“The Third Branch: Supreme Court”

1

“The Third Branch: Supreme Court”

SHOT/TITLE DESCRIPTION Time

1. Antonio Neves on

camera

ANTONIO ON 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.

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

VOICE OVER:

KANNON SHANMUGAM IS A LAWYER WHO

SPECIALIZES IN SUPREME COURT CASES.

00:44

5. Kannon

Shanmugam on

camera


It’s really the job of the Supreme Court to answer the most

important legal questions that exist in our democracy.

00:49

6. Graphic of

calendar

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 ”

00:57

2

7. Kannon

Shanmugam on

camera


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.

01:16

8. Justice

Sotomoyor on

camera

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.

01:30

9. Justice

Sotomayor on

camera

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.

01:50

10. Roman

Hernandez on

camera

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.

02:01

11. Over the shoulder

shot of Roman

Hernandez

VOICE OVER:

ROMAN HERNANDEZ IS PRESIDENT OF THE NATIONAL

HISPANIC BAR ASSOCIATION.

02:24

12. Roman

Hernandez on

camera


And it’s important because we want a perspective from a woman;

we want a perspective from a minority group.

02:29

13. Kannon

Shanmugam on

camera


A new member of the Supreme Court brings a fresh voice to the

court. She will have her own distinct perspective.

02:35

14. Roman

Hernandez on

camera


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.

02:41

15. Graphic of

precedence

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.

02:53

3

16. Kannon

Shanmugam on

camera


The Supreme Court, like other courts, adheres to its prior decisions

unless there is good reason to depart from them.

03:04

17. Senate

confirmation

hearing

VOICE OVER:

A JUSTICE’S WILLINGNESS TO FOLLOW PRECEDENCE IS

OFTEN A MAJOR TOPIC DURING SENATE

CONFIRMATION HEARINGS.

03:10

18. Justice

Sotomayor 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

19. Justice John

Roberts on

camera

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:

THE SUPREME COURT, LED BY CHIEF JUSTICE ROBERTS,

WILL FACE A MANY DIFFERENT LEGAL QUESTIONS

DURING JUSTICE SOTOMAYOR’S FIRST TERM.

03:38

21. Kristina Moore

and Antonio

walking

VOICE OVER:

KRISTINA MOORE REPORTS ON THE SUPREME COURT

FOR THE WEB SITE SCOTUSBLOG.COM

03:46

22. Kristina Moore

on camera

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.

03:51

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23. Graphic of the

Carolinas

VOICE OVER:

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.

04:00

24. Kristina Moore

on camera


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


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.

04:33

27. Kannon

Shanmugam on

camera

VOICE OVER:

KANNON SHANMUGAM WAS A LAW CLERK FOR

JUSTICE ANTONIN SCALIA AND HAS ARGUED NINE

CASES BEFORE THE COURT.

04:57

28. Kannon

Shanmugam on

camera


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.

05:04

29. Kannon

Shanmugam on

camera

VOICE OVER:

I’M ANTONIO NEVES FOR THE NEWS

05:32

“The Third Branch: Supreme Court”

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