Judicial Branch Essays (Examples)

This was the first time that the Supreme Court had deemed a law unconstitutional, and in fact this power of the Court had not even really been established until it was used in this case. Its establishment, however, was to have profound effects on the judicial branch's power over the legislative and executive branches, especially in making sure that the restrictions of the Constitution were maintained despite -- and in fact precisely in reaction to -- attempts to legally surmount them through legislative acts or executive orders, as Marshall's words make clear (SCHS 2010).

Current Use of Judicial eview in Policy Making

The Supreme Court cannot exercise its power of judicial review until a case is brought to the Court, either through a direct filing (which is rare) or through appeals from lower federal or state courts. Any law or executive action could, however, come under the purview of the…

Judiciary

These two questions will be responded to simultaneously as the answer to one will always involve touching on issues concerning the other.

When we speak of three (3) departments or branches of government then we must necessarily refer to the "presidential system" of governance. These three co-equal and co-independent departments are the Executive, the legislative and the judiciary.

The executive as its name connotes, has the main duty to faithfully execute the laws and the constitution. The legislature enacts or makes laws and the judiciary interprets them and says if the provisions of said law are not in conflict with the constitution. It likewise can decree if the execution made by the executive is in accordance with the laws and the constitution. On the basis of these basic postulates we will now proceed to determine if the judiciary is the weakest or the strongest among the three branches of…

Justices can make public pronouncements on issues that are important to the federal judiciary - not specific cases that come before the court, but general political and social issues.

For example, the Chief Justice of the U.S. Supreme Court, John Roberts, recently made a speech that warned about attacks against judicial independence. He was stating what the framers of the Constitution worried about hundreds of years ago when he said: "The long history of attack on judicial independence confirms that neither side in the political debate has a monopoly on the tactic" of challenging court philosophy and decision-making.

hile he himself is conservative, and was chosen by President George . Bush because he has a history of conservative decisions, Chief Justice Roberts noted that many of the recent attacks on the Supreme Court "...emanate from conservative quarters." He reminded those conservatives who wish to politicize the Court that President Ronald…

Judicial review allows lawmakers to reflect changing morals and ideals when enacting legislation, but prevents them from allowing the hot-button topics of the moment to determine the laws of a nation. In fact, to really understand the success of judicial review, one need only look to the election in the Ukraine, where the Ukrainian Supreme Court may be the only body far-enough removed from party politics to ensure that Ukrainian voters have their say. If imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, Justice Marshall should be very flattered.

orks Cited

The Gathering Storm." John Marshall: Definer of a Nation. 2003. DuPage County Bar

Association. 9 Dec. 2004 http:dcba.org/brief/sepissue/1997/art20997.htm.

Hugo Lafayette Black." Arlington National Cemetery ebsite. 2004. Arlington National

Cemetery ebsite. 9 Dec. 2004 http:www.arlingtoncemetery.net/hlblack.htm.

Judicial review/Marbury v. Madison." National Legal Center for the Public Interest. 2002.

National Legal Center for the Public Interest 9 Dec. 2004 http://www.nlcpi.org/pdf/JudicialReviewMarburyvMadison.pdf#search='judicial%20review%20marbury'.

Linder, Doug. "Judicial…

If Chief Justice Hughes and his five aged associates had chosen to remain, the membership of the court would have been enlarged from nine to fifteen" (Pusey 1995).

A small group of constitutional lawyers advised Roosevelt in the construction of the bill, assuring him that the Democratic majority in both Houses of Congress would pass it. hen Roosevelt introduced the bill, Roosevelt used the euphemism of judicial 'reform' rather than said it was an attempt to circumvent the recent rulings of the Supreme Court. He framed his plan as a way of relieving the pressures of overcrowded court dockets. However, some of the phrases he used made his feelings clear, namely his reference to the problems of lifetime appointments, or "aged or infirm judges," (Menaker 2008).

hen he spoke of justices of advanced ages, the President was obviously speaking of his opponents on the Court, the so-called anti-government Four Horsemen…

Branches of U.S. Gov't

The government structure in the United States is divided into three distinct branches that work in conjunction to ensure that the country and its citizens are governed justly. These branches were established in Articles 1, 2, and 3 of the United States Constitution. Furthermore, each of these branches plays a major role in the development of public policy.

The executive branch of the government is made up of the president, vice-president, and fifteen Cabinet-level departments (Trethan, 2012). In this governing sphere, the president holds primary power; he, or she, has the power to choose the vice president, and also appoints Cabinet members who are subsequently responsible to head their respective departments. One of the most important functions of the executive branch is to ensure that "laws are carried out and enforced to facilitate such day-to-day responsibilities of the federal government as collecting taxes, safeguarding the homeland,…

Branches of the Government

In 1787 leaders of the different states sat down to write down the constitution whereby the first section described the separation of the federal government. These three branches of the government are; legislative branch, executive branch and judicial branch.

Legislative branch consist of two houses of congress; the senate and the House of epresentatives .the senate comprises of 100 members from each of the states who are elected in their states in a term that is six years long. The head of the senate is the Vice president but has no voting power. The senate approves the nominations that have been made by the Supreme Court, president of the cabinet, federal courts among other posts. On the other hand, the house of representatives comprises of 435 members with these numbers varying in every state depending on the population. The most important duty of this branch of…

If a plea bargain is reached before the trial, often the trial will not continue. The suspect will be sentenced and then continue to incarceration. Plea-bargaining is a legal tool, which keep the courts from becoming too clogged (Champion 208). This ends the Pre-Trial phase of the criminal court system.

