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A Short Biography on Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg

A Short Biography on Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg

Justice Ginsburg is the oldest member of the current Supreme Court of the United States. She is an Associate Justice. She was appointed by President Bill Clinton. She has served the fourth longest of the current Associate Justices. She is only the second female justice on the Supreme Court.
Ruth Bader Ginsburg was born March 15, 1933 in New York City. Ginsberg attended James Madison High School in New York City, which later dedicated a room in her honor. She earned her undergraduate degree from Cornell University in Ithaca, New York in 1954, after which she enrolled in Harvard Law School. 
She had to transfer to Columbia Law School, but in doing so was able to earn the distinction of being the first woman to be on two major law reviews, the Harvard Law Review and the Columbia Law Review. In 1959, she earned her Bachelor of Laws (LL. B.) from Columbia, tying for first in her class. She was awarded honorary Doctor of Laws degrees from Willamette University and Princeton University in 2009 and 2010, respectively. 
After she graduated, Ruth Bader Ginsburg served as a professor at Rutgers University School of law from 1963-1972, and then became a law professor at her alma mater from 1972-1980, while serving as General Counsel for the American Civil Liberties Union from 1973-1980.
President Jimmy Carter appointed her to become Justice Ginsburg while serving on the Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit, from 1980-1993. While there, she became friends with Justice Scalia, a friendship that would continue when the two both served on the Supreme Court. After being nominated by President Clinton to the Supreme Court, Justice Ginsburg was approved by a margin of 96-3. 

A Short Biography on Justice Clarence Thomas

A Short Biography on Justice Clarence Thomas

On the list of Supreme Court Justices, Clarence Thomas experienced one of the most controversial nomination hearings. While Justices Scalia and Kennedy faced unanimous approval, the Senate vote which approved Clarence Thomas was very close, with the final vote coming to fifty two Senators in favor and forty eight Senators opposed. This was the narrowest confirmation vote in more than a century.
Clarence Thomas had first appeared on a list of Supreme Court Justices replacement candidates in 1990 when Justice Brennan stepped down. However, President George H.W. Bush had to postpone his nomination of Thomas due to concerns that he was not yet sufficiently experienced. 
By the time Thomas was finally nominated a year later, however, these fears had not yet been address. President Bush stated that Clarence Thomas was the “best qualified [nominee] at this time” However, there is dubious support for this claim. Critics have claimed that instead, Thomas was the only African American candidate who could provide a reliably conservative vote to replace Thurgood Marshal, the only African American on the Court.
The American Bar Association rated Thomas “qualified” by a 13-2 margin, well below the normal recommendation that most nominees had received since Eisenhower, a unanimous “well qualified” evaluation. Part of the criticism was that Clarence Thomas had never argued before the high courts, had never written a consequential legal book, article of brief.
The most serious reason Clarence Thomas is included on a loss of Supreme Court Justices who have faced a challenging nomination process is because of allegations of sexual harassment leveled again Thomas during the hearing by Anita Hill. 

A Short Biography on Justice Anthony M. Kennedy

A Short Biography on Justice Anthony M. Kennedy

Justice Anthony M. Kennedy is one of the two members of Barack Obama’s Supreme Court to receive unanimous approval from the United States Senate after his confirmation hearing, the other being Justice Anton Scalia. Following the retirement of Justice Sandra Day O’Conner, Justice Anthony Kennedy often serves as the swing vote in close court decisions.
Anthony M. Kennedy was born and raised in Sacramento, California, to and by a father who was an influential attorney in the California legislature. Anthony Kennedy bears no relation to the Kennedy political dynasty. He is the second oldest member of the United States Supreme Court, as he was born on March 11, 1936. As a child, Anthony Kennedy met the Earl Warren, a man who would later go on to serves as Chief Justice of the United States.
Anthony Kennedy graduated from C.K. McClatchy High School in 1954, and attended Stanford University from 1954 through 1958, where he earned a B. A. in Political Science. He earned a Bachelor of Laws from Harvard Law School in 1961, graduating cum laude.
After graduation, Anthony M. Kennedy was in his own private practice from 1961 through 1963, after which he assumed control of his late father’s practice, which he continued until 1975. 
Between 1965 and 1988, he served as a Professor of Constitutional Law at the McGeorge School of Law, University of the Pacific. President Gerald Ford, acting on a recommendation from Ronald Reagan, nominated Kennedy for a position on the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit. In 1988, Anthony M. Kennedy was nominated by President Reagan for a seat on the Supreme Court. 

