The United States Supreme Court, the highest federal court, is made up of nine judges. The judges are nominated by the President, confirmed by the Senate and appointed for life. The Court reviews decisions made by lower courts and its decisions are final after a majority vote. Recently, the Supreme...

In 1896 the Supreme Court had held in Plessy v. Ferguson that segregation was allowed as long as equal facilities were provided for both races. Although that decision was made for passenger on railroads, the principle of \"separate but equal\" was applied thereafter to all aspects of public life. Wh...

The Supreme Court ruled on June 14, 2004, to keep the phrase, "under God," intact in the Pledge of Allegiance. While the eight participating justices had dissenting opinions, all unanimously ruled against the case Matthew Newdow had presented to the court many months ago. The court state...

Most legal disputes involving state law are initially decided in the trial courts or by an administrative agency. But after such a decision, an individual may turn to the state’s appeal courts if he or she believes a legal error occurred that harmed the case. In fact, thousands of cases are...

On November 7, 2000, American voters went to the polls to elect the 43rd president of the United States. Ritualistically, the nation watched that evening for the election returns. The tallies for Democrat Albert Gore and Republican George W. Bush teetered in the makings of a dead heat. It soon be...

THE LEAST DANGEROUS BRANCH In Federalist Paper 78, Alexander Hamilton believed that the Supreme Court (or the judiciary) was the least dangerous branch. The United States Government contains three branches: the executive branch, or the President, the Legislative branch consisting of t...

When the founding fathers of our country, and by that I mean the Federalists, were creating the system of government for America, they knew that a separation of power would be necessary to protect the American people from the evils of a monarchy or dictatorship. In doing this, they created the t...

The writers of the US Constitution were determined to separate the powers of the federal government in to three branches: Legislative, Executive, and Judicial. The prime function of the judicial branch is to interpret the law in such a way that rules made in the past can be applied reasonably in ...

: uncategorized : Pros and Cons of Judicial Review Pros and Cons of Judicial Review Judicial Review is the power given to Supreme court justices in which a judge has the power to reason whether a law is unconstitutional or not. Chief Justice John Ma Click Here to Search COSHE's D...

Is the Federal Judiciary Too Powerful? The Founding Fathers of America created the democratic nation for people to elect representatives to make important decisions. In addition, they also created a judiciary system to "interpret and clarify" the law. During the early years, the court ...

The landmark Supreme Court case of Brown v. Board of Education (1954) settled the question of whether or not blacks and whites can receive an education integrated with or separate from each other. The case overturned the 1896 case of Plessy v. Ferguson, which established the doctrine of "separate bu...

A democracy is a system of government by the people, exercised either directly or through elected representative. Democracy means "people for the people," so loosely translated, democracy is ruled by the people. There are three types of democracy; Direct or Participatory Democracy, Democ...

What is Judicial Review? It is when the High court has to come in and review a decision that was made by the legislative or the Executive Branch of the Federal Government. It is also an option when the State courts make a ruling and it is challenged by the defendant, to seek if their ruling was ma...

The Constitution Protects the Civil Rights of AmericansThe Constitution does protect the civil rights of Americans. Even though some laws are passed that violate the civil rights of people in the United States, the Supreme Court corrects these errors. The cases reviewed here ask if it is okay to c...

Clarence Earl Gideon was charged in a Florida state court with having broken and entered a poolroom with intent to commit a misdemeanor. Appearing in court without funds and without a lawyer, Gideon asked the Florida state court to appoint counsel for him, whereupon the following troubles took p...

On May 17, 1954 the Supreme Court had made its decision on the Brown vs. Board of Education of Topeka, Kansas case. The Supreme Court declared unanimously "separate facilities are inherently unequal." If facilities are separate they are essentially not the same. This point is shown in a ...

Qualifications for judges of district-level courts include U.S. citizenship, residence in the district for two years immediately before election or appointment, and a license to practice law in Texas. As a guarantee of practical legal experience, a district-level judge must have been a practicin...

Marbury v. Madison1 Cranch (5 U.S.) 137 (1803)TRAVEL: The case was filed in the Supreme Court, therefore having original jurisdiction.FACTS: Marbury was given the commission appointing him to the Justice of the Peace by Adams the night before Jefferson was to take over the presidency; however, the...

The Development of "Marriage" The institution of marriage has grown and developed into many acceptable facets. In Merriam Webster's online dictionary, the word marriage has two definitions. Definition one is "the state of being united to a person of the opposite sex as husba...

Scott ColsonChris O'ConnellTo Kill A MockingbirdMarch 5, 2000GOMILLION ET AL. v. LIGHTFOOT, MAYOR OF TUSKEGEE, ET AL.The unprecedented Gomillion v. Lightfoot came to the Supreme Court because the borders of Tuskegee, Alabama were redrawn. They went from a square shape to an irregular one to exclude...

In the United States Constitution and its subsequent amendments, there is in no place a reference to the so called "Right to Privacy." But in several Supreme Court Cases, the judges have ruled in favor of a certain decision by stating that people of the United States have a "Right to Privacy." How ...

No more tears, Grandparents The California Supreme Court ruled in favor of grandparents' visitation rights in a recent case involving a 9 year old girl Emily, whose mother, Butler, and Father, Charles Harris, separated before she was born and the custodial mother restricted the grandparent&apo...

Many airports are located in areas populated by people. Most people dislike the constant noise of the aircraft, but deal with it anyway. However, sometimes the noise can be too much for some people and action will be taken. In some extreme cases, a major question becomes involved. Does the flight of...

I am the President of the United States, the figurehead of the American people, all decisions go through me, I answer to none other than God, except maybe the senate, the house, and the American people. I am the leader of the greatest country known to man, that has, over a two centuries, cast off...

Abington School District vs. Schempp Required School Prayer In 1949, a state-wide law was passed in Pennsylvania that required public school students to read scriptures from the Bible and recite the Lord's Prayer everyday in class. This law stayed intact until Edward Schempp challenged it n...