Courts

This week, we discuss the courts. The reading from the Administrative Office does a good job of explaining the mechanics of the federal judiciary.

One aspect of this week's discussion is likely to affect you directly. At some point, perhaps soon, most of you will get a call to jury duty. California has a good instructional video. According to Tocqueville (p. 275), the jury is "the most effective means of popular education at society's disposal." What do you think that phrase means?

Here is a brief clip of oral argument in the California Supreme Court. The case involves medical marijuana.

The case of Edwards v. Aguillard will give us a glimpse of how a Supreme Court case proceeds. It also touches on major themes of the course, including federalism (i.e., state control of education) and religion. Lest you think that Louisiana was taking a position on the political fringe, note that 58 percent of the respondents in a 2006 poll favored the teaching of creationism along with evolution.

Here are some questions that we shall consider:

What is the proper role of the judiciary in a democracy? How should judges decide? Should they see the Constitution evolving? What is the place of stare decisis?

If you have a special interest in the judiciary, here are some sites to visit:

• Official SCOTUS site
• Oyez (audio of oral arguments and much more)
• "The Supreme Court" (PBS documentary)
• California Supreme Court video and audio