United States Constitution: Article 3. The Judicial Branch

• The Constitution created a Supreme Court. as the Court of Last Resort.
  • U.S. Supreme Court website
• Congress was to create inferior Courts.
• In the Judiciary Act of 1789, Congress created the Federal Court System with:
  • 94 District Courts (hear cases at the trial level)
  • 12 Regional Courts of Appeal. (first level of appeals)
• Judges are life-time appointees.
• Judges are to be paid.
• Their pay can't be decreased.

Source: United States Department of Justice

• Decide cases involving the Constitution, Federal law and agreements with other nations;
• Decide cases affecting ambassadors, public ministers and consuls;
• Decide cases occurring at sea;
• Decide cases affecting the Federal government; 
• Decide disputes between two or more States;
• Decide disputes between a State and a Citizen of another State;
• Decide disputes between Citizens of different States
  • Decide disputes over land given to a Citizen of a different State;
  • Changed by the 11th Amendment to Citizens of one State can't sue another State.
• Disputes between a State, or Citizens of a State, and foreign countries (or their Citizens or subjects).
• All cases can be appealed to the Supreme Court.
• Heard by the Supreme Court: All disputes between ambassadors, ministers and consuls with a State of the United States.

• All trials except impeachment are jury trials.
• Trials will be held in the State where the crime occurred.
• If the crime did not occur in any State, Congress will decide where.

• The Constitution defines Treason as waging war against the United States
• Or giving the enemies of the United States aid and comfort.
• No person can be convicted of treason unless two witnesses testify against the person
• Or the person confesses.
• Congress provides the punishment for treason.
• The heirs of the convicted person cannot lose their inheritance.

• Benedict Arnold (1780), escaped to England.
• Aaron Burr (1807), acquitted.
• James Wilkinson (1790-1825), found guilty.
• Robert E. Lee and other Confederate officers (1861-1865), given clemency
• Jefferson Davis (1861-1865), pardoned.
• Martin James Monti (1944), found guilty.
• Mildred Gillars (Axis Sally) (1941-1945), found guilty.
• Tomoya Kawakita (1941-1945), found guilty.
• Robert Best (1941-1945), found guilty.
• Douglas Chandler (1941-1945), found guilty.
• Herbert J. Burgman (1941-1945), found guilty.
• John Dasch (1942), found guilty.
• Frederick Kaltenbach (1939-1945), indicted.
• Iva Toguri D'Aquino (1941-1945), found guilty.

Source: History Collection

According to the website, uscourts.gov, the Supreme Court usually only hears cases :

• "if the case has national significance,
• if it might harmonize conflicting decisions in the federal Circuit courts,
• and/or could have precedential value."

In order for a case to be heard:

• "Four of the nine Justices must vote to accept a case.
• "Five of the nine Justices must vote in order to grant a stay, e.g., a stay of execution in a death penalty case.
• "Under certain instances, one Justice may grant a stay pending review by the entire Court." 

Terms

• In general, U.S. Courts, including the U.S. Supreme Court, decide cases based on precedent. Precedent is a legal rule established by prior cases.
• In some cases, the Supreme Court may choose to overturn a precedent. This may be based on a new understanding of the law under which the precedent was decided. Or the precedent was inadequate to address the issues it had originally address. Or society has changed in such a way that the precedent was considered unjust.
• A decision may also be overturned by a Constitutional Amendment.

