Federal System/Judicial Review/Bill of Rights

Judiciary Act of 1789

A United States federal written law established on September 24, 1789, in the first session of the First United States Congress. It established the federal judiciary of the United States.

federal system

A form of government in which power is divided between the federal, or national, government and the states

opinion of the court

A majority opinion is a judicial opinion agreed to by more than half of the members of a court. A majority opinion sets forth the decision of the court and an explanation of the rationale behind the court's decision. Not all cases have a majority opinion.

Question: How did the Bill of Rights calm people's fears about a strong central government?

As a result of their experiences as British subjects, many American during and after the Revolutionary war feared that as political system with a strong government would overrule the people and strip away their rights. The Bill of Rights protected these people's individual rights and established new ones.

Passage in the Reading: Distribution of power in the federal system

Distribution of power in the federal system is divided between a central authority and constituent political units.

Question: Does the U.S. Supreme Court have the power of judicial review over acts of the federal government?

Ever since the decision of Marbury vs. Madison, the Supreme Court does have the power of judicial review over the federal government.

Due Process

Fair and reasonable treatment.

Amendments

Formal changes made in a document or a law by editing, deleting, and/or adding to the existing document.

Passage in the Reading: How does judicial review apply to laws passed by state governments?

If a law that a state government passes violates a law passed by the Supreme Court, the Supreme Court can null and void the law the state government tried to pass. This is how judicial review applies to state governments.

Seizure

Take possession of a person or property as evidence of a crime.

Passage in the Reading: The supremacy of the federal government

The Framers agreed that the powers of the federal government were to be greater than those of the state government. The states cannot make laws that conflict with the Constitution or laws made by Congress.

Question: How did the U.S. Supreme Court decide the case of Marbury v Madison?

The Marbury v. Madison decision resulted in the establishment of the concept of judicial review.

Supreme Court

The Supreme Court is part of the judicial branch and is also the highest ranked court

Passage from the Reading: Protecting the People

The colonists felt unsafe with the political system and felt as if it could overpower them. The Bill of Rights was established and the problem was solved.

Passage from the Reading: Personal Liberty

The first three amendments secure and ensure individual liberty.

Question: How does the Bill of Rights protect individual freedom?

The first three amendments state each individual person liberty and freedom.

Question: How does the Bill of Rights protect against abuse of the justice system?

The fourth amendment limits the government's powers of search and seizure; police may not search without a warrant. The fifth and sixth amendment promise the right to a fair trial and the seventh promises a jury by civil case. The eighth amendment limits the federal government to imposing cruel and unusual punishments.

Passage from the Reading: Rights of the Accused

The fourth, fifth, sixth, seventh, and eighth amendment limit the government's power over accusing people of crimes, a fair trial, rights of civil trials, and appropriate punishments.

Passage in the Reading: Judicial review over state governments

The framers wanted to be sure that the states had to obey the laws of the federal government. That is why they wrote the Article VI that the constitution and the federal laws are the "supreme law of the land." If state laws conflict with those of federal government, the Supreme Court can order that the state laws not be enforced.

Congress

The legislative branch that makes laws.

Passage from the Reading: Limited Government

The ninth amendment ensured people had more rights than the ones written in the Bill of Rights, and the tenth amendment concluded that some powers are reserved by the states.

sovereignty

The ultimate authority of the government is held by the people. The people have created the government and gave it the authority to govern them.

Passage in the Reading: Organizing the Executive Branch

Washington could not run the executive branch alone. The constitution allows Congress to organize the executive branch, and because of this, Congress created three departments to help Washington fulfill his responsibilities. Department of state Thomas Jefferson was selected to serve as Secretary of State to be responsible for the foreign relations of the nation. Department of Treasury Alexander Hamilton, as Secretary of the Treasury, guided the new government in money matters. Department of War Henry Knox, as Secretary of War, handled military affairs and defense.

cabinet

a body of advisers to the president, composed of the heads of the executive departments of the government.

Warrant

A written authorization for someone to perform an action.

Constitution

A written document that describes the structure and powers of a national or state government.

Bill of Rights

A written list of people's rights; contains ten amendments.

Question: How does the Bill of Rights limit the power of the central government?

All of the amendments limited the government's power, however the Framers feared the government could violate other rights of the people that were not established. The problem was addressed and the ninth and tenth amendments ensure limitations on the federal government.

appellate court

Any court of law that is empowered to hear an appeal of a trial court or other lower tribunal.

authority

the power or right to give orders, make decisions and enforce obedience. Or, in the We The People textbook, it is defined as the right to govern.

unitary government

the system of government in which all authority is placed in a central government.

