500 Chapter 14Chapter 14 || The CourtsThe Courtsand the federal courts. One important function of the Court is to ensure that the
application and interpretation of the Constitution are consistent nationwide by
resolving conflicts between lower courts, or between state law and federal law, or
between laws in different states. A district court or appeals court ruling is applicable
only within the specific region of that court, whereas Supreme Court rulings apply to
the entire country.
Although the Supreme Court is the most important interpreter of the Constitution,
the president and Congress also interpret the Constitution on a regular basis. This
means that the Supreme Court does not always have the final say. For example, if
the Court strikes down a federal law for being overly vague, Congress can rewrite
the law to clarify the offending passage. When this happens, Congress may have the
final word. For example, Congress overturned Ledbetter v. Goodyear Tire & Rubber
Co. (2007) when it passed the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act in 2009. The law explicitly
states that the Supreme Court had misinterpreted the 1964 Civil Rights Act when it
ruled that Ledbetter would have had to file her pay discrimination suit within 180 days
of being hired.^22
Even on matters of constitutional interpretation rather than statutory
interpretation, Congress can fight back by passing a constitutional amendment.
However, this is a difficult and time-consuming process (see Chapter 2).
Nevertheless, that option is available as a way of overturning an unpopular Court
decision. Perhaps the best example of this is the very first major case ever decided
by the Supreme Court—Chisholm v. Georgia (1793). This case upheld the right of a
citizen of one state to sue another state in federal court. The states were shocked by
this challenge to their sovereignty, and a constitutional amendment to overturn the
decision quickly made its way through Congress. By 1795, the Eleventh Amendment
had been ratified and citizens could no longer sue a state (in federal court) in which
they did not live.^23How Judges Are Selected
Although the Constitution provides detailed stipulations for serving in Congress and
as president, it does not specify requirements for serving on the federal courts. Federal
judges don’t even have to have a law degree! (This is probably due to the limited number
of law schools at the time of the Founding; when the Constitution was written, someone
who wanted to be a lawyer generally would serve as an apprentice in a law office to learn
the trade.) The president appoints federal judges with the “advice and consent” of the
Senate, which in practice means that the Senate must approve the nominees with a
majority vote.
Nomination battles for federal judges can be intense, because the stakes are high:
the Supreme Court plays a central role in the policy process, and because justices
have life tenure, a justice’s impact can outlive the president and Senate who put him
or her on the Court. Justices often serve for decades, much longer than the people who
appoint them.The Role of the President Given the Constitution’s silence on the qualifications of
federal judges, presidents have broad discretion over whom to nominate. Presidents
have always tried to influence the direction of the federal courts, especially the
Supreme Court, by picking people who share their views. Because the Senate often has
different ideas about the proper direction for the Court, nomination disputes end up
being a combination of debates over the merit of a nominee and partisan battles about
the ideological composition of the Court.47
of the 113 people to serve on the
Supreme Court have had law degrees.
However, all since 1957 have had law
degrees, and all of the current Court
justices attended either Harvard or
Yale law school.
Source: SupremeCourt.govDID YOU KNOW?
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