A Short Biography on Chief Justice John Roberts

A Short Biography on Chief Justice John Roberts

 Before being appointed Chief Justice, John Roberts had an extensive legal career, despite only being fifty years old when he was appointed to the Supreme Court of the United States in 2005 by President George W. Bush.
John G. Roberts was born January 27, 1955. He was raised in Northern Indiana and educated in a private school, before leaving Indiana to attend Harvard College and subsequently attending Harvard Law School. While attending Harvard Law School, he served as a managing editor of the Harvard Law Review, a prestigious position.
Chief Justice John Roberts was exposed to the function of the Supreme Court shortly after he was admitted to the bar when he served as a law clerk for William Rehnquist, the man who he would eventually replace as the Chief Justice of the United States. 
After serving as a law clerk, John G. Roberts took a position in the Attorney General’s office while Ronald Reagan was President. He then moved on to serve in the Department of Justice and the Office of the White House Counsel under the Reagan Administration and the Administration of George H.W. Bush.
After his time with the Bush Administration, John G. Roberts went into private practice, during which time he argued thirty-nine cases before the Supreme Court.
In 2003, President George E. Bush appointed Roberts to serve as a judge on the D.C. Circuit, only to be nominated to serve as an Associate Justice on the Supreme Court. When Chief Justice Renquist died prior to Robert’s confirmation hearing, Bush resubmitted Roberts to become Chief Justice John Roberts. 

Who is in Barack Obama’s Supreme Court?

Who is in Barack Obama's Supreme Court?

The current Supreme Court Justices are Chief Justice John G. Roberts, Justice Antonin Scalia, Justice Anthony Kennedy, Justice Clarence Thomas, Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Justice Stephen Breyer, Justice Samuel Alito, Justice Sonia Sotomayor, and newly appointed Justice Elena Kagan.
Barack Obama’s Supreme Court comes from a variety of backgrounds. Although most of the current Supreme Court justices come from prestigious Northeastern law schools, each member of Barack Obama’s Supreme Court has widely varied life experiences. 
Most of the current Supreme Court justices have experience as sitting judges, with Justice Elena Kagan being the sole exceptions. Justice Clarence Thomas and Justice Sonia Sotomayor are the only current Supreme Court justices who have not served as professors at prestigious law schools.
When they were facing their initial nomination to the Supreme Court, three of the members of Barack Obama’s Supreme Court, Justice Antonin Scalia, Justice Anthony Kennedy, and Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, faced only minimal opposition, Justices Scalia and Kennedy receiving no opposing votes, Justice Ginsburg only having three dissenting votes.
Four current support Justices have been replaced in the past decade. It is believed that two of the members of the current Supreme Court Justices will be replaced in the upcoming years. 

A Brief History of the Supreme Court

A Brief History of the Supreme Court

The Supreme Court of the United States is regarded as the highest judicial body in the country. The United States Supreme Court leads the federal judiciary and administers various rulings on violations of legal code.
The Supreme Court consists of the Chief Justice of the United States and eight Associate Justices; the Associate Justices are nominated by the President of the United States and confirmed by majority vote of the Senate. 
The History of the Supreme Court is organized based on era; these particular eras are named after the Chief Justice of that particular time frame. 
The earliest Courts within the Supreme Court were run under Chief Justices, Rutledge, Jay and Ellsworth during 1789-1801. At this time, the Supreme Court heard few cases; furthermore the Court initially lacked a home and any sense of real prestige.
The Supreme Court, and the prestige or reputation attached, dramatically altered during the Marshall Court (1801-1835). During this era, the Supreme Court was declared the supreme arbiter of the United States Constitution. The Marshall Court made several important rulings which gave shape and substance to the constitutional balance of power between the federal government and the states.
 As time passed, the Supreme Court gained administrative and authoritative power and through its numerous court decisions, laid the interpretative framework for which the United States Constitution was built off. Presently, during the Roberts Court, the Supreme Court has dealt with many issues concerning anti-trust legislation, abortion, the death penalty, the Fourth Amendment, free speech of high school students as well as government employees, military detainees, voting rights, school desegregation, and campaign financing. 