Next in the process is the trial itself. Most people who enjoy courtroom dramas will recognize this phase of the process. Many trials are pleaded out, which means the main characters in the process are the prosecutor, the defense counsel, and the judge. hen a case does go to trial, juries are selected, and are generally composed of 6 or 12 peers, chosen with equal input and approval by both the prosecutor and the defense (Samaha 329). The prosecutor, usually working for the county or state, offers their evidence against the suspect, while the defense counsel presents evidence meant to…

Judicial independence is vital to a healthy society. Agree or disagree and discuss with particular reference to the judiciary system in Australia.

I agree with this statement. The reason why is because history is full of examples showing how judicial independence improves the overall amounts of: transparency and personal freedoms in society. This is because, an independent judiciary is providing a way of giving ordinary citizens the ability have their issues addressed. Once this takes place, it means that the rule of law can begin to function effectively, due to the fact that everyone feels that they will be treated fairly by the court system.

In those nations where the judiciary is often run by the government itself, this means that the citizens have less personal freedom. The reason why is because, the close relationship between these branches will give one more dominance over the others. Once this takes place,…

Judiciary Branch of Government in the United Kingdom

The Judiciary Branch of Government

Structure of the U.S. And UK Judiciary Branch

A Comparative Case Study

The structure of the judiciary branch of the government in the United States and the United Kingdom are quite different and the student which studies judiciary structure will readily agree with the statement of fact that textbooks in relation to the American government and politics pay substantial attention to the role of the judiciary; many textbooks on the government and politics of the United Kingdom have -- at least until recently -- virtually ignored the role of judges in the UK which leaves one asking exactly why that this is the case. . The purpose of this work is to research and examine the lack of information and attention to the role and function of the judicial branch of the UK government and to compare…

Meanwhile Congress was reluctant to challenge Bush (members feared being termed "unpatriotic" since Bush argued that the safety of Americans depended on the secret surveillance done by NSA) immediately, but in the past few months Congress (the House Intelligence and Judiciary Committees) has demanded - and in part received - access to internal documents on the wiretapping program. "That access could ultimately help persuade skeptical lawmakers in the House, which so far has rejected the immunity idea, to sign on to the hite House's Plan" (Lichtblau 2008) according to the New York Times.

Indeed the Senate in January 2008 gave immunity for the phone companies that helped the NSA tap phones secretly, which means Verizon, at&T, et al., cannot be sued for assisting the Bush Administration with its warrantless wiretapping program (there are over 40 lawsuits pending over the phone companies' roles in the wiretapping). So here is a case…

Bush's Judicial Appointments

At the onset of the framing of the American Constitution, there was considerable desire to change the manner in which the Kings of Europe had the prerogative to appoint, demote, or fire members of the Judicial branches on a whim. They believed that, at least when it came to the appointment of Supreme Court Justices, there would be less politization involved, a way to limit executive power, and allow Judges to feel less partisan in their approach to policy. The original purpose for appointing the Judges for life, then, was so that regardless of the current administration's views or leanings, the Judges would be able to interpret the Constitution based on their legal views, not the views of the current President or staff. This keeps the High Court relatively stable so that there are not swings every four years in liberal or conservative interpretations (McCloskey and Levinson,…

Politics

The Constitution delineates the powers related to the different branches of government, the judicial, legislative and executive. This breakdown is outlined in Article II. In Section 2, the President is appointed the Commander-in-Chief of the Army and Navy. The President also has the power to make treaties, appoint ambassadors, other public ministers, judges of the Supreme Court, with the advice of the Senate. The President may appoint lower officials without the Senate's approval, and the President may fill vacancies during recess of the Senate. The President also has the power of veto over laws presented to him by Congress.

The President also has powers that have been granted by Congress. As head of the executive branch, the President has extensive power within that branch to guide funding and projects, and to make appointments. The President can utilize what are known as executive orders, which apply to people working within…

Political Science

The Executive, Legislative, and Judicial Branches: Separation of Powers and Maintaining Checks and Balances in the Government

The formulation, enactment, and implementation of the Constitution as the primary basis of law in the United States aim to provide society with representativeness. The establishment of the U.S. government allows for the separation of powers among its three branches: the executive, legislative, and judiciary. The President, Vice-President, and its departments represent the Executive branch; the Senate and Congress, on the other hand, represent the legislative branch; lastly, the Judiciary is composed of the Supreme Court (Microsoft Encarta 2002). Each branch has a function designed to provide people not only their representatives in the government, but to ensure that the state and nation as a whole also fulfills their functions as citizens of the country (as decreed by the Constitution). Each branch's function is also designed to ensure that checks and…

"Although the courts often speak in terms of deference, they follow no consistent or predictable pattern in deciding whether to defer in a given case. Moreover, blanket judicial deference to legislative fact-finding would not be a wise general rule. Because social fact-finding plays a decisive role in constitutional analysis, blind judicial deference would undermine the courts' responsibility to protect individual rights," as in the case of Brown v. Board of Education, where the psychological facts in terms of the impact of segregation upon young black students was part of the court's justification for its decision outlawing segregation (Borgmann 2008)

orks Cited

Borgmann, Caitlin E. (2008, February 28). Rethinking judicial deference to legislative fact-finding. Indiana Law Journal. 84. 1. Available March 26,…

