October 25-26

ARTICLE III: The Judicial Branch

*Federal Courts
-Article III of the Constitution creates the nations court system.

-The nations court system includes the Supreme Court, lower federal courts, state courts, and local courts.

-All federal courts in the United States must be created by Congress.

-The President appoints all federal judges. A federal judge serves a term of life.

*Jurisdiction
-Jurisdiction is the right a court has to hear a case.

-Appellate jurisdiction is the right a court has to hear an appeal only after it has been heard by the court that had original jurisdiction in the case.

-Federal courts have jurisdiction in cases that involve the Constitution, any federal laws, treaties, cases involving foreign diplomats, and cases where the federal government is itself a party.

-The Supreme Court only has original jurisdiction in cases that affect Ambassadors, high-ranking government employees, and individual States. The Supreme Court is the highest court of appeals in the US.

-Any case can be appealed to the Supreme Court, however the Supreme Court does not have to hear all cases that are appealed to it. The Supreme Court chooses which cases it wishes to hear based on Constitutional importance.

*Treason
-The only crime specifically defined in the US Constitution is treason.

-Treason is a serious crime committed against the government by a US citizen. Crimes that are Constitutionally treasonous are waging war against the United States, aiding or comforting enemies of the United States, and providing enemies of the United States with any material or information that is classified or secret.

ARTICLE IV: The States

-Each State must honor the laws, records, and court decisions of all of the other States.

-Each State must give citizens of other States all the rights and privileges that it gives to its own citizens.

-When a person charged with a crime in one State is captured by the authorities in another State that person may be returned to the State where the crime was committed. This is called extradition.

-Only Congress can add new States to the Union.

-New States cannot be added by dividing or joining parts of existing States without the consent of the States involved and of Congress.

-All territories owned by the United States and property owned by the federal government will by governed by or sold by the federal government only with the consent of Congress.

-The federal government guarantees every State a representative form of government.

-The United States will protect all of the individual States from foreign invasion, and will come to the aid of any State during times of insurrection if the State requests the help.


ARTICLE V: The Amending Process

*Proposing Amendments: There are two ways to propose Amendments.
-2/3 of both houses of Congress may propose
amendments.

-Congress must call a convention if 2/3 of the state
legislatures request one to propose an amendment.

*Ratification of Amendments: Proposed amendments become part of the Constitution when approved by 3/4 of the States.

*The only thing in the Constitution that cannot be amended is each States right to two Senators.

ARTICLE VI: National Supremacy

*The Constitution, federal laws, and federal treaties are the supreme law of the land and take precedent over any of the State’s constitutions or laws. This is referred to as the supremacy clause.

*All federal and state legislators, executive officers, and judges must take an oath to support and uphold the Constitution of the United States of America.

*No religious requirement shall ever be necessary to qualify for any political office in the US.

ARTICLE VII: Ratification

*The Constitution would officially be ratified and go into effect when 9 of the States had formally approved of it.