The Federal Judiciary in the U.S.

(0) B the Constitution the third branch of government, in addition to the legislative and executive branches, is the federal judiciary. Its main instrument is the Supreme Court, which watches over the other two branches. It determines (1) … or not their laws and acts are in accordance with the Constitution. If the Supreme Court decides that the Constitution does not give Congress the power to pass a certain law, the Court declares the law unconstitutional. The President and his executive officers cannot enforce such a law.

Congress has the power to fix the number of judges sitting on the Court, but it cannot change the powers given to the Supreme Court by the Constitution itself. The Supreme Court consists (2)… a Chief justice and eight Associate Justices. They are nominated by the President but must be approved by the Senate.

Once approved, they hold office as Supreme Court Justices for (3). A decision of the Supreme Court cannot be appealed to any other court. Neither the President nor Congress can change their decisions.

The Supreme Court has direct jurisdiction in only two kinds of cases: those involving foreign diplomats and those in (4)… a state is a party. All other cases which reach the Court are appeals from lower courts. The Supreme Court chooses which of (5)… it will hear. Most of the cases involve the interpretation of the Constitution.

The Supreme Court also has the ‘power of judicial review’, that is, it has the right to declare laws and actions of the federal, state, and local governments unconstitutional. While not stated in the Constitution, this power was established over time.

The Supreme Court is usually in session from October to June. It has appellate jurisdiction for the lower courts. (6) … the Supreme Court is the US Court of Appeals. It has only appellate jurisdiction. The Courts of Appeals work in the District of Columbia and ten circuits. Below Courts of Appeals these are 91 district courts located in the states. These are courts of original jurisdiction. The district judges are appointed by the President with Senate approval. The district courts try almost all cases in the US.

0. A On	B Under	C To	D Over
1. A unless	B if	C whether	D weather
2. A of	B on	C in	D at
3. A 4 years	B 10 years	C ever	D life
4. A who	B that	C which	D what
5. A these	B that	C this	D those
6. A Above	B Below	C Over	D On

Work in pairs. Make 10 questions to the text. Let your group mates answer them.

Speaking

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