9/11 terror attacks was characterized by enactment of new laws and executive orders that focused on enhancing homeland security. However, these laws and orders have become controversial because they have ceded power to the executive branch and limited people's rights. Some examples of these limitations include restrictions on privacy, limitation of free speech and association rights, and limitation of religious freedom. While these actions were necessary to help prevent another attack, they are inappropriate since they compromise civil rights and checks and balances established in America's democracy. The federal government would have taken less drastic measures through reordering priorities of law enforcement instead of generating fundamental changes in law.

Week 5: Discussion

In the American judicial system, the Supreme Court reviews very few cases most of whom are appeals from lower courts. It should not be mandatory for the Supreme Court to review more cases despite having appellate jurisdiction. The…

To become a senator, a person has to be at least 30 years of age and should have been a citizen of the U.S. For a minimum period of nine years at the time of election. Also, he or she has to be a resident of the state from which he or she is elected so that the state can be well-represented. In the case of representative, he or she should be at least 25 years old and must be a citizen of the U.S. For at least seven years at the time of election. Also, he or she has to be a resident of the state, but there is no mandatory rule that the representative should be a resident of the district that he or she represents.

Major steps in the process of a bill becoming a law

The first step is a member of the congress should introduce…

Schechter v United States: hat is the constitutional doctrine of the non-Delegation of legislative powers?

Over the course of his first terms in office, President Franklin Delano Roosevelt enacted a series of measures designed to extricate the nation from the Great Depression. A number of these actions, including his attempts to create a series of new federal agencies, caused him to engage in open conflict with the U.S. Supreme Court, to the point that Roosevelt even considered increasing the number of Supreme Court justices to ensure his legislation stood unchallenged. Although ultimately he was dissuaded from this plan, the question of when it was legal for Congress to delegate its powers to some of the other branches of government was at the heart of the conflict.

The doctrine of non-delegation of legislative powers holds that even if Congress wishes to delegate its legislative authority to another entity it cannot do…

BRANCHES OF U.S. GOVERNMENT HAS MORE TO SAY IN FOREIGN POLICY DECISION MAKING? HY?

The Executive Branch has the most 'say' in making foreign policy, as only the president administrates the day-to-day affairs of the nation as a whole, and as he or she is the only nationally elected official. The president negotiates treaties, and acts as head of state and commander in chief of the armed forces. But presidential power over foreign affairs is not absolute -- for example, only Congress can declare war. The Senate approves nominations made by the President to the Cabinet, including the Secretaries of State and Defense. The Senate must also ratify all foreign treaties by a two-thirds vote. The Senate has must confirm ambassadors and other senior foreign policy officials. Congress retains control over foreign policy funding, and, of course, the power to raise and equip the military for war. The Judicial Branch…

Court Systems

The structure and platform on which the legal system is based upon is very important in understanding the total landscape of how justice is carried out within the confines of the government. The purpose of this essay is to explore the inner workings of both the federal and state court systems and highlight their similarities and differences. Also, this essay will investigate the roles of court administrators in the different types of functions that a court serves. A investigation into the state of Colorado and its court structure will also be presented to help give a practical example of the court system. Finally, the essay will address quasi-judicial bodies and their impact on the courts and legal system.

The Basis for Authority

The United States Courts Government Website (n.d.), details a comprehensive overview of the basis of America's court system. The United States Constitution is understood to be…

In 1993 there were 155,704 recorded crimes of burglary and of these 20,200 were residential burglaries. Since the mid-1970s the level of recorded burglaries has fluctuated around a level of 130,000 to 150,000 crimes per year although during the three last years, 1991 to 1993, the level has been close to 155,000. The number of recorded car thefts in 1993 was 61,141 and of these 18,300 were attempts. During the 1980s the number of recorded thefts of cars has doubled from 34,301 in 1980 to 69,003 in 1989. However, in the last three years this crime has decreased from roughly 70,000 in 1991 to roughly 61,000 in 1993.

Drug offenses. In 1993, 40,700 violations of the Narcotic Drugs Act were reported to the police. This figure is 40% higher than in 1990. Due to the method of counting drug offenses and the fact that this is a crime category highly…

Function of the American Government

The American government has had a long-standing checks-and-balances efficiency within its three-branch system. Because of the separate governable powers within the legislative, executive, and judicial branches of the United States, American law has been approved after many constant revisions and discussions. It is extremely commendable that the legislative branch takes into account the representation of both "state" and "people." This is not to say, of course, that the government system of the United States is utterly perfect; the executive branch certainly holds a bit more power within the government than one would like.

One major positive effect of the passing of laws is the representation included within those laws. Long before the House-and-Senate solution of Congress, there was always the problem of representation amongst the population of the respective states. State borders vary in land mass and population; how does one reconcile a largely-populated state…

The first amendment to the Constitution in the ill of Rights states that "Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof." This provision has been the justification for entirely removing prayer from schools and the mention of God from public places. This may not have been the intention of the Framers. They were concerned that the government could not establish an official state religion, as had been done in many countries in Europe. They did not intend to eliminate religion from public life.

