Chapter 7, Lesson 4

Unanimous opinion

A Supreme Court ruling on a case in which all justices agree on the ruling

Docket

A court's calendar, showing the schedule of cases it is to hear

Caseload

A judge's or court's workload of cases in a period of time

Concurring opinion

A statement written by a justice who disagrees with the majority opinion, presenting his or her own opinion

What is each Supreme Court term named after?

A term is named for the year in which it begins, so the 2012 term began October 2012.

Brief

A written document explaining the position of one side or the other in a case

The Supreme Court gets about 10,000 petitions, or requests, for writs of certiorari each term, but they only about 75-80 cases

About how many petitions, or requests for writs of certiorari do the Supreme Court get each year, and how many do they actually hear?

They are reviewed by the justices on that side of the question.

After opinions are drafted, what happens?

Writ of certiorari

An order a higher court issues to a lower court to obtain the records of the lower court in a particular case

Six

At least how many justices must be present to vote on a ruling?

After the justices study them, the lawyers for each side present oral arguments and each side gets only 30 minutes. The party that appealed the case goes first, followed by the other side. Much of the time is often taken up by the very tough questions the justices ask of the lawyers.

Explain the process after the brief.

Once the court takes a case, the lawyers for each side prepare a brief. The two parties also have a chance to review each other's briefs and give the Court a second brief. In that brief, they answer the arguments made by the first brief of the other side and the second briefs are shorter than the first ones.

Explain the process of a brief.

The justices get together to make their first decisions about the cases they have been studying. These meetings take place in secret, with no time limit. The chief justice presides over the meeting and the justices take turns stating their views on the case by seniority.

Explain the process of the justices making a decision

The Supreme Court meets each year for about nine months.

How long is a Supreme Court term?

Four of the nine justices need to agree to do so

How many justices need to agree to hear the case for the Court to accept one?

By an appeal from a lower court

Nearly all cases come to the Supreme Court by what?

Stare decisis

The practice of using earlier judicial rulings as a basis

Precedents, the nation's social atmosphere (like social conditions, public ideas, and technology change over the years) and the justices' own views can affect justices' decisions.

What can affect justices' decisions?

Writ of certiorari means "to make more certain" in Latin and this happens if one of the parties in a case claims that the lower court made an error or sometimes a lower court is not sure how to apply the law to a particular case, so that court will then ask the Supreme Court to hear the case.

What does writ or certiorari means in Latin and when does this happen?

Justices review possible cases and consider their merits and a case has merit if it involves a key constitutional question

What happens in a writ of certiorari?

The majority opinion states the facts and gives the ruling and explains the Court's reasoning in reaching its decision.

What is stated in the majority opinion?

They choose cases to hear that are centered on amendments and that involve legal issues (that affect the entire country rather) than political issues (that affect individuals or particular groups).

What types of cases do Supreme Court justices choose to hear?

Each term begins the first Monday in October

When does each Supreme Court term begin?

The chief justice or the longest-serving member of the majority.

Who gets assigned to write the majority opinion in a Supreme Court decision?

If the justice who wrote the majority opinion does not take other justices' views account in this process, one of them might withdraw support for the majority position. When the opinions are in final form, the Court announces its decision

Why do justices take other justices' view in account in the writing and reviewing the opinion process?