Introducing 

Prezi AI.

Your new presentation assistant.

Refine, enhance, and tailor your content, source relevant images, and edit visuals quicker than ever before.

Loading…
Transcript

Writs of Certiorari

Parties who are not satisfied with the decision of a lower court must petition the U.S. Supreme Court to hear their case. The primary means to petition the court for review is to ask it to grant a writ of certiorari. This is a request that the Supreme Court order a lower court to send up the record of the case for review. The Court usually is not under any obligation to hear these cases, and it usually only does so if the case could have national significance, might harmonize conflicting decisions in the federal Circuit courts, and/or could have precedential value. In fact, the Court accepts 100-150 of the more than 7,000 cases that it is asked to review each year. Typically, the Court hears cases that have been decided in either an appropriate U.S. Court of Appeals or the highest Court in a given state (if the state court decided a Constitutional issue).

Law Clerks

Supreme Court Flow Chart

Each Justice is permitted to have between three and four law clerks per Court term. These are individuals who, fairly recently, graduated from law school, typically, at the top of their class from the best schools. Often, they have served a year or more as a law clerk for a federal judge. Among other things, they do legal research that assists Justices in deciding what cases to accept; help to prepare questions that the Justice may ask during oral arguments; and assist with the drafting of opinions. While it is the prerogative of every Justice to read each petition for certiorari himself/herself, many participate in what is informally known as the "cert pool." As petitions for certiorari come in on a weekly basis, they are divided among the participating Justices. The participating Justices divide their petitions among their law clerks. The law clerks, in turn, read the petitions assigned to them, write a brief memorandum about the case, and make a recommendation as to whether the case should be accepted or not. The Justice provides these memoranda and recommendations to the other Justices at a Justices' Conference.

Briefs

If the Justices decide to accept a case (grant a petition for certiorari), the case is placed on the docket. According to the Supreme Court's rules, the petitioner has a certain amount of time to write a brief, not to exceed 50 pages, putting forth his/her legal case concerning the issue on which the Court granted review. After the petitioner's brief has been filed, the other party, known as the respondent, is given a certain amount of time to file a respondent's brief. This brief is also not to exceed 50 pages. After the initial petitions have been filed, the petitioner and respondent are permitted to file briefs of a shorter length that respond to the other party's respective position. If not directly involved in the case, the U.S. Government, represented by the Solicitor General, can file a brief on behalf of the government. With the permission of the Court, groups that do not have a direct stake in the outcome of the case, but are nevertheless interested in it, may file what is known as an amicus curiae (Latin for "friend of the court") brief providing their own arguments and recommendations for how the case should be decided.

Oral Arguments

The U.S. Supreme Court's annual term starts on the first Monday in October and continues until the Sunday before the next year's first Monday in October. The Court is generally not in session from late June/early July until the beginning of October. During the term, the Court listens to oral arguments from October to April. In the first two weeks of each month from October to December, and the last two weeks of each month from January to April, oral arguments are held on Mondays, Tuesdays, and Wednesdays. The Court hears around two cases each day, starting at 10 a.m., with each case given an hour for arguments. Lawyers for each side have approximately 30 minutes to present their positions and respond to the Justices' questions. The main purpose of oral arguments is to address the Justices' questions that may have arisen while they reviewed the case's briefs, rather than rehashing the case's merits as in the briefs. The Solicitor General usually argues cases involving the U.S. Government as a party. Even if the government isn't a party, the Solicitor may still have a chance to present the government's interests. When addressing the Court, the petitioner speaks first, followed by the respondent. If the petitioner reserves time for rebuttal, they speak last. The Chief Justice is addressed as "Mr. Chief Justice," while other Justices are referred to as "Justice [Last Name]" or "Your Honor." The title "Judge" isn't used for Supreme Court Justices.

Courtroom/Classroom Simulations: Modifications of Procedure

Justices, typically, ask questions throughout each presentation. However, in courtroom or classroom simulations, to put student attorneys at ease, student Justices do not ask questions for the first two minutes of each side's argument. When the student Marshal holds up a five-minute warning card, the student attorney at the podium should conclude his/her argument and be ready to end when the Marshal holds up the STOP card. Before leaving the podium after making the initial presentation, counsel for the petitioner may reserve some time for rebuttal after the respondent's counsel has presented. The petitioner — not the Court — is responsible for keeping track of the time remaining for rebuttal. In typical program simulations, more than one student attorney argues each side. In that instance, they should inform the student Marshal before the court session begins how they wish to divide their time. Usually, the first student attorney to speak also handles the rebuttal.

Conference

After oral arguments are completed, the Justices of the U.S. Supreme Court convene in what's called the Justices' Conference to make decisions on the cases. These conferences occur when the Court is in session, with two meetings each week – one on Wednesday afternoon and another on Friday afternoon. During the Wednesday conference, they discuss cases from Monday's arguments, and during the Friday conference, they cover cases from Tuesday and Wednesday. No Wednesday conference is held when the Court is not in session. Prior to the Conference, the Justices often consult their law clerks to gain diverse perspectives on the cases. Sometimes, they have a clear voting intention at this stage, while other times they remain undecided. The Conference is an exclusive gathering restricted to the Justices only, devoid of external parties like police, clerks, or secretaries. The Chief Justice leads the session and a friendly tradition is observed as all Justices shake hands. Proceedings typically commence with reviewing petitions for certiorari, essentially determining which cases to accept or reject. Following the petitions, the Justices delve into discussing cases heard since the previous Conference. According to protocol, each Justice presents their views, questions, and concerns without interruption. The Chief Justice speaks first, and then each Justice follows in descending seniority, concluding with the junior-most member. After each Justice expresses their stance, the Chief Justice initiates voting, starting with the Chief Justice's own vote, and then proceeding in descending seniority until the most junior Justice casts their vote. Once votes are tallied, the Chief Justice, or the most senior Justice in the majority if the Chief Justice dissents, designates a Justice in the majority to draft the Court's opinion. Similarly, the senior-most dissenter can assign a dissenting Justice to write the dissenting opinion. Should a Justice agree with the case's outcome but not with the reasoning of the majority, they might write a concurring opinion. Any Justice can write a separate dissenting opinion. In the event of a tie vote, the lower Court's decision stands. Such a situation arises if any of the nine Justices is unable to participate in a case, perhaps due to a vacancy or recusal.

Opinions

All the Court's opinions are usually released by the final day of the Court's term, which falls in late June or early July when the Court adjourns for the summer break. Aside from this fixed deadline, there are no set rules governing the timing of decision releases. Generally, unanimous decisions are made public earlier than those containing concurring and dissenting opinions. Some unanimous verdicts are disclosed as early as December, while contentious cases, even if heard in October, might not be revealed until the last day of the term. For a Court opinion to be made public, a majority of Justices must agree with its entire content. This agreement is established by the Justices "signing onto" the opinion. The Justice responsible for composing the opinion must be meticulous in addressing the remarks and concerns of other majority voters. Failure to do so could risk losing the majority's support. In rare instances, in closely contested cases, a dissenting opinion could evolve into the majority opinion if one or more Justices change their votes after reviewing both the majority and dissenting drafts. An opinion isn't officially recognized as the Court's decision until it is presented in open Court or at least made available to the public. Opinions can be released even on days when the Court is conducting oral arguments, sometimes before the arguments take place. In the months of May and June, the Court convenes at 10 a.m. every Monday to announce opinions. During the final week of the term, extra days might be designated for opinion announcements.

Learn more about creating dynamic, engaging presentations with Prezi