1. Identify and explain the organization of the Judiciary.
The Judiciary branch is composed US district courts, the US Court of Appeals, and the US Supreme Court. The district courts handle both civil and criminal cases. The US court of Appeals deals with the appeals within their circuits. The US Supreme Court then has appellant jurisdiction.
2. Identify and provide examples of the powers of the Judiciary powers.
The types of judicial powers are original jurisdiction, appellate jurisdiction, redress, diversity jurisdiction, and subject matter. The judicial powers are also subject to certain constraint like the precedent set by higher courts and stand on the decision which means courts should rely on the precedent rather than changing any laws. An example of the judiciary powers in action would be a judge hearing an insurance fraud case and based on the precedent in a previous case, the judge finds the defendant guilty.
3. Identify and explain how Judiciary shares powers with the Congress, Executive, and bureaucracy.
The Judical branch share power with the Congress in that Justices must be approved by Congress. The Judicial branch share power with the executive branch in that Justices must be appointed by the president. In turn, the Supreme Court has the power to determined the Constitutionality of the actoins's of the president and Congres. Judicial branch doesn't really share any power with the bureaucracy.
4. Discuss the implications of Judiciary sharing powers with each of the following: Congress, Executive, and bureaucracy.
The implications of this is that each branch has to work together to make the laws and not one branch has total control over the other.
5. Discuss the functions that Judiciary performs.
The judiciary interprets the meanings of laws, applies laws to individual cases, and decides the constitutionality of the laws to a specific case.
6. Identify how the power of the Judiciary has/may evolve gradually.
The power of the judiciary branch has evolved since Marbury vs Madison when they established judicial review. This means that the judiciary branch can declare an executive order or a law unconstitutional. This allows for the meaning of laws to change over time and the executive branch and the bureaucracy then has to execute.
7. Identify and discuss the ties between the Judiciary and political parties.
Political parties affect the judiciary branch because political parties influence the presidents decision when appointing judges. Different judges being in favor of different political parties may affect the outcome of a court decision.
8. Identify and discuss the ties between the Judiciary and interest groups.
There aren't really any ties between judicial branch and interest groups as they are given life term and don't need to run for reelection. Thus, they are not pressured politically to make certain decision.
9. Identify and discuss the ties between the Judiciary and media. The media is very important in the judiciary branch because it gives the public some access to what is happening in the judiciary. The media provides the people with audio recordings and other things on the internet that give the people updates on what is occurring. The media can defintley affect the outcome of certain judicial decisions.
10.Identify and discuss the ties between the Judiciary and state and local governments.
Most of the cases that are heard from the judiciary branch are appeals from the lower courts. This only occurs if at least 4 judges decided that the case needs to be reviewed again.