Judicial Branch

I

Introduction

Judicial Branch, the portion of the United States national government that decides cases arising under federal laws and under the Constitution of the United States. The judicial branch interprets laws that have been passed by the legislative branch (Congress) and approved by the president of the United States, who leads the executive branch.

Article III of the Constitution vests the judicial power in “one supreme Court, and in such inferior courts as the Congress may from time to time establish.” This means that apart from the Supreme Court, the organization of the judicial branch is left in the hands of Congress. Beginning with the Judiciary Act of 1789, Congress created several types of courts and other judicial organizations, which now include lower courts, specialized courts, and administrative offices to help run the judicial system.

II

Role in the American Political System

Federal courts have a leading role in interpreting laws, rules, and other government actions, and determining whether they conform to the Constitution. This function of judicial review was asserted in 1803 by Chief Justice John Marshall in the case of Marbury v. Madison. Judicial review includes both interpreting the law and judging cases. First, in Marshall’s words, “it is emphatically the province and duty of the judicial department to say what the law is.” This need to explain the law stems from the fact that the Constitution and many laws include vague words or phrases. The ambiguity of the Constitution’s 14th Amendment, for example, makes it one of the most important sources of cases argued before the Supreme Court. The amendment guarantees citizens “due process of law” and “equal protection of the laws.” The meaning of these phrases is unclear, leading to protracted court battles over the application of the 14th Amendment to groups such as racial minorities, women, people with disabilities, and legal and illegal aliens. Confusion and disagreement over the amendment have thrust the courts into disputes over affirmative action, abortion, sexual preferences, welfare benefits, and the rights of the disabled.

Striking down laws or practices that violate the Constitution is another function of judicial review. Although the Court voided few laws during its first hundred years, it proved much more willing to take such strong steps in the 20th century. Since Marbury v. Madison, about 150 federal laws have been struck down in whole or in part, along with about 1000 state laws and more than 100 municipal ordinances.

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The courts do not always have the final say in settling issues of legal interpretation. Working together, Congress and the states can compel the courts to accept a legal principle by amending the Constitution. After the Supreme Court ruled that income taxes were unconstitutional in Pollock v. Farmers’ Loan & Trust Co. in 1895, for example, Congress and the states ratified the 16th Amendment in 1913 to permit such taxes. Amending the Constitution is difficult and is usually time consuming, however. The president and members of Congress have their own ideas of what the Constitution permits, and on occasion they may try to impede or simply ignore the courts’ decisions.

The president of the United States appoints federal judges, but these appointments are subject to approval by the Senate. Once confirmed by the Senate, federal judges have appointments for life or until they choose to retire. Federal judges can be removed from their positions only if they are convicted of impeachable offenses by the Senate, but this has happened on only a few occasions. The life-long appointments of federal judges makes it easier for the judiciary to stay removed from political pressure. The long terms mean that presidential appointees to federal courts will have an influence that lasts for decades, so the Senate closely scrutinizes many appointments, and sometimes blocks them altogether.

III

Structure

The federal courts—which include district courts, courts of appeal, and the Supreme Court—handle only a small part of the legal cases in the United States. Most cases involve state and local laws, so they are tried in state and local courts rather than federal courts. Despite its relatively narrow jurisdiction, the caseload of the federal court system usually increases every year. To cope with the rapidly rising volume of work, Congress has repeatedly expanded the number of lower federal courts and judges.

A

District Courts

Most federal cases start out in the district courts, which are trial courts—courts that hear testimony about the facts of a case. There are about 90 district courts, including one or more in each state, one in the District of Columbia, one in Puerto Rico, and three territorial courts with jurisdiction over Guam, the Virgin Islands of the United States, and other U.S. territories. Each district is assigned from 2 to 28 judges, and there are about 650 district court judges in all. Each year the district courts handle more than 250,000 civil cases and more than 45,000 criminal cases, but only a tiny percentage of the civil and criminal cases actually go to trial.

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