Supreme Court and Public Opinion
The Supreme Court of the United States was established in 1789 as part of the basic three sections of the American governmental system: Executive (President and Staff), Legislative (Congress), and Judicial (Supreme Court System). Each U.S. State also has a supreme court, which is the highest law for interpreting cases that move into that jurisdiction. Essentially, the Supreme Court has the ultimate jurisdiction over all federal and state courts regarding issues of Constitutional and Federal law. The sitting justices are nominated by the President, confirmed by the Senate, and are lifetime appointees unless they retire, resign, or are impeached (United States Constitution - Article III, 2011). As the highest court in the nation, then, we must ask if the Court influences public opinion, or is it the social and cultural processes rising from the public that influence the Constitutional interpretation from the Court?
The Justices, of course, since they are appointed by the President, have their own specific political and social views. The primary job of the Court, however, is to interpret the Constitution as a living document. The popular view, however, that the Court is sharply divided under political or ideological lines (conservative, moderate, liberal) is more of a preconception or caricature. For instance, in 2009, half the cases that were decided were unanimous, 20% with a 5-to-4 vote and less than 10 total cases fit the liberal/conservative divide (Goldstein, 2010). This, of course, does not mean that the decisions of the high court do not influence society in politicized ways, but the influence tends to be more on an interpretive basis than strictly ideological.
Each Justice, though, has clerks that they hire based on legal promise and view. These clerks are given considerable leeway in the opinions they draft for the Justices. From the 1940s into the 1980s these positions were rather unpartisan, but after the 1990s political affiliations become more the voice for certain agendas even becoming more like the political branches of the government. "We are getting a composition of the clerk workforce that is getting to be like the House of Representatives. Each side is putting forward only ideological...
Like Bowman, Silver quotes poll results to indicate the public opinion. What is particularly interesting here is that he has quoted the fourth credible poll in eight months to indicate the same majority result, specifically with 51% in favor of and 47% against the prospect of legally recognized marriage for same sex partners. What is interesting about this is that the statistics remain somewhat divisive, with a more or
Public Opinion How Do Current Events Affect Public Opinion of America's Weaknesses? If physics can lend anything to the sphere of political science, it is that every action has an equal and opposite reaction. As the world becomes more quickly polarized than ever before, the public opinion of the America, both internally and externally, has never been more important. Despite the significance of popular support for the American nation as battles surge
Three decades following the original Court decision, many Americans continued to believe that the Roe v. Wade decision was morally wrong and strongly believed that it should, and could, be overturned. Other Americans, however, continued to just as strongly support the Roe v. Wade original decision. They had a deep moral belief that a woman should not be coerced by the country's law to bear a child if, for
Whether a man is innocent cannot be determined from a trial in which, as here, denial of counsel has made it impossible to conclude, with any satisfactory degree of certainty, that the defendant's case was adequately presented. Quote from Justice Black's dissenting opinion, Betts v Brady, 1942-- from Find Law) Many in the judicial circles regarded the Betts decision of the Supreme Court as "an anachronism" and a departure from the
This historical influence does have a positive influence on the argument due to the placement and context of the current state of political appointments. For example, discussion of the development of extensive political appointment structures during the New Deal, and the growth of the program through the intervening years, presents a historical context and background as well as a pattern of cause and effect that can be examined in
D. joined the Majority. Justices Blackmun, H.A. And Powell, L.F. wrote a special and regular concurrence respectively. In addition to voting with the majority, O'Connor S.D. joined Powel's concurrence. Writing Dissenting Opinion(s): Stevens, J.P. filed a dissenting opinion in which Marshall, T. And Brennan, W.J joined. Brennan also filed a separate dissenting opinion in which Marshall T. joined. Case 5 Citation: Santa Fe Independent School District v. Jane Doe (2000) Argued: March 29, 2000 Date
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