Facts About the State Court of Florida

Facts About the State Court of Florida

Florida State Court Defined:
 The State Court of Florida refers to the governing body that handles and regulates all legality issues within the state. 
In the United States, each territory is governed by the Federal laws of the United States’ government; however, each state maintains governing authority for all issues that occur within the state’s parameters.
 Florida is governed as a constitutional republic with three distinct branches of government. The Florida state court system possesses an executive branch, which consists of the Governor of Florida and the other appointed and elected constitutional officers; a legislative branch (also known as the Florida State Legislature), which consists of the Senate and the House; and the judicial branch consisting of the Supreme Court of Florida and the lower court systems of the state.
Florida allows direct participation of the electorate by referendum, ratification and initiative. 
 The State court Florida system, maintains the government established and operated according to the Florida Constitution. The Florida Constitution defines the basic operations and structures of the local government, and its coordinating responsibilities, duties, powers, as well as establishes the basic law of the state and guarantees various rights and freedoms to its people.
As stated before, the State court of Florida is divided among three branches of government; the state delegates non-exclusive power to the local municipality and county governments. That being said, home-rule charters may be established which provide local autonomy over the operation and structure of the aforementioned governments. 

Facts About the State Court of New York

Facts About the State Court of New York

New York State Court Defined:

As is common in all 50 states in America, the head of the executive branch of the local government of New York is the Governor of the state.

New York consists of a legislative branch, referred to as the legislature, which consists of a Senate and an Assembly. Dissimilar to most states; however, New York law permits electoral fusions, which allows for the presentation of New York ballots to reveal a larger number of parties.

The court system in New York typically tends to produce an assortment of confusion for those associated with other states. As is found in Maryland and Washington D.C., the highest court in New York is referred to as the ‘Court of Appeals’ and not the ‘Supreme Court.’

Instead of the trial court being referred to as the “Superior Court,” the New York court system labels the trial court as the “Supreme Court.”

Historically speaking, county superior courts, like New York’s county supreme courts, were viewed as the highest level of trial court; these court systems oversee a network of inferior trial courts, for example various recorder’s courts, courts of referees and commissioners, and municipal courts.

The state court of New York’s intermediate appellate court (the court system between the New York State Supreme Courts and the New York Court of Appeals) is referred to as the New York State Supreme Court-Appellate Division. Local courts in towns and villages of the state are called Justice Courts; these courts are the starting point for all criminal cases that occur in outside cities; this court system handles a variety of other matters including traffic ticket cases, small claims hearings and issues pertaining to zoning.

The Job of Chief Justice of the Supreme Court

The Job of Chief Justice of the Supreme Court

When seeking to fill a vacant position of the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court, the President has two options. The president can appoint a new Supreme Court Justice, or the choice can be made to elevate one of the Associate Judges on the Supreme Court to the Position. Technically, the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court is known as the Chief Justice of the United States.
The position represents the head of the United States Federal Court system, which comprised the judicial branch of the federal government of the United States. The Chief Justice of the United States is the chief judge of the Supreme Court of the United States. 
The Chief Justice is the highest judicial official in the country. He acts as the Chief Administrative Officer for the Federal Courts. He is responsible for appointing the director of the Administrative Office of the United States Courts. The Chief Justice of the Supreme Court serves as the spokesperson of the judicial branch.
The Chief Justice of the Supreme Court leads the business of the Supreme Court, and presides over all arguments in the Court.
The Chief Justice of the Supreme Court is responsible for determining who will write the official opinion of the Court. The Chief Justice sets the agenda of the Court.
If the President is facing impeachment, the Chief Justice presides over the trial. The Chief Justice is responsible for administering the oath of office to the President of the United States of America at his inauguration. The first Chief Justice was John Jay, and there have been sixteen Chief Justices since.