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How do Appeals Courts differ from trial Courts
- Trial courts most of focus and power is with the facts and the jury. 2. Appeals courts: activity & power concentrated in judges, rather than jury. 3. Focus on legal reasoning & legal errors rather than facts. 4. Litigants might differ from trial: some may appeal, others may not. TERM 2
Main Purpose of
Appeals
DEFINITION 2
- Fix/resolve legal errors 2. Clarify the Law 3. Promote Consistency in the Law TERM 3
Factors in Deciding to Appeal
DEFINITION 3
- degree of dissatisfaction; 2. chances of success; 3. cost, etc. TERM 4
Kinds of Appeals
DEFINITION 4
- Ritualistic/Consensual: Consensus among judges on policy, but others hope to change Induced by client pressure, to change policy in area well settled by law. 2. Nonconsensual: Considerable disagreement in society & among judges as to policy/issues 3. Frivolous: Chances of victory small, but appellant has little to lose
- Bureaucratic: Government Agencies TERM 5
Appeals Procedure 1st Level - Mandatory
Jurisdiction
DEFINITION 5 Appellant files appeal [30-60 days, etc.] and brief, focusing on legal issues Court may require appeals bond in civil case to pay adversary's cost if judgment affirmed Court may order stay of proceedings below pending the appeal. Submission of brief by Appellee - supporting affirmation of the lower court's decision Submission of reply brief by Appellant - arguing for reversal of lower court's decision.
Appeals Procedure 2nd Level - Discretionary
Jurisdiction
Petitioner files petition for hearing, supported by brief [record of the case]. Respondent files brief in opposition Court decides whether to grant [issue writ] - remember Rule of 4 in Supreme Court if rejected (denied)- lower court decision becomes final if accepted (granted) - case called up for review and decision. Submission of additional briefs. TERM 7
Common Procedural Steps for both Appeals
and Certiorari
DEFINITION 7
- Pre-hearing conferences - at least in some courts. 2. Rule on pending motions, if applicable 3. Written materials, such as briefs, including amicus curiae considered by Court 4. Oral argument - where applicable 5. Court conference to reach tentative decision - assignment of writing opinions 6. Writing opinions - Remember majority; concurring; dissenting; plurality opinions 7. Announcement of decision TERM 8
Purposes of Writing Opinions
DEFINITION 8 Majority: justify or explain decision [affirm; modify; reverse & remand; vacate etc.] instruct lower courts as to what to do. announce rules of law if applicable. Concurring: explain differences in rationale or limitations of majority Dissenting: persuade; messages to lower court judges, etc. TERM 9
Memorandum Opinion
DEFINITION 9 Yes or No: cert. granted or denied, etc. TERM 10
Per Curiam
DEFINITION 10 In law, a per curiam decision (or opinion) is a ruling issued by an appellate court of multiple judges in which the decision rendered is made by the court (or at least, a majority of the court) acting collectively and anonymously. Whole court rather than one judge
Cues for Supreme Court
: overwhelmingly concentrates on public law areas [cues]: Civil liberties; criminal procedure; economic regulation; federalism TERM 17
Policy and Ideology Eras
DEFINITION 17 Traditional Conservatism v. Liberalism of 1960's - 1970's, etc. TERM 18
Judicial Activism - Two
Forms
DEFINITION 18 courts use cases to maximize their role & impact on policy (1) court's substitution of its own policy for that of executive or legislative branch Example: strike down a law as unconstitutional (2) make major changes in existing judicial policies: i.e., overturn longstanding precedent TERM 19
Special US Supreme Court Case Exhibiting
Activism
DEFINITION 19 Judicial activism from the perspective of Marbury v. Madison (1803) - court took authority for judicial review & the Warren Court TERM 20
Marbury v.
Madison
DEFINITION 20 1803 John Marshall - Supreme Court Chief Justice Thomas Jefferson - President Opinion written established Judicial Review
Judicial Restraint
Judicial restraint is a theory of judicial interpretation that encourages judges to limit the exercise of their own power from making policy TERM 22
Ashwander v. TVA
DEFINITION 22 1936 US Supreme Court Justice Louis Brandeis spelled out in his concurrence opinion concerning the importance of judicial restraint TERM 23
Judicial Restraint according to Justice Louis
Brandeis
DEFINITION 23
- The Court won't rule on constitutionality of legislation in a friendly proceeding. 2. The Court will not anticipate a question of constitutional law in advance of the necessity of deciding it. 3. The Court will not formulate a rule of constitutional law broader than is required by the precise facts to which it is to be applied. TERM 24
Judicial Restraint according to Justice Louis
Brandeis ...continued
DEFINITION 24
- The Court will not rule on a constitutional question, although properly presented by the record, if there is also present some other ground upon which the case may be properly disposed. 5. The Court will not rule on the validity of a statute upon the complaint of one who fails to show that he has been injured by its operation. 6. The Court will not rule on the constitutionality of a statute at the instance of one who has availed herself of its benefits. TERM 25
Judicial Restraint according to Justice Louis
Brandeis ...continued
DEFINITION 25
- When the validity of an act of Congress is questioned, even if a serious doubt of constitutionality is raised, it is a cardinal principle that this Court will first ascertain whether a construction of the statute is fairly possible by which the question may be avoided and the statute upheld.
Judicial Responses to other 2 branches of
Government actions
accept implement delay distinguish interpret innovate TERM 32
How to change result if Supreme Court
declares law unconstitutional
DEFINITION 32 [1] Amend Constitution or [2] Court subsequently reverses itself TERM 33
potential impact v. actual impact of appellate
decisions
DEFINITION 33 Judges and Administrators do not always carry out appellate court decisions fully; Response to appellate court decisions can vary a great deal Most Americans accept the notion of obligation to follow legal rules per court decisions TERM 34
amicus curiae
DEFINITION 34 An amicus curiae (also spelled amicus curi; plural amici curiae) is someone, not a party to a case, who volunteers to offer information to assist a court in deciding a matter before it.
