I have this assignment due in about 4 hours from now. Can you please answer the questions by reading the given articles provided

NATIONAL Lean step Bi Leans Liberal Appoint ago by THINGS Sonia Sotomayor Appointed 5 years ago by Barack Obama YOU NEED TO KNOW Loans Conservative Clarence Thomas Appointed 23 years ago by George H.W. Bush ABOUT THE Supreme Court DOWNLOAD S A Glossary of Supreme Court Terms WWW.UPFRONTMAGAZINE.COM How does the nation's The Supreme Court is at the of the three branches of American highest court really center of many of today's most government. While the justices important and controversial deliberate in private, cases are argued work? Here are the issues: health care, affirmative in public and the justices place all their basics from former action, crime and punishment, decisions on the record. They sign their = 2 50 2. campaign finance, same-sex marriage, opinions. Every piece of paper that New York Times and religion. In fact, Americans have arrives at the Court and every step in Supreme Court often called on the Court to answer the procedural process is part of the society's toughest questions. public record and easily accessible on correspondent Yet despite its critical role In the Court's website, supremecourt.gov. Linda Greenhouse. our democracy, the Supreme Court Compare this to the White House or remains a mystery to most people. Congress, where it's often impossible PART 1 of 2 In an era of nonstop streaming video to know who's behind a proposal and and hundreds of cable TV channels, where entire agendas can disappearLeans Liberal Stephen G. Leans Conservative Breyer Samuel A. Alito Appointed 20 years Appointed 8 years ago Leans Liberal ago by Bill Clinton by George W. Bush Elena Kagan Appointed 4 years ago by Barack Obama Leans Conservative Antonin Scalia Appointed 28 years ago by Ronald Reagan Leans Conservative Often the swing vote Leans Liberal Chief Justice Anthony M. Kennedy Ruth Bader Ginsburg John G. Roberts Jr. Appointed 26 years ago Appointed 21 years ago Appointed 9 years ago by Ronald Reagan by Bill Clinton by George W. Bush 1 Why do justices get their jobs for life? Longest Serving The Constitution says federal judges, include engaged in the Court's work until his retirement. But Justices ing Supreme Court justices, serve during "good Justice William O. Douglas remained on the Court behavior." This has always been understood as a for nearly a year after suffering a serious stroke in 36 guarantee of life tenure, to protect them from fear of 1974, finally retiring at his colleagues' urging. YEARS One consequence of life tenure is unpredictabil William O. Douglas political reprisal for unpopular decisions. (1939-75) Most other judges don't enjoy the same benefit. ity in the occurrence of vacancies. President Jimmy Only one state, Rhode Island, provides life tenure Carter had no Supreme Court vacancies to fill. 34 for its high-court judges. Among the world's emerg- President Richard Nixon had four in three years. YEARS DUCTION , BY LINDA GREENHOUSE ing democracies, many of which have borrowed The randomness with which vacancies occur John Marshall aspects of the American constitutional system, not raises the stakes for each one, since no one knows (1801-35) one has adopted life tenure for its high court. when the next will come. The system also encour- Joseph Story Life tenure for Supreme Court justices has come ages justices to retire when a president from the (1812-45) under fire-probably because justices are serv- political party they favor can name their successor. Stephen J. Field ing so much longer than they used to, often into 'Justices have a conflicting set of obligations," (1863-97) EME COURT: A VERY SHORT INT advanced old age. Between 1789 and 1970, justices says Geoffrey R. Stone, a law professor at the John Marshall Harlan served an average of 15 years. Between 1970 and University of Chicago. "They have an obligation to (1877-1911) 2005, the average jumped to more than 26 years. serve their terms as long as they feel it's in the inter- Hugo L. Black TIM SLOAN/AFP/GETTY IMAGES Of course, longevity isn't necessarily a problem. est of the nation, and as long as they feel they can (1937-71) SOURCE : THE SUPREME Justice John Paul Stevens, who retired in 2010 at do the job well. But they have a conflicting desire, John Paul Stevens the age of 91 after 34 years on the Court, was fully which is to perpetuate their view on the Court." (1975-2010) JANUARY 13, 2014 9N How do cases get to the Supreme Court? 52% You've probably heard or read about someone vowing to think it should be decided PERCENTAGE of take a case "all the way to the Supreme Court." But the threat How do the justices sort through Americans who view usually turns out to be an empty one. The justices accept the thousands of petitions for review the Supreme Court only about 1 percent of the 8,000 or so cases that reach them that arrive at the rate of 150 a week? favorably, down from each year. Last term, that amounted to 73 cases Law clerks. Each justice has four of 72 percent in 2007. SOURCE. FEW PESEARCH CENTER Why are they so selective? Because when the justices agree them, usually graduates of top law to hear a case, they're sending a signal that the question it schools in their mid-20s who spend a year helping the justices raises is one that only the Supreme Court can resolve, often with their research and writing. Ultimately the justices them- because the various federal courts around the country have selves vote on which cases to accept, but the much-smaller pile issued conflicting rulings. They're also promising a substantial they consider has been prescreened by their clerks, who work investment of their time. long hours when the Court is in session. DANA VERKOUTEREN/AP PHOTO (ILLUSTRATION): BETTMANN/CORBIS (RIGHT) The Court hears appeals from the 13 federal appeals courts, "The Court is pretty strict in determining which cases get the high courts of all 50 states, and occasionally other courts in the door," says Kannon Shanmugam, who once clerked for like the military justice system's high court. It takes only four Justice Antonin Scalia and now argues cases before the Court. of the nine justices to place a case on the docket, but that typ "I think any experienced Supreme Court litigator can point to ically doesn't happen unless the four are reasonably certain at least one case where the Court should have granted review they can pick up a fifth vote to decide the case the way they but it didn't. But, by and large, the Court gets it right.' M How do the justices decide cases? A Supreme Court oral argument is