The problem with judicial activism is that it becomes very hard to stop once it begins. As stated, while most would agree that a right to privacy is desirable, what about other rights or privileges with which the majority would not agree. The Constitution was designed with a process to amend it as conditions change. The Framers anticipated that…

political structure and philosophy of South Korea is a unique interplay of four major forces: first, and most obvious, the individual native customs and beliefs of the Korean people; second, Confusion notions and ideals; third, estern European and U.S. political models; and fourth, Marxist philosophy. The internal notions of governance have been greatly influenced by these three outside ideologies and come together to form the current South Korean form of government. To understand the modern South Korean government is to recognize it as a conglomeration of philosophies that appear on the surface to be contradictory, but arose out of several periods of economic and political strife.

The fifteenth century saw the rise of Neo-Confucianism in South Korea; this came out of a response to the established system of noble overlords. The new political movement sought to establish a government that addressed the issues of the citizenry rather than simply act…

Supreme Court

In the landmark decision Brown v. Board of Education in 1954, the United States Supreme Court overturned the "separate but equal" standard adopted by the 1892 Plessy v. Ferguson. Until Brown v. Board of Education passed, American public schools were segregated. Brown v. Board of Education transformed American society by outlawing racial segregation. Now that American schools are integrated, the Brown v. Board of Education decision seems immutable. However, the decision potentially represents an overstepping of the Judicial Branch's power. While most people would agree that the decision of Brown v. Board of Education was absolutely mandatory, others would note that from a purely rational standpoint, the Supreme Court overstepped its role as an interpretive body.

In its reasoning, the Court relies on the research conclusion of psychologists as one of the bases of its decision. Although psychology may be considered to be a "soft" science, it is…

Constitution

The United States of America is a democracy, a form of government which is supposed to be controlled by the people of this country. It is not a true democracy where the people vote on every issue, but a representational democracy the citizens vote for other people who will be responsible for the running of the nation as well as for the creation and passing of most laws. On the federal level, the functions of the government are broken into parts, each responsible for different functions. America's government is composed of three separate branches: the Legislative, Executive, and Judicial (Greenberg & Page 2010). The separation of powers as written in the Constitution is designed so that each branch can give their attention to the functions of their branch and also prevents any of the branches from becoming too powerful which would then lead to the destruction of the democracy…

S. No. 04-1739 (2006)

Facts:

Issue(s):

Ruling:

Analysis:

Minority Rationale:

Comments:

wo examples of where rights are limited in the ownership of land or property:

Servitudes and easements are put into place...

Servitudes and easements can be protected by...

It is vital to protect Servitudes and easements because...

III. Intellectual Properties

Eric Eldred, Et Al., Petitioners V. John D. Ashcroft, Attorney General

U.S. 01 -- 618 (2003)

Facts:

Issue(s):

Ruling:

Analysis:

Minority Rationale:

Comments:

he differences between copyrights, trademarks, and patents include:

he title to real property is permanent, whereas some intellectual property is limited in the time that it is protected due to...

IV. Business and the Bill of Rights

Humana Inc., Et Al., Petitioners V. Mary Forsyth Et Al.

U.S. 97 -- 303 (1999)

Facts:

Issue(s):

Ruling:

Analysis:

Minority Rationale:

Comments:

he major difference between business speech and political speech is that...

Whether or not "Closely regulated industries…

Stare decisis, from the Latin meaning "to stand by that which is decided," is a judicial doctrine, which provides that precedent decisions are to be followed by the courts ('Lectric). The doctrine of stare decisis has developed in common-law legal systems, which enable judges to create law through judicial interpretation. In contrast, jurisdictions with a civil-law legal system reject the doctrine of stare decisis, because civil-law systems require a stricter separation between the legislative and judicial branches. The United States' legal system developed from a common-law base and embraces the doctrine of stare decisis.

Although the doctrine of stare decisis appears, at first blush, to give great power to the judicial branch, it is actually a judicial discretion constraining device. If the legislature is unhappy with a high court's interpretation of a law, it can change the law to reflect the actual legislative intent. However, if the legislature is content…

The court pointed out that the reason next friend status is observed to occur almost exclusively among prisoner's relatives is because a family member typically decides to step in when the competence of the prisoner is in question. The Court also argued that this case was easily distinguished from Hamdi (2002) because Newman already had a preexisting relationship with Padilla.

The government also argued that the District Court of the Southern District of New York did not have jurisdiction, since the prisoner was currently housed in Charleston, South Carolina (Padilla ex rel. Newman v. Bush, 2002). The Court rejected this argument in addition to making five other decisions: (1) Secretary of Defense umsfeld was the proper respondent to the habeas petition, (2) the Court had jurisdiction over umsfeld, (3) the President is authorized to designate Padilla an enemy combatant (without judging its merits) and therefore detain him for the duration…

But in 1973, the American Psychological Association announced that they would be removing homosexuality from the list of recognized mental illnesses, as growing numbers of researchers and doctors realized that it represented fairly normal sexual behavior (Head par. 17).

A quick bit of simple arithmetic can tell you that it still took thirty years after the medical community determined that homosexuality was not dangerous or especially abnormal for the law to catch up. And in many instances, there still aren't laws protecting gays. All that the Supreme Court ruling did was ban laws that banned homosexual behavior; they cannot make laws to protect gay rights.

