Author Question: How does public opinion influence the Supreme Court? What will be an ideal ... (Read 44 times)

jho37 · **on:** Jul 10, 2018

How does public opinion influence the Supreme Court?

What will be an ideal response?

Question 2

Sometimes federal circuit courts play an important role in changing constitutional interpretation. Why is this so?

What will be an ideal response?

diana chang · **Reply #1 on:** Jul 10, 2018

Answer to Question 1

An ideal response will:

1, Describe public opinion polls that show what the Court does and what the public wants are highly correlated; a substantial body of research shows that Court rulings and public opinion are consistent with one another about two-thirds of the time.
2, Discuss times during our history when the Court was so influenced by other political actors that it set aside its responsibility to protect the rights and liberties of all citizens.For example, the Court went along with local, state, and federal actions to punish dissident voices during the McCarthy era's anti-Communist hysteria of the 1950s. It also approved the forced relocation and internment of Japanese Americans during World War II.

Answer to Question 2

An ideal response will:
1, Describe the ever-increasing caseload of the circuit courts, which mostly rule without review of the Supreme Court since the Court takes fewer than 80 cases each year.
2, Explain that the 12 geographic circuit courts determine the meaning of laws for all the people covered by each circuit.
3, Discuss examples of influential circuit courts:The Fourth Circuit Court based in Richmond, Virginia, has been a leader in the trend toward reasserting states' rights, and its rulings stand for almost 24 million people in the southeastern United States; the Ninth Circuit Court based in San Franciscois very liberal on civil rights and liberties cases, and its rulings cover over 60 million people in the western United States, about 20 percent of the American population.