Global financial crisis debt securitization - Free Essay Example

Sample details Pages: 9 Words: 2627 Downloads: 3 Date added: 2017/06/26 Category Finance Essay Type Narrative essay Did you like this example? The present global financial crisis is the worst financial crisis world has witnessed since the great depression of the 1930s. In this essay, I attempt to critically review the role played by capitalism in causing this crisis. I shall concentrate the causal events that happened in United States of America, though there were similar events to lesser extents that happened elsewhere in the world, especially in developed countries. Don’t waste time! Our writers will create an original "Global financial crisis debt securitization" essay for you Create order Such related causal events in other countries are not unexpected, given the significance America has in the global economy, as well as the fact that comparable ideas were used by politicians and financial institutes across the globe. In the first part of the essay, a brief history of debt securitization is given, followed by various details on how the system of CDOs (collateralized debt obligations) used to function. In the latter part, the effects it had on the whole financial system is analyzed as well as what went wrong and the reasons behind it. The essay concludes by critically reviewing the whole system and linking it to the principles of Capitalism, that was found to be the root cause of this systemic failure. A brief history of debt securitization The current system of securitisation of house mortgages started in the eighties. Though many have tried to present this system as an innovative technology initiated by private companies to spread their risk, the reality is different. It was a result of the US Federal reserve in 1979 controlling growth of money to reduce inflation. Hence financial companies were forced to chase risky high return mortgages. However, the aftermath of this was that these financial companies had to transfer these risky assets from their books. Thus the system of securitization was born. Many economists realized the high potential of this system. Mortgages and other assets were grouped into various risk classes, and the prices of each of these were varied depending on the risk covered. Buyers of these packaged assets could pick the ones that matched with their risk appetite. These financial companies charged fees for the originating these loans, as well as for evaluating the risk and further charges a serv ice fees. The capital market would then sell these sliced and diced packages as CDOs (collateralized debt obligations) to fit the demands of the potential investors. This whole system was hailed as a major democratic movement because this helped many middle class people to get into home ownership. Initially, the banks and other financial institutions thought that they will not be affected by any interest rate risks. This also brought two additional possibilities. Firstly, CDOs and packaged debt assets could be easily traded anywhere in the world, and were free from any national borders. Post world wars, and the subsequent growth that happened across the developed countries (and most of developing countries), there was huge amount of investors with money, who were in search of high returns. Hence the risk appetite of these investors were high. Hence, these packaged assets were very sought after by these investors. It did not take much time before the value of these securitized debts overtook the value of US Federal debts market Minsky. Also was the advantage that these assets were denominated in dollars (1987). Secondly, the significance of banks declined in comparison to capital markets. So much that the share of banks trading financial assets declined from fifty percent to twenty five percent in the years from 1950 to 1990. There were experiments conducted by the policy makers favouring unregulated capital markets. For instance, for the banks to function profitably, they had to have a 450 points spread between the assets interest rate and liabilities interest rate. This was essential to profitably cover the profits including the return on capital, customer service costs as well as the costs to meet strict government regulations. In contrast, the capital markets operate under much relaxed rules such as exemptions from capital and reserve ratios, and hence could afford a lower spread. To overcome these tough regulations, banks started charging for the origination of these loans, but moved these loans outside their books so as to get away with the reserve requirements as well as capital requ irements. Then it was the job of the investment banks to purchase these mortgages, package them based on the risk profile into various CDOs and sell them to the investors. Various stakeholders responsible for the crisis According to Minsky (1987), these large multinational investment banks will then pay credit ratings agencies and get good credit ratings. Economists were also hired by them, to show that the earnings will be much more than the risks associates. Hence these credit rating agencies and economists, effectively acted as if they were credit enhancers, helping these investment banks by certifying that the potential risk of default on these subprime mortgages were not too different from that of other traditional mortgages, thus helping these CDOs to get investment grade rating that are looked upon by pension and insurance fund managers. Also, other enhancements such as early repayment penalty and guaranteed buybacks in case of exceedingly large number of