This has been the major issue plaguing the civil rights of homosexuals. Until the legislative branch of the government becomes involved in mandating that certain rights are protected, nothing that the judicial branch does will ever really be secure. This was shown most recently in…

This relationship between the executive and legislative branches in North Carolina is similar to that of Texas, which also has a bicameral legislature made up of representatives elected every two years to its house of representatives and senate. Texas also has elected Texas Supreme Court Justices, Appeals Courts, and District Court Divisions with justices elected to six-year terms. The longer term is presumably intended to isolate the justices somewhat from the need to please the populace. The governor is also elected every four years in Texas. (Texas Online, 2006)

The delegation of authority to local governments: hat structure and powers do the cities, counties, and other forms of local government have in the state?

In North Carolina the state has the authority to exercise its police powers to protect public health, safety, and welfare on both a local and state level. Local governments have been delegated the authority to regulate…

" The bill then goes on a calendar, so it can be debated, discussed, or amended. The bill then goes to the floor of the house where it is read, discussed, and voted on. If it passes by a two-thirds margin, it goes on to the Senate, where it goes through the same process. If it makes it this far, it is "enrolled," signed by the Speaker of the House and the Vice-President, and then it goes to the president for signature ("Ben's Guide"). Both legislative branches seem to have similar means of passing bills, Canada's follows about the same procedure in a different order.

In Canada, Canadians elect a Parliament, and the most the members can sit on Parliament is five years. The Parliament is made up of the House of Commons and the Senate. The leaders of the two bodies are the Speaker of the House and the…

The Supreme Court is the most powerful body of men in the United States, contrary to what many people believe.

The powers of the three branches of government are enumerated in the three charters of freedom: The Declaration of Independence, Constitution of the United States, and the Bill of ights. Together, these documents enumerate the rights and freedoms of the citizens of the United States, inherent by virtue of their citizenship; and they enumerate and limit the powers of the three branches of government in such a way as to create a system of checks and balances that cause the actions to be scrutinized by the other branches, and, if the office of the President, or the president, does not agree with legislation crated by the House of epresentatives, sent to the United States Senate for approval, the president can veto the bill containing the legislation. Likewise, the president's veto…

For example, the EP has the right to bring an action for failure to act, and can also take action to have the ECJ review acts of the Council or the Commission.

Despite those protections, the ECJ determined that the legal remedies provided for in the Euratom Treaty and EEC treaty might be ineffective or uncertain.

For example, an action for failure to act cannot be used to challenge a measure that has already been adopted.

In addition, though the EP has the right to seek a preliminary ruling on the validity of such an action, such a ruling does not mean that anyone will actually bring an action for annulment.

In fact, even though the Commission is required to respect the EP's prerogatives, it is not obliged to adopt the EP's positions as its own.

As a result, the ECJ concluded that the legal remedies available to the EP…

The innate need to not let any person or any entity overpower the rights that have been given will allow for a balance of power that will in the end work to produce a functioning government.

In excerpt 5, as posited by Madison, he states that the reason why a stable and structured government is necessary in the first place is because men are always hungry for more power. When given just a little bit of governance over a bigger crowd of people, they will naturally want more, as they see their way as being the right way, and the only way in which problems could be solved. But because men are inclined to want aspects to turn out in ways where their best interests are in mind and where they come out best in the end, a necessary system needs to be implemented to make sure that one branch…

In cases of treason accusations, the testimony of two additional parties, or an open court testimony of the defendant is required: "No person shall be convicted of treason unless on the testimony of two witnesses to the same overt act, or on confession in open court" (Section 3).

Democracy

- No national or international party is exempt from following the legislations and all those who break the laws will as such be trailed in front of the Supreme Court or other inferior courts: "The judicial power shall extend to all cases, in law and equity, arising under this Constitution, the laws of the United States, and treaties made, or which shall be made, under their authority; -- to all cases affecting ambassadors, other public ministers and consuls; -- to all cases of admiralty and maritime jurisdiction; -- to controversies to which the United States shall be a party; -- to…

Courting Disaster

This study reviews Pat obertson's "Courting disaster: How the Supreme Court is usurping the power of Congress and the people." Pat obertson is the founder and chairperson of the Christian Broadcasting Network, founder of egent University, and The Center for Law and Justice. He and his wife have four children and thirteen grandchildren. They reside in Virginia Beach, Virginia. Using both legal and religious points-of-view, obertson attempts to prove that the current operation of the judicial system is dangerous to both the republican form of government and our individual freedoms. While seeking to strengthen his argument, the author has compiled fascinating facts, quotes, case decisions, and opinions of the Court (Mu-ller-Fahrenholz, 2007).