• Marbury v. Madison (1803): The Supreme Court is the decider-in-chief as to what laws, actions and powers are (and are not) constitutional.
• McCulloch v. Maryland (1819): Congress has the power to make any laws necessary to execute its listed powers in the Constitution.
• Gibbons v. Ogden (1824): Congress, not a State, has the authority over interstate navigation.
• Dred Scott v. Sandford (1857):Black people were not to be considered Citizens of the United States. But the 14th Amendment to the Constitution changed that and overruled Dred Scott.
• Plessy v Ferguson (1896): State-imposed racial segregation was Constitutional.
• Gitlow v New York (1925): First case the Supreme Court applied a Bill of Rights to the States under the umbrella of the 14th Amendment.
• Korematsu v. United States (1944): In wartime, the Federal government can strip a group of Americans of their rights, based on their race and heritage.
• Youngstown Sheet & Tube Co. v. Sawyer (1952): The President cannot take control of private property, unless Congress gives them the authority.
• Brown v Board of Education (1954): Overturned Plessy v Ferguson (1896).
• School District of Abington Township v Schempp (1963): Public school prayer violated the religious freedom of students.
• New York Times Co. v Sullivan (1964): A news organization cannot be sued for libel by a public figure, unless the news organization acted with "actual malace" against the person.
• Gideon v Wainwright (1963): The Sixth Amendment's right to counsel in a felony case applies to State courts.
• Griswold v Connecticut (1965): Government cannot ban a married couple from the access and use of contraceptives.. Eisenstadt v. Baird (1972) extended that right to unmarried couples.
• Miranda v Arizona (1966): The Fifth Amendment against self-incrimination extends to police interrogation.
• Loving v Virginia (1967): Two people from different races can marry.
• Tinker v Des Moines Independent Community School District (1969): Students do not lose their First Amendment rights to free speech when they stepped onto school property.
•  Furman v Georgia (1972): The death penalty violates the cruel and unusual punishment forbidden by the 8th Amendment in certain kinds of cases.
• Roe v Wade (1973): The Constitution protects a woman's right to terminate pregnancy by abortion.
• United States v Nixon (1974): The President's "executive privilege" confidentiality power is limited.
• Regents of the University of Califormia v Bakke (1978): Affirmative action violates the 14th Amendment's equal protection clause, and the Civil Rights Act of 1964 when a rigid racial quota system for admissions is used. But the use of race can be one of several criteria.
• United States v Virginia (1996): Virginia Military Institute, as a public institution, violated the 14th Amendment for gender discrimination. It refused to allow women to attend VMI.
• Bush v Gore (2000): Florida's standardless recounts in the 2000 election violated the Equal Protection and Due Process Clauses of the Constitution.
•  District of Columbia v Heller (2008): The Second Amendment provides for an individual's right to buy and possess a firearm even though they are not a member of a well-regulated militiia.
• Citizens United v Federal Election Commission (2010): The government cannot ban organizations, such as corporations and unions, from making independent expenditures advocating a candidate's election or their defeat.
• National Federation of Independent Business v Sebelius (2012): The Obamacare mandate was Constitutional and the cut in Medicaid subsidies was not.
• Shelby County v. Holder (2013): Declared Section 4 of the Voting Rights Act of 1965 unconstitutional.
• Obergefell v Hodges (2015): Same-sex marriage was constitutional.

Justiciability Doctrine refers to cases the Courts can rule on. If a case is nonjusticiable, the Courts won't hear it.

1. The Courts cannot issue advisory opinions. Courts will only issue an opinion if there's an actual case before the court.
2. Does the case have Standing? The person or institution must be the proper party to present an issue to the Court.
   • Three parts of a case that has Standing:
     • Is the Party personally injured?
     • Is the injury caused by the practice or person the injured party is challenging?
     • Will a favorable ruling create redress or cure for the injured party?
3. Sovereignty: A government is immune from being sued for money damages even if it has violated a person's rights.
   • The government can waive immunity.
   • Injunctive relief: A court can order a government from violating a person's rights.
4. Official Immunity: An injured party cannot sue a government official when they are performing their official duties.
5. Deference: The Courts yield to the government's interpretation of a law or a regulation, especially when the case involves a sensitive area. When a case is close, the Courts usually defer to the government. The reason behind this is that judges, once appointed, have less accountability than elected officials.

Source: Law School for Everyone: Constitutional Law Episode 11.