a unique kind of theater. to discuss the case and take a straw vote. If the chief justice is in For high-profile cases, people line up for hours-sometimes the majority of this nonbinding vote, he decides who will write overnight-to get one of the 200 seats set aside for the public in the opinion. But if he isn't in the majority, then the senior justice the surprisingly small courtroom in Washington, D.C. (by length of service) in the majority makes the assignment. Each argument lasts an hour-30 minutes for each side. Writing an opinion usually begins with the law clerks, who Experienced lawyers know they'll be questioned closely and prepare an initial draft, incorporating their own research and the interrupted frequently. Justices often get so involved that they points that the justice wants to make. When the justice has edit- interrupt one another, and the lawyer has to struggle to get a word ed and approved the draft, it's sent to the eight other justices. in edgewise. To argue a case successfully, a lawyer needs an inti- They might sign onto the opinion immediately, or they could mate knowledge of the case and the relevant precedents-along request changes-minor or major-as the price of agreement with nerves of steel. Reading from a prepared text is frowned on. The same process plays out with the dissenting opinion. "It's nerve racking the first time, " says Neal Katyal, who has Perhaps the dissenting opinion will be so persuasive that one argued 19 cases before the Court. "You're about eight feet from of the majority justices will switch sides and the outcome will the chief justice. If you miss a spot shaving, he sees it. More to change. Or a dissenter might come over to the majority. the point, if you sweat, he sees it.' This internal process can take anywhere from six weeks to Within days of the oral argument, the justices meet in private more than six months before a final decision is issued.Famous Reversal: A mother and daughter on Why are so many the steps of the Court after decisions 5 to 4? the 1954 Brown ruling By historical measures, the current Supreme Court is unusu ally polarized. There are four conservative justices: Chief Justice John G. Roberts JI., and Antonin Scalia, Clarence Thomas, and Samuel A. Alito Jr. There are four liberal justices: Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Stephen G. Breyer, Sonia Sotomayor, and Elena Kagan. In the middle is the so-called "swing justice," Anthony ICH COURT BANS M. Kennedy, whose vote often decides which side wins. SEGREGATION IN As recently as the 1980s, there were three or four justices SIRIID SCHOOLS in the middle, meaning that outcomes were less predictable DANA VERKOUTEREN/AP PHOTO ( ILLUSTRATION) ; BETTMANN/ CORBIS (RIGHT ) and lawyers needed to craft arguments designed to persuade a broad middle, not just one justice. Now, as longtime Court observer Tom Goldstein puts it, "It's Justice Kennedy's world, and we're just living in it." 5 Does the Court ever Last term, Justice Kennedy's vote was critical in three change its mind? high-profile 5-to-4 rulings that involved issues on which Americans are deeply divided: The Court rejected a challenge The American legal system (like the British system it's based to the federal government's national security wiretapping on) is built on the concept of precedent, Judges decide new cases program, invalidated a key provision of the Voting Rights by the principles established in earlier ones. The Latin phrase for Act, and struck down the Defense of Marriage Act, which this is stare decision stand by what has been decided"). But had prohibited the federal government from giving same-sex there are times when a precedent no longer seems worth preserv- married couples the same benefits ing-perhaps because it's out of step with current ideas of justice. as any married couple. While these kinds of controver- 6 The 1954 decision Brown v. Board of Education is proba- bly the most famous of all reversals. The Court unanimously sial cases get all the attention, it's overturned a decision from 1896, Plessy v. Ferguson, that per- important to keep in mind that ORIGINAL NUMBER of mitted government-imposed racial segregation as long as the Court actually decides almost Supreme Court the facilities offered to blacks and whites were equal. This half its cases unanimously- justices. Congress "separate but equal" doctrine had provided the constitutional 44 percent last year, compared raised the number to underpinning for racial segregation in the Jim Crow South. with 31 percent of cases decided nine in 1869. SOURED US SUPREME COURT This reversal happened gradually. Changes in American society by 5-to-4 votes. following World War II paved the way, including the integration of the military in 1948. In the courts, civil rights lawyer Thurgood Marshall, who later became the first black justice, conducted a strategic litigation campaign designed to undermine the foun- dations of "separate but equal." Aware that integrating public schools would spark huge resistance, Marshall started with law schools, winning a ruling from the Supreme Court in 1950 that the University of Texas couldn't exclude a black applicant. By the time the Court ruled four years later that public school segregation was also unconstitutional, any other decision was unthinkable. Chief Justice Earl Warren worked behind the scenes to ensure a unanimous Brown decision, which was seen as an important signal to the nation that times had changed "I held off a vote from conference to conference while we dis- cussed it," Warren later recalled. "Brown was argued in the fall of 1953, and I did not call for a vote until the middle of the following February, when I was certain it would be unanimous. We took one vote and that was it." Additional reporting by Sheryl Gay Stolberg of The New York Times and by Patricia Smith JANUARY 13, 2014 115 Things You Need to Know About the Supreme Court b How does the nation's highest court really work? Introduction 1. Why does the article argue that the Supreme Court is the "most transparent" of the three branches? Section 1 2. Why are federal judges granted \"life tenure"? 3. Do other countries around the world grant life tenure? 4. What is the average \"time served" for Supreme Court justices between 1970-2005? \\l-v 5. Opinion: what is your opinion of life tenure? Should we keep it, justices? 6. Who appoints Supreme Court justices? Section 2: How do cases get to the Supreme Court? 7. Out of 8000 cases that come to the Supreme Court each year, how many cases does the Supreme Court take on (average)? 8. What is the role/ responsibility of a Law Clerk