From this study, it is evident that obertson undertook a political expedition seeking to identify various issues that bedeviled the American society. However, he fails to provide solutions to the identified problems. This is an action…

Robertson illustrated his point about the dangers of the Supreme Court's power anecdotally, such as when, later in the book he talks about the McCain-Feingold Bill which was designed to restrict campaign finance and reform the ways political campaigns were funded both privately and via government assistance. Although the Republicans in neither the Legislative or Executive branch supported the bill, they agreed to pass it in order to end the debate, believing that the bill would be ruled unconstitutional by the Supreme Court in that it violated first amendment laws, among other things (Robertson 2004,-page 234). hen the voted for or signed the bill as the case may have been, they believed that the court would ultimately overrule the other branches by finding the proposed legislation unconstitutional based on the text of the law itself. The Supreme Court, however, did not agree with this perspective and ruled the law legal.…

Jefferson

A Talk with Thomas Jefferson: Understanding and Explaining the U.S. Government from a Centuries-Old Perspective

TJ: Did it work? Am I here? Did I make it as far as I intended? I told Sally to turn the crank as fast as she could, but I'm not sure my temporal advancement device is functioning properly and that Hemmings girl has a mind of her own, sometimes.

ME: Umm if you mean you built a time machine to take you to the twenty-first century, then yeah, it worked. It's 2012, to be exact. And you are…..

TJ: Thomas Jefferson, Agrarian Democrat, at your service. As you are at my service. And as we are both at service to society at large, and as society at large is at service to use, all equal in our powers, positions, rights, and responsibilities. Just how a democracy is supposed to work.

ME: Technically the…

Whitt v Teeter

American Business Legal Environment - American Business law is also known as commercial and corporate law. It governs all business and commercial transactions, but most consider it to be a branch of civil law that has evolved into a more specific level of focus. This form of law governs manufacture and distribution of goods, guarantees, accidents, corporate responsibilities, contracts, hiring practices, and the manufacture and sales of consumer goods. In the United States, unlike some other countries, commercial law is part of the purview of the U.S. Congress and the civil codes that govern laws between the states. This template came about based on needing to establish some sort of legal venue that would transcend individual state's jurisdictions so that goods could be transported between states and still have legal protection (Commercial Law, 2010). Many efforts have been made to create a more unified, "national" code that…

The Constitution is based on several key principals the most notable would include: separation of powers as well as checks and balances. Separation of powers is when there are clearly defined powers that are given to the various branches of: the government, the federal government and the states. Checks and balances is when one branch of the government will have the power to the check the authority of another branch. (Wood) for example, the Constitution would specifically spell out various powers of the executive branch. During the course of exercising these different powers, a citizen brings a lawsuit against the government in the judicial branch. Where, they claim that the actions that the executive branch is taking are unconstitutional. In this particular case, the executive branch would work off of the powers given to them in the Constitution. When they begin to overstep these boundaries, another branch of the government…

Criminal Justice

When the Constitution replaced the Articles of Confederation in 1789, the United States of America formed a government that specifically divided its powers between three separate branches. This was done in order to make certain that no one branch of government could accumulate too much power. These three are called the Executive, Legislative, and Judicial branches of government, and the Constitution defines the powers each branch of government is allowed to exercise. While the Executive and Legislative branches of government deal with the running of the government, the Judicial branch is limited to dealing with legal matters. While it may seem that the Judicial branch is someone less important, it is the judiciary that decides whether the actions taken by the other two branches of government are legitimate.

Alexander Hamilton argued in the Federalist Papers that a separation of powers was necessary in order to prevent one particular…

In this case, another category should be defined where the act was intentional, and the long-term eventual outcome was to commit an act of war against the United States, but this effect was not a direct threat to national security. In this case these acts would still be classified as crimes.

In order to be classified as an act of terror, there must be an indication of purpose. The purpose must be a direct threat to national security; for example, flying planes into a building would be an act with a purpose to threat national security. Obtaining passports for those intending on flying planes into a building would also be considered to be an act of terror, because this act has a purpose, and is a direct contributor to the compromise of national security. However, committing forgery on papers to enter the United States would not be considered an act…

Politeia

In the Politics, and the Constitution of Athens (Politeia), Aristotle lays out a number of ideas. In this short essay, the author will attempt to answer the question of whether or not man is a political animal." Further, if this is the cause, we will explore whether or not Aristotle's politics allow man enough room to live up to this nature. It is this author's contention that Aristotle answers that man is a political animal and then goes on to describe the ideal state so that man can realize this goal.

The Politeia was written in the late 4th century BCE by Aristotle or possibly by a student disciple at Plato's academy. This was a treatise where Aristotle expressed his view that the ideal of a perfect political government structure was a mixture of democracy and oligarchy. In this vein, he sees man as a political animal. In the…

System of Checks and Balances

Power

The concept of Separation of Powers and Checks and Balances is more or less the same thing. Both of these ideas were introduced into the government to ensure that one branch of the government does not have all the power. Another reason it was introduced was so that the responsibilities and duties are distributed among different areas to ensure that the government is doing its job perfectly. Separation of Powers is basically a model of government in which various parts of the government have different tasks. The three different branches of the United States government are Executive, Legislative and Judicial. Before we get into the history of separation of powers, it is only necessary to tell which branch is in charge of what activities.