Passage in the Reading: Organizing the Judicial Branch

The judiciary act organized the court system of the new nation. A chief justice was to lead the Supreme Court, which would also have five associate justices. Over time, Congress has increased the size of the Court to nine justices. The act also created a system of lower courts, and it included federal district courts to hear cases involving the constitution or federal laws. If a case was lost in the lower courts, it would possibly be appealed to a higher court, the appellate courts. In addition to federal courts, each state has its own courts established by its legislature to rule on state laws.

null and void

When a court decides that a law or action of the government violates the Constitution, the law/action is not allowed and is considered null and void.

Question: Explain what a federal system is. What are its advantages and disadvantages?

A federal system is a system of government in which power is divided between a central authority and constituent political units. The advantages of a federal system is that since the U.S. is a big and diverse country, having individual, local officials helps with this diverse population with diverse needs is much more effective than just one national government attempting to organize and tend a nation.. Also, the distribution of powers ensures the prevention of tyranny. Since power is evenly distributed, governments can not overpower each other. The disadvantages of having a federal system is that there can be conflicts in authority and whether or not a state's problem is a federal matter or a local government matter.

Marbury v Madison

During the last few weeks John Adams was president for, he appointed William Marbury to be a justice of the peace for the District of Columbia. However, some of these papers making these last-minute appointments were not actually delivered. Thomas Jefferson, a republican, then became president. Thomas jefferson the ordered his Secretary of State to not deliver these appointments. This was a problem because Marbury believed that he had the right to have this job because the previous President had given it to him. He discovered that the Judiciary Act of 1789 gave the Supreme Court the power to order Madison to give him the job. Marbury took his case to the Supreme Court. Chief Justice John Marshall wrote the opinion for the Supreme Court. The court ruled that Marbury had the right to his job. However, the Court decided that the part of the Judiciary Act was unconstitutional. The Constitution clearly limits the cases that can go directly to the Supreme Court without having been heard first in the lower courts, and Marbury did not fit into these limits. In the Judiciary Act, Congress had given Marbury the right to bring his case to the Supreme Court directly, but by doing this, Congress had changed the Constitution. Congress does not have the right to change the Constitution. So, the Supreme Court ruled that part of the Judiciary Act which increased the Court's power was unconstitutional. By declaring part of the passed by Congress unconstitutional, the Supreme Court assumed the power of the judicial review over the legislative and executive branches. Justin Marshall argued that the people of this nation had adopted the Constitution as the supreme law of the land and consented to be governed by its rules. These rules include important limitations upon the powers of Congress. When Congress violates those limitations, it violates the will of the people. Marshall said that if the Supreme Court could not strike down such acts, there would be no effective way to enforce the constitutional limits on the powers of Congress. Its powers would be unlimited, and we would no longer have a constitutional government. Since the decision of this case, the Supreme Court has exercised the power of judicial review over the federal government.

Passage in the Reading: Judicial review over acts of Congress

In the Constitution, it explicitly states that the Supreme Court has the power of judicial review over the acts of state governments, but it does not clearly say whether the Supreme Court has the power of judicial review over the legislative and executive branches of government.

judicial review

Judicial review is the power of the courts to decide whether laws and actions of the government are allowed under the Constitution. When a court decides they are not allowed, it orders that the law or action be considered null and void. A law that is null and void may not be enforced.

Passage in the Reading: Conflicts between state and federal governments

There are many times where the federal and state governments run into conflict. In our federal system, Congress can establish laws governing the people and state governments can also make laws governing the people. In one instance, these conflicts led to a war between the states - the Civil War

Passage in the Reading: The Bill of Rights

When the Constitution was sent to the states for ratification, some states opposed it because it did not include a Bill of Rights. The Federalists believed that the Bill of Rights was not essential because they thought that if there were to be a written document that established the people's rights, the rights written down would be the only rights guaranteed. Also, they thought that the Constitution organized the government in such a way that it could not possibly violate the people's rights. Finally, a compromise was made and the Federalists agreed to include a Bill of Rights in the Constitution. The Bill of Rights contains ten amendments. The first eight list basic rights of the people that were already guaranteed in most state constitutions.

confederation

a political system in which a weak central government has limited authority, and the states have ultimate power.

federalism

federal is defined as the nature of a union of states under a central government distinct from the individual governments of the separate states, as in federal government; federal system. federalism is the federal principle or system of government.