Contrast the Power of Chief Justice Roberts Jr. with that of an Associate Justice like Kennedy - Essay Example

However, in terms of power and influence during oral arguments and Friday conference, all justices of the US Supreme Courts have equal voices and equal votes. Undeniably, during oral arguments and Friday conference, protocol states that the Chief Justice speaks first, casts his vote first and assigns the writer of the Court’s opinion if he is with the majority. All these privileges are in deference to his esteemed position. As a matter of fact, the US Supreme Court operates on a system of seniority.

With the sole exception of the Chief Justice, the Associate Justices are called to speak and cast their voice on the basis of seniority, that is, the older justices go first. The system of seniority is used only for the purpose of finding order in their procedures and has no bearing on their influence in decision-making (US Courts). In terms of influence on the outcome of the case which is under oral argument or discussion during Friday conference, all Justices have the same and equal votes. The Chief Justice is just one vote out of the nine Justices that make up the US Supreme Court.

There is not one Justice, not even the Chief Justice, who has more influence and more value to their votes than the others. 2. . A Justice from the majority group is then assigned to write the opinion of the court. When it is finally promulgated, the majority opinion forms part of the jurisprudence and may be used as precedence for future cases. By their very nature, only the majority opinion affects the actual case law and policy impact that arise out of the promulgated decision. Justices from both the winning majority and the losing minority are all free to write their own opinions which shall also form part of the promulgated decision.

Those who agree with the majority opinion write concurring opinions while those who disagree with the majority write dissenting opinions. Interestingly, dissenting opinion gives us a glimpse of the dynamics that occurred in the course of the deliberation of the case. Although the opinion has no weight on the decision and does not confer rights to the parties in the case, justices write them anyway to register their disagreement with the majority. In rare occasions, dissenting opinion becomes the majority opinion because the other Justices become convinced with the dissenter’s argument after reading the dissenting opinion (US Courts). 3. Compare the Superior courts with the US District Court in terms of their purpose(s).

What difference(s) did you notice in your study? What do you make of this?  The federal court system has three levels of courts in its hierarchy and each level has a different stated purpose. The three federal courts are the US District Courts, the US Circuit Court of Appeal and the Supreme Court. The US District Courts are the trial courts which hear cases under its original jurisdiction. It has authority to hear both civil and criminal cases. Parties who are not