The Third Branch: Supreme Court

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“The Third Branch: Supreme Court”
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1. Antonio Neves on ANTONIO ON CAMERA:
camera
HI, I’M ANTONIO NEVES FOR THE DOT NEWS. HERE AT
THE SUPREME COURT ABOUT TEN THOUSAND
PETITIONS ARE FILED EACH YEAR. OF THOSE, LESS
THAN 80 ARE DECIDED.
Time
00:05
2. Photos of S.C.
Justices
VOICE OVER:
THAT’S BECAUSE THE NINE JUSTICES ON THE HIGH
COURT ONLY HAVE TIME TO HEAR A SMALL NUMBER
OF THE CASES. THEY PICK THE ONES THAT INVOLVE
IMPORTANT QUESTIONS OF LAW AND
CONSTITUTIONAL INTERPRETATION.
00:15
3. Kannon
Shanmugam on
camera
Kannon Shanmugam, Attorney
The Supreme Court really is a central player in American life.
That’s because the law is a presence in every aspect of American
life and there are statues and regulations that apply to virtually
everything we do.
00:28
4. Over the shoulder
shot of Kannon
Shanmugam
5. Kannon
Shanmugam on
camera
6. Graphic of
calendar
VOICE OVER:
KANNON SHANMUGAM IS A LAWYER WHO
SPECIALIZES IN SUPREME COURT CASES.
Kannon Shanmugam, Attorney
It’s really the job of the Supreme Court to answer the most
important legal questions that exist in our democracy.
VOICE OVER:
THE COURT’S POWER TO DECIDE WHETHER OR NOT A
LAW IS CONSTITUTIONAL IS AT THE CENTER OF ONE OF
THE MAJOR CASES FACING THE COURT. IT’S CALLED
CITIZENS UNITED VERSUS FEDERAL ELECTION
COMMISSION. THE COURT EVEN STARTED ITS FALL
SESSION IN SEPTEMBER INSTEAD OF THE TRADITIONAL
“FIRST MONDAY IN OCTOBER ”
00:44
00:49
00:57
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7. Kannon
Shanmugam on
camera
8. Justice
Sotomoyor on
camera
9.
Justice
Sotomayor on
camera
10. Roman
Hernandez on
camera
11. Over the shoulder
shot of Roman
Hernandez
12. Roman
Hernandez on
camera
13. Kannon
Shanmugam on
camera
14. Roman
Hernandez on
camera
15. Graphic of
precedence
Kannon Shanmugam, Attorney
The court wanted to decide this case a quickly as possible. It
governs the way in which elections in this country are conducted
and with another round of federal elections coming up next year I
think the court just wanted to issue a decision as quickly as it can.
VOICE OVER:
AMONG THE NINE JUSTICES MAKING THE SUPREME
COURT’S DECISIONS THIS YEAR WILL BE JUDGE SONIA
SOTOMAYOR. SHE WAS APPOINTED TO THE COURT BY
PRESIDENT BARACK OBAMA AFTER JUSTICE DAVID
SOUTER RETIRED. WHEN SHE WAS CONFIRMED BY THE
SENATE IN AUGUST JUSTICE SOTOMAYOR BECAME THE
FIRST HISPANIC AND THE THIRD WOMAN, TO SERVE ON
THE COURT.
Supreme Court Justice, Sonia Sotomayor
My personal and professional experiences help me to listen and
understand with the law always commanding the result in every
case.
Roman Hernandez, National Hispanic Bar Association
Diversity is important on the federal bench, and the Supreme
Court in particular, because it shows that there is a different
perspective, different influences, different understanding,
appreciation of how the law affects individuals and society in
general.
01:16
VOICE OVER:
ROMAN HERNANDEZ IS PRESIDENT OF THE NATIONAL
HISPANIC BAR ASSOCIATION.
Roman Hernandez, National Hispanic Bar Association
And it’s important because we want a perspective from a woman;
we want a perspective from a minority group.
Kannon Shanmugam, Attorney
A new member of the Supreme Court brings a fresh voice to the
court. She will have her own distinct perspective.
Roman Hernandez, National Hispanic Bar Association
She’s not going to rule in favor of Latino litigants, she’s not going
to rule in favor of minorities and women. Really what she will do
is she will apply the law. She’ll be consistent.
