Sotomayor
Alito
Kagan
the nation. This is called Judicial Review. Remember: Congress creates the courts and decides the number of judges.
Supreme Court Federal District Courts
Courts for:
Taxes International Trade Armed Forces Land/Property Disputes)
Arguments about rules and laws occur, naturally. The court system is like an umpire making the
final decision in a fair way, after hearing all of the evidence. They review these laws, debate them, and then individually make a vote. Each side then writes what their opinion is The winning side is the Majority.
government and the 50 States are. It will hear appeals. If you dont like a lower courts ruling, you can take it here.
The Court will only hear cases that deal with the
in the Constitution, or when there is no basis in the Constitution for that law.
Not just anybody can take its case here. Why? Usually hears only between 60-100 cases per year. SCOTUS carefully selects the cases it will hear, then argue.
interviewed by Senate
Remember: they approve of Presidential appointments. This can be a very demeaning (Bork), but sometimes revealing event (Thomas, Miers).
country, see map). They are the Regional courts in our nation below the SCOTUS. President appoints these judges for life, too. 3 Judges per district, so 33 in total. Hear the disputes/appeals from all states within their district. They only deal with federal laws and hear the disputes of