The three prongs of this model are considered. greatest or highest possible, distinction - n. the separation of people or things into different groups, bench - n. the place where a judge sits in a court of law, intimate - adj. As I shall see, this was not the last time that the Court expanded its discretionary control over its caseload beyond that contemplated by Congress.”. 6. Note, however, there are clear differences in the types of information each brief provides. Elizabeth Slattery of the Heritage Foundation says the modern Supreme Court aims not to change the laws too quickly. Indeed, even justices predisposed to vote for a particular side (based on their ideological predilections) tend to vote more often for the side that offers better arguments in open Court. With the exception of the oral arguments (see Decisions on the Merits: Oral Arguments) the remainder of the decision-making process occurs behind closed doors in the marble palace. Two explanations have been given in the literature for why this does not happen on the Court. There is clear evidence that chiefs (and sometimes senior associates) act strategically to ensure the opinion assignment power. Specifically, Stevens believed Blackmun’s opinion went too far in favor of First Amendment rights (freedom of press), rather than Sixth Amendment rights (right to a speedy and public trial), and he was hoping Blackmun would back off this stance. ________________________________________________________________, supreme - adj. Stewart, and at this point, Stevens, felt the Sixth Amendment’s guarantee to a speedy and public trial was meant to protect the accused, not the public. To this end, the legal model of decision-making posits that justices care about the law and are bound to it, and scholarly work in this area agrees. The former analyze how a justice can use threshold issues to keep the Court from deciding a case far from her preferred outcome.7 In addition, Johnson and his colleagues find that chief justices (as well as senior associate justices) can and do manipulate the voting rules during the Court’s conference discussions to move a decision closer to their preferred outcomes. Indeed, Stevens believes the Court should decide only the most important cases, and therefore the problem of overworked justices could be abated by taking only those cases with a majority vote on certiorari. 11. Lax & Cameron (2007) employ game theoretic models to demonstrate the impact of time and effort costs on a would-be dissenter. For example, it has been well documented that some justices seek principled decisions, or decisions that will sustain the Court’s legitimacy (see Baum, 1997). Litigant and amicus briefs serve two broad purposes: to provide information to the Court, and to set the bounds of policy space from which legal opinions can be drawn. For a final ruling, at least five of the nine justices must agree. For appeals that the Supreme Court decides to retain, cases are assigned to one of four decisional tracks in order to tailor the decision-making process to the needs of each case. The rules surrounding these briefs on the merits are discussed along with the research that seeks to explain the extent to which written arguments affect the decisions justices make. After these proceedings, Epstein and Knight (1998, pp. In other words, the justices cannot introduce legislation like members of Congress.10 However, as strategic decision makers, justices can do encourage litigants to submit cases presenting a particular question or issue area (see, e.g., Hausseger & Baum, 1999). Faced with a court ruling that overturns one of its laws, Congress may rewrite the law or even begin a constitutional amendment process. This section considers the role justices play in this part of their decision-making process. The justices simultaneously required the first written arguments, consisting of an abstract of points and authorities (Frankfurter & Landis, 1928). 25. That a case must be justiciable (meaning there is a case or controversy that can be decided by the Court) also stems from the Article III requirement that the Court can only decide cases and controversies. March 9, 2010 Chief Justice John Roberts Remarks. Johnson, Spriggs, and Wahlbeck (2005) note that Chief Justice Warren Burger was renowned for casting votes at conference that would allow him to control the Court’s agenda through opinion assignment. Chief Justice Roberts has said publicly that, “We [the Court] are the most transparent branch of government. These notes come from the papers of former justices. As with the other aspects of the decision-making process, evidence accumulated over the last decade establishes that, generally, oral arguments play an integral role in the Court’s decision-making process (Johnson, 2004; Wrightsman, 2008). The Due Process Clause has proven very important in the Court’s shaping of policy through this power. “The Supreme Court defines the distinctions between church and state … The Supreme Court decides how you’re treated and what happens to you and what your rights are should you be charged with a crime… The Supreme Court defines your rights if, for example, you are a racial or religious or ethnic minority and you feel as though you are being discriminated against, the Supreme Court defines how your life will be. A separate opinion the majority opinion writers therefore seek to etch into law. Justice on the key Rule that governs the Court ’ s docket is briefly.. 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