公共教育：最高法院有什么权力审理什么案子

科学百姓 雨台 scitizen-editor@outlook.com 2020.11.11

关于最高法院

最高法院的宪法背景 Supreme Court Background

《宪法》第三条确立一个联邦司法系统（译者注：联邦政府分成总统行政系统、国会立法系统和法院司法系统三个分支）。第三条第一款规定："美国的司法权应赋予一个最高法院以及国会根据需要确定设立的下级法院。” 虽然宪法里确立了最高法院，但宪法允许国会有权来决定如何组建最高法院。国会1789年通过制订《司法法》，首次行使了组建最高法院这一权力，设立了最高法院，由六名法官组成。还建立了下级联邦法院系统。

Article III of the Constitution establishes the federal judiciary. Article III, Section I states that "The judicial Power of the United States, shall be vested in one supreme Court, and in such inferior Courts as the Congress may from time to time ordain and establish." Although the Constitution establishes the Supreme Court, it permits Congress to decide how to organize it. Congress first exercised this power in the Judiciary Act of 1789. This Act created a Supreme Court with six justices. It also established the lower federal court system.

最高法院的大法官 The Justices

多年来，国会制订的各种法案多次更改过最高法院的席位数，从最低5个席位到最高10个。内战结束后不久，法院的席位数被固定为9个。如今，美国最高法院有一名首席大法官（Chief Justice）和八名副大法官（Associate Justices）。与所有联邦法官一样，最高法院大法官由总统任命，并由参议院批准确认。他们的职位通常终身保障。大法官的薪酬在任期内不得减少。这个限制是为了保护司法系统的独立性，使他们不受制于政府的政治系统影响(译者注：美国政府分为三大系统：立法、行政、和司法；通常认为立法和行政系统是由 “搞政治” 的人们主导，司法系统则不应该是 “搞政治”）。

Over the years, various Acts of Congress have altered the number of seats on the Supreme Court, from a low of five to a high of 10. Shortly after the Civil War, the number of seats on the Court was fixed at nine. Today, there is one Chief Justice and eight Associate Justices of the United States Supreme Court. Like all federal judges, justices are appointed by the President and are confirmed by the Senate. They, typically, hold office for life. The salaries of the justices cannot be decreased during their term of office. These restrictions are meant to protect the independence of the judiciary from the political branches of government.

最高法院的司法管辖权 The Court's Jurisdiction

《宪法》第三条第二款规定了最高法院的司法管辖权（即审理案件的法律能力范畴）。第一是最高法院对某些案件拥有首审司法权（original jurisdiction，意思是这些案件一开始就由最高法院直接审理)，例如，两个或两个以上州之间的诉讼或涉及大使、公使的案件。

Article III, Section II of the Constitution establishes the jurisdiction (legal ability to hear a case) of the Supreme Court. The Court has original jurisdiction (a case is tried before the Court) over certain cases, e.g., suits between two or more states and/or cases involving ambassadors and other public ministers.

（除了除了首审司法权之外）最高法院对几乎所有涉及宪法或联邦法律某个问题的其它案件具有上诉司法权（appellate jurisdiction，即案件首审并不由最高法院听审，而是上诉才由最高法院听审）。一些例子包括美国作为缔约国的案件、涉及条约的案件、以及涉及公海和通航水道上的船舶的案件（海事案件）。

The Court has appellate jurisdiction (the Court can hear the case on appeal) on almost any other case that involves a point of constitutional and/or federal law. Some examples include cases to which the United States is a party, cases involving Treaties, and cases involving ships on the high seas and navigable waterways (admiralty cases).

案件的接审

在行使其上诉司法权时，除少数例外，最高法院并不必须听审接到的每一个案件。1925年的《移审法》赋予最高法院自行决定是否听审接到的案件的酌处权。一个案件移审到最高法院，指的是一方当事人要求最高法院听审其案件。最高法院每年接到7,000多案件听审申请，只同意听审其中的100-150起。

When exercising its appellate jurisdiction, the Court, with a few exceptions, does not have to hear a case. The Certiorari Act of 1925 gives the Court the discretion to decide whether or not to do so. In a petition for a writ of certiorari, a party asks the Court to review its case. The Supreme Court agrees to hear about 100-150 of the more than 7,000 cases that it is asked to review each year.

司法审查

最高法院最著名的权力是司法审查，即最高法院有宣布国会立法或行政机构行为违反宪法的能力。宪法本身并无关于最高法院具备这项能力的文字说明。最高法院具备司法审查权力这个法律原则，是最高法院在1803年的马伯里诉麦迪逊案中确立的。

The best-known power of the Supreme Court is judicial review, or the ability of the Court to declare a Legislative or Executive act in violation of the Constitution, is not found within the text of the Constitution itself. The Court established this doctrine in the case of Marbury v. Madison (1803).

