Judicial Review

Examples of Judicial Review in the following topics:

• The Power of Judicial Review

  • Judicial review is the doctrine where legislative and executive actions are subject to review by the judiciary.
  • Judicial review is the doctrine under which legislative and executive actions are subject to review by the judiciary.
  • Specific courts with judicial review power must annul the acts of the state when it finds them incompatible with a higher authority.
  • Judicial review is an example of the separation of powers in a modern governmental system.
  • Explain the significance of judicial review in the history of the Supreme Court

• Informal Methods of Amending the Constitution: Societal Change and Judicial Review

  • Informal amendments mean that the Constitution does not specifically list these processes as forms of amending the Constitution, but because of change in society or judicial review changed the rule of law de facto.
  • This type of change occurs in two major forms: through circumstantial change and through judicial review.
  • In the United States, federal and state courts at all levels, both appellate and trial, are able to review and declare the constitutionality of legislation relevant to any case properly within their jurisdiction.
  • In American legal language, "judicial review" refers primarily to the adjudication of constitutionality of statutes, especially by the Supreme Court of the United States.
  • Describe the ways of "informally" amending the Constitution, such as societal change and judicial review.

• Judicial Federalism

  • Much of judicial federalism is dependent on judicial review as well as other acts defining the judiciary's role in the U.S. government.
  • The Judiciary Act thereby incorporated the concept of judicial review.
  • The Supreme Court's landmark decision on the issue of judicial review was Marbury v.
  • Since that time, the federal courts have exercised the power of judicial review.
  • Judicial review is now a well settled doctrine.

• The Supreme Court as Policy Makers

  • The Constitution does not grant the Supreme Court the power of judicial review but the power to overturn laws and executive actions.
  • The Constitution does not explicitly grant the Supreme Court the power of judicial review but the power of the Court to overturn laws and executive actions it deems unlawful or unconstitutional is well-established.
  • Many of the Founding Fathers accepted the notion of judicial review.
  • On the other hand, through its power of judicial review, the Supreme Court has defined the scope and nature of the powers and separation between the legislative and executive branches of the federal government.

• Strict Scrutiny

  • The legal standard of strict scrutiny, the most stringent standard of judicial review, must be used in all court cases involving affirmative action.
  • Strict scrutiny is the most stringent standard of judicial review used in American courts .
  • The other members of the hierarchy of standards are, at the lowest level, "rational basis review" and, at the intermediate level, "intermediate scrutiny."
  • The Supreme Court has consistently found that classification based on race, national origin, and alienage require strict scrutiny review.

• Checks and Balances

  • The legislative branch of the United States checks and monitors the executive and judicial branches.
  • Courts check both the executive branch and the legislative branch through judicial review.
  • Judicial review in the United States refers to the power of a court to review the constitutionality of a statute or treaty, or to review an administrative regulation for consistency with either a statute, a treaty, or the Constitution itself.
  • The Supreme Court's landmark decision on the issue of judicial review was Marbury v.
  • Since that time, the federal courts have exercised the power of judicial review.

• Judicial Activism and Restraint

  • Judicial activism is based on personal/political considerations and judicial restraint encourages judges to limit their power.
  • Judicial activism describes judicial rulings suspected of being based on personal or political considerations rather than on existing law.
  • The definition of judicial activism and which specific decisions are activist, is a controversial political issue.
  • Defenders say that in many cases it is a legitimate form of judicial review and that interpretations of the law must change with the times.
  • Judicial restraint is a theory of judicial interpretation that encourages judges to limit the exercise of their own power.

• Vertical Checks and Balances

  • The branch has sole power of impeachment (House of Representatives) and trial of impeachments (Senate), meaning it can remove federal executive and judicial officers from office for high crimes and misdemeanors.
  • The judicial branch (Supreme Court) determines which laws Congress intended to apply to any given case, exercises judicial review, reviewing the constitutionality of laws and determines how Congress meant the law to apply to disputes.
  • The amount of discretion depends upon the standard of review, determined by the type of case in question.

• Basic Judicial Requirements

  • In practice, however, every state has adopted a division of its judiciary into at least two levels, and almost every state has three levels, with trial courts hearing cases which may be reviewed by appellate courts, and finally by a state supreme court.
  • A few states have two separate supreme courts, with one having authority over civil matters and the other reviewing criminal cases.
  • The judicial system, whether state or federal, begins with a court of first instance, whose work may be reviewed by an appellate court, and then ends at the court of last resort, which may review the work of the lower courts.
  • Generally, a final ruling by a district court in either a civil or a criminal case can be appealed to the United States court of appeals in the federal judicial circuit in which the district court is located, except that some district court rulings involving patents and certain other specialized matters must be appealed instead to the United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit, and in a very few cases the appeal may be taken directly to the United States Supreme Court.

• The Supreme Court and the Burden of Proof

  • The Supreme Court is the head the judicial branch, one of the three branches of American government (the other two being the executive branch and legislative branch).
  • Justices are thus categorized in legal and political circles as being judicial conservatives, moderates, or liberals.
  • Though explicitly not for political motivations, judicial conservatives tend to confirm Republican agendas while judicial liberals tend to support Democratic aims.
  • But for a small set of limited exceptions, the Court only hears cases that have already been reviewed by a lower court, meaning that the Supreme Court is a court of appeal.