American Politics Today - Essentials (3rd Ed)

372 CHAPTER 12|THE COURTS

50 percent in recent years. When Republicans took control of the Senate in 1995,

they stopped more than 60 of President Clinton’s nominees to the lower fed-

eral courts. The average length of delay from nomination to confi rmation has

increased as well (see Figure 12.2). The situation has intensifi ed since then (see

“You Decide”). Democrats blocked 39 of President Bush’s nominees between 2001

and 2009,^17 and Republicans have been returning the favor since then, blocking 20

of President Obama’s nominees.^18

Access to the Supreme Court

It is extremely diffi cult to have a case heard by the Supreme Court. Currently the

Court hears about 1 percent of the cases submitted (roughly 85 of about 8,000

cases per year). This section explains how the Court decides which cases to hear.

When a case is submitted, the clerk of the Court assigns it a number and places it

on the docket, which is the schedule of cases.

The Court’s Workload

Statistics on the Supreme Court’s workload initially suggest that the size of the

docket has increased dramatically since the 1970s (see Figure 12.3). However,

a majority of cases are frivolous and are dismissed after limited review.

Though the increase in workload is not as signifi cant as it appears due to the high

number of frivolous cases, another change is more important: the number of opin-

ions issued by the Cour t ha s fa llen by more tha n ha lf in the pa st 20 yea rs. The Cour t

heard about 150 cases each year through the 1980s, but this number has fallen to

only 75 to 85 in recent years (see again Figure 12.3).^19 There is no good explanation

for why the Court issues half as many opinions as it used to, other than that the

chief justices have decided that the Court shouldn’t issue so many opinions.^20

Rules of Access

With the smaller number of cases being heard, it is even more important to under-

stand how the Court decides which ones to hear. There are four paths that a case

may take to get to the Supreme Court.

First, Article III of the Constitution specifi es that the Court has original juris-

diction in cases involving foreign ambassadors or foreign countries, or cases in

which a state is a party. As a practical matter, the Court shares jurisdiction with

the lower courts on these issues. In recent years, the Court has invoked original

jurisdiction only in cases involving disputes between two or more states over terri-

torial or natural resource issues. For example, New Jersey and New York disagreed

over which state should control about 25 acres of fi lled land that the federal gov-

ernment had added around Ellis Island, and Kansas and Colorado disagreed over

which state should have access to water from the Arkansas River (recent disputes

DESCRIBE HOW CASES

REACH THE SUPREME

COURT