VOICE OVER:
A KEY ASPECT OF THE DECISION-MAKING PROCESS
FOR JUSTICE SOTOMAYOR AND THE OTHER JUSTICES IS
PRECEDENCE… HOW MUCH EMPHASIS EACH JUSTICE
SHOULD GIVE EARLIER SUPREME COURT DECISIONS.
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01:30
01:50
02:01
02:29
02:35
02:41
02:53
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16. Kannon
Shanmugam on
camera
17. Senate
confirmation
hearing
Kannon Shanmugam, Attorney
03:04
The Supreme Court, like other courts, adheres to its prior decisions
unless there is good reason to depart from them.
VOICE OVER:
03:10
A JUSTICE’S WILLINGNESS TO FOLLOW PRECEDENCE IS
OFTEN A MAJOR TOPIC DURING SENATE
CONFIRMATION HEARINGS.
18. Justice
Sotomayor on
camera
19. Justice John
Roberts on
camera
Supreme Court Justice, Sonia Sotomayor
The task of a judge is not to make law; it is to apply the law.
03:16
Chief Justice U.S. Supreme Court, John Roberts
Judges are not politicians who can promise to do certain things in
exchange for votes. I will decide every case based on the record,
according to the rule of law, without fear or favor, to the best of
my ability.
03:23
20. Sketches of
justices
VOICE OVER:
03:38
THE SUPREME COURT, LED BY CHIEF JUSTICE ROBERTS,
WILL FACE A MANY DIFFERENT LEGAL QUESTIONS
DURING JUSTICE SOTOMAYOR’S FIRST TERM.
21. Kristina Moore
and Antonio
walking
22. Kristina Moore
on camera
VOICE OVER:
KRISTINA MOORE REPORTS ON THE SUPREME COURT
FOR THE WEB SITE SCOTUSBLOG.COM
Kristina Moore, Blogger
There are a lot of issues that haven’t been looked at in many years.
First amendment issues, issues of federalism and states rights that
haven’t been taken up by this court.
03:46
03:51
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23. Graphic of the
Carolinas
VOICE OVER:
04:00
THE CASE OF SOUTH CAROLINA VERSUS NORTH
CAROLINA INVOLVES A DISAGREEMENT OVER WATER - HOW MUCH WATER EACH STATE CAN TAKE FROM
THE CATAWBA RIVER. BUT BEFORE THEY HEAR THE
FACTS OF THE CASE THE JUSTICES HAVE TO DECIDE
WHO CAN ARGUE IT.
24. Kristina Moore
on camera
Kristina Moore, Blogger
The question was should states be representatives of entities
within them or can a private company join in these kind of cases.
04:14
25. Pictures of
technology
VOICE OVER:
CHANGES IN TECHNOLOGY OFTEN LEAD TO CHANGES
IN THE LAW. ONE OF THE ISSUES THE COURT WILL
DECIDE ASKS WHAT KIND OF SOFTWARE CAN BE
AWARDED A FEDERAL PATENT.
04:23
26. Graphic of Bilski
v Doll
Kristina Moore, Blogger
Bilski v Doll is a patent methods case Traditionally patents have
only been issued for what’s called the machine or transformation
test
In this case it’s just basically a formula and some software that
they want to patent. And it will really be an interesting test to see
how patent law evolves when so much digital communication, you
know, could really make or break how a corporation operates.
VOICE OVER:
KANNON SHANMUGAM WAS A LAW CLERK FOR
JUSTICE ANTONIN SCALIA AND HAS ARGUED NINE
CASES BEFORE THE COURT.
Kannon Shanmugam, Attorney
One of the real challenges of Supreme Court advocacy is fielding
questions from all nine of the Justices virtually simultaneously and
trying to respond to what might be very different concerns
expressed by each individual justice. I think for lawyers the
Supreme Court is kind of the equivalent of the major leagues for
baseball players. When you are delivering an oral argument in the
Supreme Court you really feel as if you’re there in the big leagues.
04:33
VOICE OVER:
I’M ANTONIO NEVES FOR THE NEWS
05:32
27. Kannon
Shanmugam on
camera
28. Kannon
Shanmugam on
camera
29. Kannon
Shanmugam on
camera
04:57
05:04