The U.S. Supreme Court was organized on February 2, 1790 and is located in the capital, Washington D.C. The Chief Justice is William H. Rehnquest and the associate justices are: John Paul Stevens, Sandra Day O’ Connor, Antonin Scalia, Anthony M. Kennedy, David H. Souter, Clarence Thomas, Ruth Bader Ginsburg and Stephen G. Breyer. The Supreme Court primarily consists of the Chief Justice and the Associate Justices, the number of which is fixed by the Congress. The Justice is usually nominated by the President of the U.S. while appointments are made with the approval of the Senate (Supreme Court of the United States).

Today, the case load of the Justices of this court has increased at a steady pace and today is an impressive number of more than 7,000 cases on the docket per term. Much of this increase has taken place only recently: in 1945, the number was 1,460 while in 1960, there were only 2,313 cases on the docket. It is only in about 100 cases per term that plenary review is granted complete with oral arguments. As for formal written opinions, these are granted in about 80–90 cases while it is not unusual that 50–60 additional cases are disposed of without granting plenary review (Supreme Court of the United States). When the Term’s written opinions, which include all concurring opinions, dissenting opinions, and orders, are published, the total approaches around 5,000 pages. This sort of a workload is obviously difficult to deal with and so, to perform to its best and to prevent huge backlogs and inefficiency, the Court has increased staff size and productivity. To quote Chief Justice William H. Rehnquist, he says that it would be highly regrettable if any case receives “anything less than the best attention from any one of the nine.” (How the Court Works)

The cases that are tried in the Supreme Court can be of three varieties. The ones which are the least common are the ‘original jurisdiction’ actions, which are brought by one state against another, or between states and the federal government. The Supreme Court also has the power from the Constitution to hear “all Cases affecting Ambassadors, other public Ministers and Consuls.” Original jurisdiction cases are few and far in between –usually one to five a term but because of their magnitude, these are very difficult. For example, in 1952, when Arizona sued California over water from the Colorado River, only the trial record consisted of more than 26,000 pages.

Cases from state courts are more common and shorter as well. For example, if any state tribunal decides a federal question and there is no remedy available for the litigant within the state, the Supreme Court may consider it.

The most numerous cases are usually requests for review of decisions of federal appellate or district courts. The Supreme Court acquires a large bulk of its cases due to its granting of petitions for writs of certiorari. Around 7000 petitions are filed and then the Court decides which ones to handle. As a court historian out it, “it is arguably the most important stage in the entire Supreme Court process.” This is also one of the responsibilities of the Associate Justices, to vote to accept or reject each certiorari petition (How the Court Works).

Other responsibilities include deciding cases and providing dissenting and concurring opinions. Aside from the jurisprudential responsibilities, the Chief Justice also plays the role of the executive head of the judicial system and he has ultimate authority over the judicial budget. The Supreme Court is the court of last resort, the final interpreter of law and thus, plays a defining role in the U.S. society. For example, a court ruling (Cooper Industries Inc. v. Leatherman Tool Group Inc.) facilitated the overturning of large punitive damages awarded by juries, while another (Circuit City Stores v. Adam) helped businesses insist on arbitration, and not have to deal with litigation, with employees and customers (Bumgardner, 2001). Hence, businesses and society in general are largely affected by the decisions of the U.S. Supreme Court.

California Supreme Court:

The Supreme Court of California is highest court of the state. Its decisions are binding on all other California state courts and it regularly holds sessions in Sanfrancisco, Los Angeles, and Sacramento. The structure of the court is such that there is one Chief Justice and six Associate Justices who are appointed by the Governor of the state for 12-year terms. Then, at the following general election, these appointments are confirmed by the public.

According to the Constitution of the state, in order to be considered for an appointment, a person has to compulsarily be an attorney allowed to practice in California or must have served as a judge of a California court for 10 years. The Chief Justice at present is Ronald M. George who is the 27th Chief Justice of California and became so on March 28, 1996. Associate Justices are Janice R. Brown, Joyce L. Kennard, Kathryn Mickle Werdegar, Ming W. Chin, Marvin R. Baxter and Carlos R. Moreno (Functions and Structure of the California Supreme Court).

Basically, the state Supreme courts have the power to review decisions of the state Courts of Appeal. Hence, they are responsible for deciding crucial legal questions which might not have gotten a remedy in the Court of Appeal. For example, the California Constitution makes it necessary for the Supreme Court to review all such cases which were given a judgment of death by the trial court. The state law permits an automatic appeal to be made on these cases. It is also the responsibility of the California Supreme Court to review the recommendations of the Commission on Judicial Performance and the State Bar of California regarding the removal and suspension of judges and attorneys for misconduct (Functions and Structure of the California Supreme Court).

The caseload of the California Supreme Court has doubled in the span of 25 years. In 1992-93, there were 5,887 court filings, the bulk of which were petitions for review in cases decided by the Courts of Appeal. When compared with twenty-five years earlier, this number was around one-half: 2,959 (Functions and Structure of the California Supreme Court).

The Supreme Court of California has a major effect on the state community. Individuals and businesses who do not find suitable remedies in the Court of Appeal often turn to this Court. For example, Paul and Wendy Burgess had two children and separated from each other. When Wendy accepted a job in Lancaster, an issue arose about the children, their custody and visitation rights. The Trial Court allowed Wendy to move with the children, giving Paul visitation rights. This decision was reversed by the Court of Appeal after which Wendy appealed in the California Supreme Court, which reversed the Court of Appeal’s decision. Hence, these are the type of cases which this Court decides and as a significant impact on the state and its people, who look at it as a ray of hope in case of disappointing decisions by the Court of Appeals (Reape, 2004).

5th District Court of Appeals:

The U.S. has 94 judicial districts, all of which are classified into 12 regional circuits, and each of these circuits has United States court of appeals. Basically, a court of appeals hears appeals from the district courts located within its circuit, and also appeals from decisions of federal administrative agencies. Not just this but the Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit also has nationwide jurisdiction which give it the authority to hear appeals in specialized cases, such as those regarding patent laws and cases decided by the Court of International Trade and the Court of Federal Claims. These courts have a major impact on the community as they hear cases at a district level and affect the lives of people at a more individual level than the U.S. Supreme Court (United States Courts of Appeals).

Works cited

Bumgardner, Larry. Business at the bar. The Grazadio Business Report. Summer 2001. Nov 10, 2004. <http://gbr.pepperdine.edu/013/court.html>

Functions and Structure of the California Supreme Court. The Lectric Law Library. Nov 10, 2004. <http://www.lectlaw.com/files/crs03.htm>

How the Court Works. The Supreme Court Historical Society. Nov 10, 2004. <http://www.supremecourthistory.org/03_how/subs_how/03_a03.html>

Reape, James. California Supreme Court weighs in on the moveaway issue. 2004. Nov 10, 2004. <http://www.divorcenet.com/states/california/ca_art08/view>

Supreme Court of the United States. Nov 10, 2004. <http://www.supremecourtus.gov/about/about.html>

United States Courts of Appeals. U.S. Courts. Nov 11, 2004.