expressed by most of
Justices on the Court
C. Opinion of a Justice who agrees with
the majority decision but for different
reasons
D. The decision supported by MOST but
not ALL of the justices
Match the Opinion to the Definition
Homework!!!
Textbook Pages: 417-
422
Graphic Novel Pages:
(None)