在该案中，最高法院需要裁决的是：究竟是国会制订的法律还是宪法才是国家的最高法律。1789年的《司法法》在首审司法权里赋予了最高法院 “发布执行令” （即强制政府官员依法行事的法律命令）的权力。当时有人根据《司法法》的这一规定，提交一桩（挑战国会立法的）诉讼案。最高法院听审时注意到《宪法》不允许最高法院对该诉讼案拥有首审司法权（即最高法院无权直接听审）。但由于宪法第六条规定宪法才是国家的最高法律，最高法院据此得以在该案中裁定：违反宪法的国会立法是不成立的。在后来的一系列案例中，最高法院还进一步确立了其可以废除被认定违反宪法的州法律的权力。

In this case, the Court had to decide whether an Act of Congress or the Constitution was the supreme law of the land. The Judiciary Act of 1789 gave the Supreme Court original jurisdiction to issue writs of mandamus (legal orders compelling government officials to act in accordance with the law). A suit was brought under this Act, but the Supreme Court noted that the Constitution did not permit the Court to have original jurisdiction in this matter. Since Article VI of the Constitution establishes the Constitution as the Supreme Law of the Land, the Court held that an Act of Congress that is contrary to the Constitution could not stand. In subsequent cases, the Court also established its authority to strike down state laws found to be in violation of the Constitution.

在1869年通过第十四修正案（注：是关于公民身份和所有人得到平等的法律保护的宪法条款）之前，《权利法案》（注：指宪法第1到第10修正案的总称）里的规定只适用于联邦政府。在第十四修正案通过后，最高法院开始裁定《权利法案》的大部分条款也适用于各州。因此，最高法院对某项公民权利在什么情况下受到宪法保护或公民权利在什么情况下受到了侵犯这些问题获得了最终裁定权。

Before the passage of the Fourteenth Amendment (1869), the provisions of the Bill of Rights were only applicable to the federal government. After the Amendment's passage, the Supreme Court began ruling that most of its provisions were applicable to the states as well. Therefore, the Court has the final say over when a right is protected by the Constitution or when a Constitutional right is violated.

最高法院的关键作用

最高法院在每国宪政制度中发挥着非常重要的作用。首先，作为这个国度的最高法院，它是那些追寻正义的人们的最后求助法院。第二，由于它的司法审查权，它在确保政府各部门认识到自身权力是有限制的这个方面发挥着重要作用。第三，最高法院通过废除违反宪法的法律，为公民权利和自由提供保护。最后，它对民主政府设定了适当的限制，确保国民的多数派不能用设立法律来损害和欺负不受欢迎的少数派。所以，最高法院的根本性的作用，是确保多数派的不断变化的观点，不会导致对所有美国人共同的基本价值观，即言论自由、宗教自由和正当法律程序的损害。

The Supreme Court plays a very important role in our constitutional system of government. First, as the highest court in the land, it is the court of last resort for those looking for justice. Second, due to its power of judicial review, it plays an essential role in ensuring that each branch of government recognizes the limits of its own power. Third, it protects civil rights and liberties by striking down laws that violate the Constitution. Finally, it sets appropriate limits on democratic government by ensuring that popular majorities cannot pass laws that harm and/or take undue advantage of unpopular minorities. In essence, it serves to ensure that the changing views of a majority do not undermine the fundamental values common to all Americans, i.e., freedom of speech, freedom of religion, and due process of law.

最高法院的判决的影响力

最高法院的判决对整个社会都有重要影响，而不仅仅是对律师和法官有影响。最高法院的裁决对高中生也有着深远的影响。事实上最高法院判决的几个里程碑案件都涉及到了学生，例如，在 Tinker 诉 Des Moines 独立学区案（1969年），最高法院确定学生不能因为上学时戴黑臂章抗议越战而受到学校惩罚，最高法院认为："学生到学校上学时，并未把他们的权利搁置在学校门外头。"

The decisions of the Supreme Court have an important impact on society at large, not just on lawyers and judges. The decisions of the Court have a profound impact on high school students. In fact, several landmark cases decided by the Court have involved students, e.g., Tinker v. Des Moines Independent School District (1969) held that students could not be punished for wearing black armbands to school to protest the Vietnam War. In the Tinker case, the Court held that "students do not shed their rights at the schoolhouse gate."

2020年大选期间最高法院介入的案例

宾州共和党人赢得最高法院执行令 分离晚到的选票，但对选举结果没有影响

参考资料链接

1. About the Supreme Court. www.uscourts.gov, .