The Role Of Appeals In The Federal Judicial System

In 1787, the Constitution of the United states created the Judicial Branch of government, which the Supreme Court represents. It has grown from six justices to nine, which include one chief justice and eight associates who are appointed for a lifetime term by the president of the United States.At the Constitutional Convention of 1787, the delegates shared a commitment to an independent judiciary. They agreed that an indispensable part of any well-organized republican government was a separate and co-equal judicial branch that would serve alongside the executive and legislative branches. But the delegates did not arrive in Philadelphia with a fully developed plan for the federal judiciary. Most were more concerned with the provisions for a national
Twelve of them cover geographic regions, and one handles special kinds of appeals from across the nation.A party who loses in a court of appeals may ask the U.S. Supreme Court to review the case. Most of the time, the Supreme Court has discretion, or power, to choose whether or not to review a case. If it reviews a case, the Supreme Court usually limits review to a major question of law of national importance.The key positions in the federal judiciary are the justices who serve on the Supreme Court, the judges who serve on the courts of appeals and district courts, and the magistrates who serve in the district courts. Other key positions include law clerks, court clerks, court stenographers, and the reporter of decisions.In mayberry vs. madison, “On the eve of his last day in office outgoing President John Adams, a Federalist, appoints 82 Federalist justices. These "midnight judges," as they were called, represented a threat to incoming President Thomas Jefferson, a Democrat-Republican. Jefferson feared Federalist interpretation of the law for the next 20 years, a fear that ended up coming to fruition. Among these midnight judges was one William
Instead Marshall ruled that the Judiciary Act of1789, which Marbury had used to submit his claim directly to the Court was unconstitutional, and it was. In this way the Court was able to rule a law unconstitutional and thus created the important precedent of judicial review.**The important thing to remember is that this is the first time the Court rules that a law is unconstitutional. This creates the power of judicial review. You must know what judicial review is and you must associate it with the Marbury Case. This is always a Regents question.The court, in ruling this way, sets what is known as a precedent. The power of judicial review is not in the constitution. It is precedent. It is done because it was done before. This is the power of the Court. They set precedent. The lower court must rule based upon the supreme court ruling or they will just be overturned on appeal.