Supreme Courts
Assignment #13
The most important thing to understand about the Supreme Court is why the Court reaches the decisions that it hands down. In understanding this you must first be aware of several factors. These factors include the role of the law in decision making, how justices values effect their voting, how group interaction affects the courts final decision, the affect of external influences, and the role of ideology.
There are four models constructed by political scientists to explain the courts decision-making. These four models are the legal model, the attitudinal model, the collegial game model, and the strategic model. The legal model postulates that the decisions of the Court are based on the facts of the case in light of the plain meaning of statutes and the Constitution, the intent of framers, the precedent, and a balancing of societal interests. The attitudinal model holds that the Supreme Court decides disputes in light of the facts of the cases vise-a-vie the ideological attitudes and values of the justices. The collegial game model contends that justices will try to secure opinions that are as close as possible to their policy positions. And finally the strategic model looks at the decision as a whole and the Supreme Court secure the methods the framers would have wished to instill.
The United States Supreme Court, the highest federal court, is made up of nine judges. The judges are nominated by the President, confirmed by the Senate and appointed for life. The Court reviews decisions made by lower courts and its decisions are final after a majority vote. Recently, the Supreme Court ended its term with many controversial and significant decisions. Ruled by a 6-3 vote, the terror suspects at Guantanamo Bay have the right to challenge their imprisonment in U.S. courts. Ruled by an 8-1 vote, the judges decided that the Bush administration could not detain Yaser Hamdi as an enemy combatant and that Jose Padilla should file his appeal in South...
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