The legislative branch is basically the Congress and its major responsibility is to approve acts and make them into laws.…

Separation of Powers

Doctrine of Separation of powers in Australia

The concept of separation of powers has been in operation and application in many countries. This has always helped them in ensuring efficient governance and effective working of each arm of the government without interfering with the other organs of the government. Factually, the different arms of the governments cannot operate independent of each other, yet they must keep a safe distance that will enable them operate effectively and carry out their daily activities. This doctrine of separation of powers classifies the institutions of government into 3 major branches classified as the legislative, the Executive and the judicial branch. Separation of powers in Australia

The Australian system is referred to as the Westminster system which is a system that was adopted from England and still has the Queen as the overall head who resides in England but represented locally by…

(erg, 2007)

Community oards

Non-voting public advocate groups that will advise the City Council on: how different policies will affect neighborhoods. Their main responsibility is to represent the interests of the general public. (erg, 2007)

What form of city or county government does your local municipal or county jurisdiction have?

Executive branch

Representative democracy.

Legislative branch

Representative democracy.

Judicial branch

Representative democracy.

Community oards

Representative democracy. (erg, 2007)

What kinds of elections do your local city, county, and school board employ?

Executive branch

Direct elections every four years.

Legislative branch

Direct elections every four years.

Judicial branch

Direct elections every four years.

Community oards

Appointed by orough Presidents. (erg, 2007)

ibliography

Community oards. (2011). NYC. Retrieved from: http://www.nyc.gov/html/cau/html/cb/directory.shtml

Mayor loomberg. (2011). NYC. Retrieved from: http://www.nyc.gov/portal/site/nycgov/?front_door=true

The New York City Council. (2011). NYC. Retrieved from: http://council.nyc.gov/html/home/home.shtml

New York City Courts. (2011). New York Unified Court System. Retrieved from: http://www.courts.state.ny.us/courts/nyc/index.shtml

erg, .…

b. Civil -- Civil cases involve disputes between two parties. In these cases the person or entity who files the suit (the plaintiff) claims that the other person or entity (the defendant) has failed to fulfill a legal obligation to the plaintiff. The plaintiff may request the court to require the defendant to either fulfill the obligation or make monetary restitution.

III. Federal Court System

a. Jurisdiction -- The jurisdiction of federal courts is limited to what is provided in the Constitution. Typically, these are cases involving:

i. Cases in which the United States is a party

ii. Cases involving violation of the U.S. Constitution or Federal Laws iii. Cases between citizens of two different states if the amount is greater than $75,000

iv. Bankruptcy, copyright, patent, and maritime law cases.

b. Organization of Federal Court System -- There are three basic levels of the federal court system. These are…

S. Constitution and to resolve issues of law and any conflicts between the laws of individual states and the Constitution (Dershowitz, 2002). Several modern cases have required the Judicial

Branch to apply the checks and balances principle to unconstitutional actions by the other branches of government. In 1983, the Supreme Court prohibited the Legislative Branch from vetoing decisions issued by the Executive Branch (as represented by the Attorney

General) arising in the eagan administration and later, in 1998, by applying the separation of powers doctrine to the diametrically opposite side of the same general issue, in prohibiting the delegation of congressional legislative authority to the president during the Clinton administration (Friedman, 2005).

Morrison v. Olson, 487 U.S. 654 (1988):

The case arose during the eagan administration when President eagan

Instructed Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and components of the U.S.

Department of Justice to furnish documents formally subpoenaed by the House…

Health Politics

"What is the role of Congress in policy making process"?

Policy is a plan to identify goal or possible course of actions with administrative or management tools to accomplish these goals. n the other hand, policy is the authoritative decision made by the U.S. executive, legislative, judicial branch of government to influence the decision of others. Government is a key player in decision-making process and congress plays important roles in decision-making . In the United States, both House of Representatives and House of Senate fulfill the congressional policy responsibilities, and congress plays important role in health policy, which includes obesity prevention measures or health insurance program. Congress is an important arm of government that makes law. Important strategy that congress uses to make policy preference is by passing a bill into law. Typically, the congress could make a decision to pass or not to the policy of the…

Balancing the Powers, Balancing the Need for Gridlock

The American system of government is the most fairly designed system of governance in the world today, designed to balance the three branches that make up the triangular structure of its government. The American system of government is designed not to work and remains in a state of hopeless and continual structural gridlock in a kind of 'rock, paper, scissors' style of governance that is amicable to a child's game but not to modern governance. How can both of these statements be simultaneously true?

The answer lies in the notion of the separation of executive, legislative, and judicial powers in the designed system of governance by the Founding Fathers of the American nation. The Father's system was designed to create, through division, a balance of powers between the branches of government most and least responsive to the popular will. "The system of…

Article III describes the judicial branch of government, including the Supreme Court. It establishes that there is one court, the Supreme Court, however Congress may create lower courts, although judgements and orders may be reviewed by the Supreme Court. The trials of all crimes, except those involving impeachment, shall be by jury and held in the state where the crimes were committed, but if not committed within a state, the Congress will decide where the trial will take place. The judicial power extends to all cases arising under the Constitution, the laws of the United States, and treaties made, or which may be made, under their authority. No one can be convicted of treason without the testimony of two witnesses to the same act, or on confession in open court. The Congress has the power to decide the punishment of treason.

Article IV establishes the relationship among the states, and…

Florida state government is divided up into branches that each hold a precise and specific mandate. As with the federal government, Florida's state government consists of three branches -- the executive branch, the legislative branch, and the judicial branch. Each branch has its own special duties and responsibilities. Moreover, the state also has local government agencies that serve both general and special purposes (American Government, n.d.). This paper will discuss each of these elements of the Florida state government.

