Strategy 1 Achieve Equality of Voice and Representation. Strategy 1. Prev ious Recommendation. Next Recommendation. Recommendation 1. The Problem. The Remedy. After the petitioner's brief has been filed, the other party, known as the respondent, is given a certain amount of time to file a respondent's brief.
This brief is also not to exceed 50 pages. After the initial petitions have been filed, the petitioner and respondent are permitted to file briefs of a shorter length that respond to the other party's respective position. If not directly involved in the case, the U. Government, represented by the Solicitor General, can file a brief on behalf of the government. With the permission of the Court, groups that do not have a direct stake in the outcome of the case, but are nevertheless interested in it, may file what is known as an amicus curiae Latin for "friend of the court" brief providing their own arguments and recommendations for how the case should be decided.
By law, the U. Supreme Court's term begins on the first Monday in October and goes through the Sunday before the first Monday in October of the following year. The Court hears oral arguments in cases from October through April. From October through December, arguments are heard during the first two weeks of each month. From January through April, arguments are heard on the last two weeks of each month. During each two-week session, oral arguments are heard on Mondays, Tuesdays, and Wednesdays only unless the Court directs otherwise.
Oral arguments are open to the public. Typically, two cases are heard each day, beginning at 10 a. Each case is allotted an hour for arguments.
During this time, lawyers for each party have a half hour to make their best legal case to the Justices. Most of this time, however, is spent answering the Justices' questions. The Justices tend to view oral arguments not as a forum for the lawyers to rehash the merits of the case as found in their briefs, but for answering any questions that the Justices may have developed while reading their briefs. The Solicitor General usually argues cases in which the U. Government is a party.
If the U. Government is not a party, the Solicitor still may be allotted time to express the government's interests in the case.
During oral arguments, each side has approximately 30 minutes to present its case, however, attorneys are not required to use the entire time. The petitioner argues first, then the respondent.
If the petitioner reserves time for rebuttal, the petitioner speaks last. After the Court is seated, the Chief Justice acknowledges counsel for the petitioner, who already is standing at the podium. The Supreme Court relies on public confidence to maintain its legitimacy. In the s and s, Supreme Court nominees could generally expect large, bipartisan support in the Senate. Today, judicial confirmation votes are almost strictly down party lines.
Public support for judicial nominees also shows large differences between Democrats and Republicans. Life tenure can turn supposedly independent judges into political players who attempt to time their departures to secure their preferred successors , as Justice Anthony Kennedy did in Many Supreme Court experts have coalesced around a solution to these problems: staggered, year terms with a vacancy automatically occurring every two years in nonelection years.
It would help insulate the court from becoming a campaign issue because vacancies would no longer arise during election years. And it would preserve judicial independence by shielding the court from political calls to fundamentally alter the institution.
Partisanship would still tinge the selection and confirmation of judges by the president and Senate, however, and ideological extremists could still reach the Supreme Court. But they would be limited to year terms. The U. There have been as few as six, but since there have been nine Justices, including one Chief Justice.
All Justices are nominated by the President, confirmed by the Senate, and hold their offices under life tenure. Since Justices do not have to run or campaign for re-election, they are thought to be insulated from political pressure when deciding cases. Justices may remain in office until they resign, pass away, or are impeached and convicted by Congress. The Court's caseload is almost entirely appellate in nature, and the Court's decisions cannot be appealed to any authority, as it is the final judicial arbiter in the United States on matters of federal law.
However, the Court may consider appeals from the highest state courts or from federal appellate courts. The Court also has original jurisdiction in cases involving ambassadors and other diplomats, and in cases between states. Although the Supreme Court may hear an appeal on any question of law provided it has jurisdiction, it usually does not hold trials.
Instead, the Court's task is to interpret the meaning of a law, to decide whether a law is relevant to a particular set of facts, or to rule on how a law should be applied. Lower courts are obligated to follow the precedent set by the Supreme Court when rendering decisions. In almost all instances, the Supreme Court does not hear appeals as a matter of right; instead, parties must petition the Court for a writ of certiorari.
It is the Court's custom and practice to "grant cert" if four of the nine Justices decide that they should hear the case. Of the approximately 7, requests for certiorari filed each year, the Court usually grants cert to fewer than These are typically cases that the Court considers sufficiently important to require their review; a common example is the occasion when two or more of the federal courts of appeals have ruled differently on the same question of federal law.
If the Court grants certiorari, Justices accept legal briefs from the parties to the case, as well as from amicus curiae, or "friends of the court. Before issuing a ruling, the Supreme Court usually hears oral arguments, where the various parties to the suit present their arguments and the Justices ask them questions.
If the case involves the federal government, the Solicitor General of the United States presents arguments on behalf of the United States.
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