Criminal Justice

Criminal Justice

Question 1

In the case where federal courts would appear to have jurisdiction, one or more requirements may prevent a federal court from accepting and deciding a case. Summarize the Ashwander rules that outline these requirements. What must exist in order for a federal court to accept jurisdiction?

The Ashwander rules are a set of seven rules that require the Supreme Court to handle any questions that relate to the constitution only when deemed absolutely essential. This means that in scenarios where the question can be avoided, it should best be avoided. Not only the formation of unnecessary rules is prohibited but also there is a binding against anticipation of questions (Kelso, 1994). There are certain conditions that must be met in order for a federal court to accept jurisdiction. For instance, the federal court has no jurisdiction when it comes to divorce cases. This also means that only actual legal disputes should be handled by the federal court.

Question 2

Discuss the principle steps in the process by which the United States Supreme Court decides cases. When losing litigants in lower courts state that they will take their case “all the way to the Supreme Court,” what does this mean? Would the losing litigant be guaranteed to have the case reviewed by the United States Supreme Court? Why, or why not?

The principle steps in the process include Briefs, Oral arguments, Conference and Opinions. After going through these steps a ruling is decided. The term “all the way to the Supreme Court,” refers to the movement of a case through the court system (Kelso, 1994). This statement does not make a guarantee that the case will always be taken to the Supreme Court. Although there are certain civil law and criminal law cases that are actually taken “all the way ...