Rule of Nine: Judiciary, a Legal and Political Institution, The
Every important political question eventually becomes a judicial question as evidenced by Bush v. Gore when the Supreme Court stopped the vote recount in Florida. There is the tendency to think that truth and justice are on one side, but typically t...
Legal Precedent: Proper Role of the Judiciary
The word "activist," often used in reference to court decisions, can have quite different meanings. The Warren court, for example, departed in many ways from decisions of the past and was critical to the struggle for inclusion by communities of colo...
Legal Precedent: Legislating from the Bench
Because the judiciary's duties are not defined in the Constitution, its role in the policy-making arena is often debated. The Supreme Court's mandate says Michael Perry, "is not to do justice as the justices understand justice....It is rather to mak...
Legal Precedent: Legal Precedent
Another source of law in judicial decision-making traces its origin to the British common-law tradition known as precedent. The idea is that like cases should be decided alike. The Supreme Court generally follows its precedents because it is conside...
Legal Precedent: Executive and Legislative Influence Over Federal Judiciary
Both Congress and the President can exert influence over the federal judiciary by rewriting legislation Congress feels the court misinterpreted, enforcing court decisions, or exercising the power of appointment and confirmation. The fact that the Co...
Legal Precedent: Facts, Laws, and Original Intent
In any legal case a basic distinction is drawn between facts, the relevant circumstances of a legal dispute, and applicable laws. The court must consider common law, judge-made law, legislative statutes, and the Constitution which as the higher law ...
Legal Precedent: Federalism Decisions of Rehnquist Court, The
The vast majority of cases that arise in courts involve issues of statutory and administrative law rather than constitutional law. Toward the end of the Rehnquist Court there were a series of decisions in which states were granted immunity from fede...
Legal Precedent: Influence of Outside Forces and Internal Beliefs on Judicial Decision Making, The
Justices and judges are not as removed from the public scene as many people believe they are. A constant flow of material tells them what is going on and the controversies that exist. It is clear to the justices on the Supreme Court that some of the...
Legal Precedent: Judicial Review
The controversy over judicial power is intensified by the fact that federal judges are not elected. The balance of power among the three branches of government comes into particular focus in the exercise of judicial review. Whenever the Supreme Cou...
Legal Precedent: Judge's Political Beliefs, A
Judges "try to make decisions based on what they see as the law," Eugene Volokh states. "The difficulty is that sometimes the law is quite ambiguous, so the law will bind with the judge's own personal views." Judges may be the center of attention by...