foreclosures and defaults, were added to these packages. The buybacks later became significant because when the financial crisis happened, these buyback guarantees came to haunt these backs, because the risk was transferred back to these ban ks. Also, these securities were insured by companies such as CFIG, AMBAC, MBIA, FGIC Corp etc. These investment banks would have found it extremely difficult to sell these securities had there been no good credit ratings and no affordable insurance (Gutscher and Richard 2007). When the financial crisis started, ratings for these very insurers got degraded, thereby affecting the securities they had insured. One of the root cause of the problem can be pinned down to the incentive structure that was in place. After the 2000 stock market crash, alternate profit avenues were in demand from the investors. Because the Fed followed a low interest rate regime, the conventional markets did not present them the required returns. They wanted to chase high return high risk investments. Also, the brokers got excellent incentives for persuading the mortgage borrowers to agree to extremely adverse terms and conditions, in the process increasing the securities value. Also, hybrid variety of ARMs were also promoted. These risky mortgages were even approved by Greenspan, the Fed Chairman. Some studies reveal that out of the total subprime loans of $2.5 trillion performed, most borrowers got a bad deal than they were eligible for. Wrong incentives and credit enhancers For instance, many borrowers with good credit scores who would have been eligible for traditional loans, were persuaded to take these high risk sub-prime mortgages. Most of them were at least eligible for better terms and conditions. The root cause of this problem was the incentive plans which rewarded these brokers immensely (in comparison to traditional loans) for promoting these high interest high risky loans (Simon and Brooks, 2007). Brokers and originators also were not persuaded to ensure proper documentation and the borrowers capability to repay these mortgages, because they did not have to worry since the originators will not be holding on to these mortgages. This was like an assembly line in which the brokers and banks were profiting by the income they got from fees and service charges, and not from interest rate spread. Hence they were rewarded more by the quantity of mortgages they promoted. Thus in reality, most of these affordable mortgages werent what they promised, because when the borrower had to reset these loans, they had to pay service charges for various agents and early repayment penalties. The bankruptcy laws made it almost impossible for the borrowers to escape from the mortgage debt. These laws were passed by the US Congress, and it acted as another form of credit enhancer to these invest banks, who later sold these assets. Comparison with conventional banking Hence, the whole package of these CDOs with all these incentives and enhancements made it extremely easy for the investors to buy these very risky assets without much reluctance. While traditional banks stressed a lot on the features of the mortgage borrower (age, assets, income, profession, credit history etc), this new system meant that there was infinite amount of money available to invest in these extremely risky CDOs, with no incentive to assess the repayment ability of these borrowers. Thus extremely risky debts were grouped and divided into different groups again, and were sold to various investors, who bought them based on their risk appetite. As with any debt, the senior tranche will be the first priority for repayment, and the junior tranche only after the seniors are paid. However, it is almost astonishing to notice that some of these junior tranches were grouped again and again, thereby converting some of those extremely risky debts as highly rated investment-grade senior debt. All this made the whole system extremely fragile. High leverage ratios This new system of securitization into CDOs also increased the leverage ratios, and it was not uncommon to see leverage ratios as high as fifteen-to-one or even more. The hedge funds and other investors put only a small amount of their own capital into these securities. Thus the economic stability promoted creativity and innovations, however by stretching and increasing the leverage ratios and easy availability of credit, making the whole system inherently unstable and fragile. What encouraged the financial companies to increase leverage ratios is that for whatever expected losses, ROE (return on equity) is raised by higher and higher leverage ratios. This was fuelled by the fact that the house prices or real estate prices (the underlying assets in this case) kept on increasing because of demand fuelled by this easy availability of credit, thus the new loan amounts kept increasing and further encouraging financial companies to keep on increasing the leverage ratios (both loan amount- to-borrower income and loan amount-to-loan value. The logic (or assumption) used was that these houses can be either sold or refinanced later at a much higher value if at all any unexpected trouble occurred. Minsky stated that the capital markets and the whole system will undergo three stages: 1.) hedge stage 2.) speculative stage and finally 3.) Ponzi Stage. All these stages required the price of these underlying assets to appreciate in order to confirm it. Hence, owing to this virtuous cycle, it was very hard to prevent the Ponzi stage from happening. Wrong assumptions According to Chancellor (2007), the risk management methodologies