Basic Structure

The basic structure of the Florida state government can be summarized by explaining the responsibilities of the Florida Governor and Cabinet, the Florida Legislature and the Florida Judicial branches of government (State and Local Governemnt, n.d.).

The Governor is the chief executive of the state government -- just like the President is the chief executive of the nation. In Florida, the Governor is responsible for overseeing the state budget…

Introduction
International relations theory refers to the study of the theoretical perspective of international relations. It provides a framework which is conceptual upon which analysis of international relations is done. International relations theories can also act like pairs of colored sunglasses which only allows the person wearing it to see what’s relevant to the theory. There are three most prominent theories available - constructivism, liberalism and realism. International relations theories are divided into rationalist and reflectivist theories. Rationalist theories are those that focus on analysis that is principally of state level. Reflectivist theories incorporate the meanings of security in an expanded manner from post-colonial security, gender to class.
International relations theories have a big role in helping policy-makers produce solutions that are effective instead of being regarded as being too abstract. In policy organizations that are foreign, people are not selected by their theories’ quality but by their quality of…

It separates the various forms of government and does not allow one to become more powerful than another, and it ensures that laws are created fairly, that justice is fair, and that the President does not gain too much power. Essentially, it is the backbone of our Democracy, and that assures our freedom and the public good.

Critics of the Constitution and its support of the public good believe that the laws can promote gridlock in legislation, and that it can make it easier for government leaders to not take responsibility for problems. However, the framers of the Constitution had the citizens in mind, and they formed it to create a Democratic country with the good of the public as a foremost concern.

The Virginia Plan was a plan favored by James Madison, and it had three branches, legislative, executive, and judicial. The legislature chose the executive and judicial branches,…

Finally, torture is the best means to try to get this information from the suspect (McCoy, 2006). Taken as a whole, these circumstances are so unlikely to occur that, even if the ticking bomb scenario would justify the use of torture, it has not ever occurred and, therefore, cannot be used to justify torture.

In fact, what many people who advocate in favor of torture fail to acknowledge is that while torture may be guaranteed to elicit information from even the most reticent of subjects, there is no reason to believe that torture will elicit truthful information. The theory behind torture is that, with the application of sufficient pain and fear, people will talk, and that does appear to be true in the vast majority of cases. However, it is more important to wonder what they will say than whether they will talk. In the non-terrorist scenario, "About 25% of…

Conservatives and socialists splitted society and failed to create a functioning coalition. After years of authoritarian monarchic control, proportional system of election led society to political chaos, as nearly 20 parties with different political programs from communist to right radicals were represented in eichstag. None of country's politicians was successful either in diplomacy or in the art of achieving compromise. The experience of political pluralism led to political and economical disorientation in society, as in a period of 1919-1933 Germany witnessed several temporary coalitions in parliament and twelve governments, which were unable to stabilize country's economy.

Haffner describes that political crisis was a common attribute of Weimar republic's pluralism: "From 1914 to 1923 all governments had been weak" German parliamentarians of Weimar republic faced a common problem of all young political parties. Being one of the most popular parties in the country with wide support in society and even being…

Founding Documents-Declaration & Constitution

The Declaration of Independence lays out the fundamental propositions which underlie the Constitution and American political culture, and as Abraham Lincoln once famously stated, the Constitution is the "frame of silver" which surrounds the Declaration's "apple of gold." That is, Lincoln believed the Constitution creates the institutions and processes through which American government realizes the principles natural rights found in the Declaration's preamble. The purpose of the Declaration was not only to create a document proclaiming the colonies' separation from Great Britain, but it was also both a list of grievances and a statement of colonial constitutional theory. Jefferson stated toward the end of his life that the political philosophy espoused in the Declaration was simply a statement of the "American mind."

The Constitution can properly be said to embody these principles in part due to the failure of the Articles of Confederation -- as the…

Presidential and Congressional Powers

In the simplest of terms, the differences in powers between Congress and the President is that Congress makes laws and the President enforces them. But, that description does a great injustice to the complexities of the roles of each. Congress is granted "all legislative powers" by Article I, Section 8 of the Constitution. Those powers include the making of laws, coining money, declaring war, regulating interstate and foreign commerce, and maintaining the military. The powers of the President (Executive Branch) are outlined in Article II of the Constitution. They include the power of appointment and removal, the creation of executive orders, limited legislative powers, veto power, pardoning power, power to make treaties, and military powers separate from those of Congress. Both sets of powers, in conjunction with the Judicial Branch, form a balance of powers within the Federal Government. It is the purpose of this paper…

intelligence operations. What role would state and local police play in these operations? What are the limits on their role?

Intelligence operations can tremendously aid in the prevention of terrorist and criminal acts. The problem with intelligence gathering is not the efficacy of the data but how it is shared and used. When local and state police are involved in intelligence-gathering operations, concerns related to civil liberties might arise. Arguments against intelligence operations include concerns over surveillance as an infringement on civil liberties.

Given government exists as a social contract in which individual citizens willingly agree to surrender a few individual rights in favor of a broader common good, intelligence gathering makes perfect sense. Intelligence gathering allows the elected government to protect its citizens via the identification of risks, and the mitigation and responses thereto. Therefore, intelligence gathering is undertaken according to the libertarian values upon which the United States…