Week 8 DQ 2 Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Week 8 DQ 2 - Essay Example Federal Court judges are appointed for life. This poses a problem for majority rule, for American democracy. However, perhaps, they actually protect the rights of minorities and thus have the kind of open system that causes democracy to flourish (Edwards, et al, 2008). The federal courts are also quite powerful and have a large scope of judicial power in American society. Many argue that they should not be involved in policy making but in settling disputes. The United States judicial system is basically adversarial in that opposing civil law cases are presented to an arbiter. It consists of statutes and common law, the latter an accumulation of judicial decisions (ibid.) In the Judiciary Act of 1789, Congress established constitutional courts and subsequently legislative courts for specialized purposes. Courts with original jurisdiction are those where a case is first heard whereas appellate courts can review the legal issues in cases brought to