EDWARD'S LECTURE NOTES:
More notes at http://tanguay.info/learntracker
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Key Constitutional Concepts and Supreme Court Cases
Professor Kermit Roosevelt, III, University of Pennsylvania
https://www.coursera.org/course/constitution
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Article III: The Judicial Branch
Notes taken on November 24, 2014 by Edward Tanguay
Article III of the Constitution gives us the courts
actually it only gives us the Supreme Court
that there are lower federal courts at all depends on Congress
Supreme Court
decides cases, but not just any case
cases that you cannot leave to state courts
where we need to have one interpretation for the whole country, not for only one state
when you can't trust a state court to be impartial, e.g. when one state sues another state
makes sure that federal law means the same thing in different parts of the country
resolve disagreements of state courts about the meaning of federal law and the Constitution
it waits for cases to come to it
it can't reach out and make a decision on a case on its own initiative
courts are passive, not active
in this sense it is weaker than Congress or the President who can initiate actions on their own
in some ways they are stronger
it has the power to strike down a law
it has the power to order the President not to do something, "You think you can seize the steel mills, Harry Truman? We disagree, give them back."
has the last word on the meaning of the Constitution
but will they listen?
Congress can take away spending from programs they don't like
the President has the FBI and the army and can use force to get his way
in the early days the Supreme Court was not as respected as it is now
didn't meet in current majestic building, built in the 1930s, but met in the basement of the Capitol
decisions were not always respected
1831: dispute between Cherokee nation and Georgia
court said land belongs to Indians
Georgia ignored it and the Supreme Court was powerless to stop it
1953: Supreme Court ordered states to desegregate their schools
101 Southern members of Congress signed a manifesto denouncing the decision
Southern governors vowed to resist
1957: Orval Faubus called in the Arkansas National Guard to stop African American students from attending Little Rock Central High School
Federal district court in Arkansas ordered the National Guard to stand down and they did
but the police who replaced them were unable to control the crowds
President Eisenhower sent in the 101st Airborne
an example of: if force is required, it has to come from either Congress or the President, not the Supreme Court, who only makes the ruling
this is the difference between the Cherokee case and the Little Rock case
Cooper v. Aaron settled this dispute, ruling that "the states were bound by the Supreme Court's decisions and had to enforce them even if the states disagreed with them"
the reason we obey the Supreme Court is not because they always make good decisions
it's because we feel that these decisions are independent of states' interests
Constitutions goes to great lengths to make sure that decision of Supreme Court is neutral
judges hold their offices for life
the independent judiciary is probably the most important aspect of the government now in terms of the separation of powers, especially because of the party system
one party can take over the Presidency and Congress pretty quickly
Supreme Court is harder to capture
political party has to control the presidency for a long time to control the court to provide new judges