used in modern times makes use of data on historical volatility, as a substitute or alternative to risk. If volatility declines, subsequently the risk is also supposed to decline, thus encouraging financial companies to enhance the leverage ratios. Bernanke in 2004 described the period as great moderation, which basically suggested that since volatility is permanently less, it was encouraged to have higher leverage ratios. Thus, Chancellor states that a fund (eg: hedge fund) with just pound;1 million of its own funds was allowed to have a leverage of as high as pound;85 million of CDOs, an astonishing 85 to 1 leverage ratio! Problems with the system The newly formulated system of debt securitization was very little regulated by policy, and was not flexible enough to change as things went bad. Rather than being a highly controlled industry, housing finance was very much a highly unsupervised, speculative and highly leveraged industry. The whole Ponzi scheme will stop only when asset prices declined or stopped rising, or if interest rates rose. Both of these scenarios were almost impossible to avoid, because they were both correlated dynamically since Federal rate increases will result in a decline in speculation, and will ease the increasing housing prices and will result in a rising risk spreads. The aftermath What happened after the start of this crisis were completely unexpected. The losses on these highly risky highly leveraged sub-prime surpassed expectations which were all based on historical data. This resulted in the prices of asset prices to decline drastically, creating a panic across the markets. Problems in one market spread rapidly and increasingly to other markets, which includes the commercial paper, mutual funds and money markets. The commercial banks were now extremely risk averse, and did not even lend for small time periods. Because of the very high leverage ratios, extremely huge losses were suffered by money managers, many times much more than their capital. They had to quickly respond to this crisis, and they did it by deleveraging by selling the assets on their books, which inevitably put a lot of negative pressure on those assets prices. The rippling effect Following the subprime mortgage market collapse, the panic and qualms broadened to similar and dissimilar asset-collateral security markets, which included municipal bond and real estate bond markets. Markets realized the extent and significance of the systemic faults with the system, particularly that of the credit rating companies credit ratings. The markets also understood, though very late, that insurers would have tremendous losses, if all these asset-backed securities were riskier than understood earlier. This resulted in the severe downgrading of these insurers credit ratings. Since the financial position of these insurers became extremely bad, the assets those insurers had insured became valueless thus the security and bond ratings were severely downgraded. In a lot of instances, to make things even worse and regrettably, the worst securities were also held by these investment banks, and had either held positions in some of these insurers, or had guaranteed taking back these mortgages. To improve the terrible condition the capital markets and the global financial markets were in, the United States government had to come out with massive bail outs of its various bank and insurance companies. Some of them went bankrupt, but some of them were too big for them to be allowed to fall. Till Jan 2009, almost one trillion dollars of bad debt was completely written off by those financial institutions combined, assisted mostly by those government bailouts. Conclusion Till 2009 January, the US Treasury had provided almost four hundred billion dollars of assistance, mostly by purchasing the assets, and in certain cases taking equity positions. The actual cost of supporting the financial system is expected to be much more, at least some trillions of dollars. It is worth noting that the whole securitized debt market was only around ten trillion, and the share of the sub-prime mortgages were more than 2.5 trillion dollars. From all these facts explained above, one thing is evident and clear. The series of events that caused this financial crisis would not have happened had the markets been more regulated, and most importantly, had the policy makers not believed and followed the tenets of capitalism so blindly. The extremely heavy losses and bankruptcies that have happened, and those that are yet to happen are not just the case of bad housing loans offered to poor home loan borrowers for them to purchase luxury manors which they did not have the capaci ty to repay. But instead, this is clearly a case of failure of the so called neo-liberal capitalism, which believed in unregulated markets, markets will decide for itself what is good for it, regulation means bad for businesses and economy, Its all about creating shareholder value etc. There has been a systemic failure, and sadly those people who were responsible for the whole sequence of events have gone scot-free, and the millions who are terribly affected are the very same low-income or middle class people (including pension funds and other social security funds), who were deceived by those responsible for it all. It is high time that governments who come to power repossess finance from the completely unregulated capital markets, and bring in necessary regulations to make the system more equitable and stable. This will also help bring some order back to the system, and regain some control from the Wall Street 6.

Analysis Of The Movie Evicted - 2049 Words

Evicted is a novel that follows the story of families who struggle with losing their homes, and the hurdles they have to jump to survive. The events that take place in this novel take place in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. According the American Housing Survey, 1991-2013, a majority of poor renting families spend at least half their income on housing. Poverty is a major problem in America and the price of housing doesn’t help. The first family the novel introduces is the family of Arleen and her sons. Their story starts with one of Arleen’s sons, Jori, throwing a snowball at a car. The driver retaliated by kicking down the door in their apartment. This led the eviction of Arleen and her family. As winter was setting in, Arleen found an available room in Sherrena’s building. Landlords have their own share of troubles and the previous tenant had called a building inspector, which would have costed Sherrena a lot of money. The only financially sound choice was to evict the tenant. 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Beautiful Boy free essay sample

In this book I think that David Sheff lays down a great visual into the life of his son Nic. He tells us how brilliant Nic is, that Nic has a great imagination and that all of his teachers think that he is a very smart and intelligent boy. But on the other hand he also lets us know that Nic is torn between the fact that he has to live two lives, one with his father, David, and one with his mother, Vicki. In the beginning it was good because his mother did not live to far from him but when she relocates things get a little more complicated. David Sheff the father describes his and his family’s experience dealing with his son Nic who is addicted to the drug crystal methamphetamine. In telling his story David takes us down memory lane to the beginning of his life with his first wife who gives birth to his son Nic. From the beginning of the book I think that David blames himself for Nic’s addiction. Throughout the book David questions himself about some of the things that he did with Nic as a young child and when he was fully into his addiction. Some key questions that came out was during the divorce proceedings was he being selfish in the fact that he wanted Nic to live with him or did he truly want this or was this just a way to get back at Nic’s mother because of the failure of their marriage. By his own admission and the fact that they had to let a court decide on who Nic would stay with I can only imagine that this was a very hard divorce for Nic to have to go through. Also in making this decision did David or Nic’s mother take into consideration what effect their fighting had on Nic? When I was reading Beautiful Boy: a fathers journey into his sons addiction, I was surprised to read that Nic had marijuana in his backpack. I felt that this was an important part of the story because it is Nics first introduction into drugs. Nic is unaware to the health problems that drugs will cause. When Nic purchases the marijuana he is completely oblivious to the problems that he is about to cause for himself and his family. Another point in the story that surprised me was when Nic says that he had been using methamphetamine. I felt that this is important because it is Nics first use of the drug that nearly cost him his life. Nics choice to begin using this harmful drug is At this point in the story Nic illustrates the effects of using methamphetamine, â€Å"Ill, frail, and occasionally still rambling, he spends the next 3 days shivering as if feverish, curled up in bed, whimpering and crying. † An occasion that I felt was crucial part of the story is Nics denial towards his addiction to methamphetamine. Nic cannot disclaim his enslavement to methamphetamine because he has had to go to rehab on multiple occasions in which he later relapsed each time. felt that this is an important part of the story because if Nic realized that he was an addict he would have had to experience much less suffering. This lack of realization toward his sickness could have lead him to his undoing. Another meaningful part of the story is when Nic breaks into Vickis house. I believe this to be very important to the story because this impacts the trust between Nic and his family. Another reason that this is an paramount part of the story is because when Nic steals from his mothers house, I think that they may begin to realize that Nic may go to any expense to get the money he needs to purchase the drugs Another part of the story that I believe to be significant is when Nic, Vicki, and David and at the treatment center doing therapy. The part of the therapy that I found to be the most important is the art therapy. I believe the art therapy to be important because it allows each family member to completely show what they are feeling so the can work to get past it. Nics drawing of the human heart that is connected to faces showing expressions of sorrow and rage represent Nics feelings about his experience about drugs. Vickis drawing of her on the balloon in the storm can be interpreted as her trying to get away from her problems with Nic. Davids painting is of a broken suitcase and a river with tributaries of tears. He also draws a the hole in his head from which the tears are coming from which represent pain, rage, and terror. The broken suitcase is spilling out Davids former self. I believe that chapter 4 is one of the most important chapters. I think this because Nic is confronted about the marijuana, he admits to getting drunk on a ski trip to Lake Tahoe, and David and Karen have a talk with the teacher. That is why I think this is a significant In the book Beautiful Boy. One point in this chapter that I find to be significant is when Nic is confronted about the marijuana in his backpack. For example, his parents call him in for the first time out of many, for doing drugs: â€Å"Standing on the deck, I call to the boys. They come over, Nic palming the ball, breathing hard They look at the outstretched hand holding the marijuana. †(53). I believe this is important because Jasper is seeing marijuana for the first time. They had no idea how big this was gonna get at the time. I believed this to be important because it is Davids first time that he has had to deal with Nic and drugs at all. Another point in this chapter that I found to have some significance is when Nic confesses to him and his friend from the city, Phillip getting drunk on a trip to Lake Tahoe. â€Å"We got drunk. Once. Me and Philip. It was on the ski trip†(55). I found this to have some significance is because it is Nics first experience with any alcohol at all. Also, it is Davids first time to confront Nic about alcohol as a problem. The final part of the story that I found to have any importance is when Karen and David have a talk with the teacher of Nics 7th grade class. â€Å"I have noticed that Nic is being puylled by the students who the others see as cool Theyre the ones who sneak cigarettes and-Im only guessing_probably smoke pot. They may. But I dont think you have to be overly concerned. Its normal. Most kids try it†(57). I found this to be important because it is the first time that Karen and David Sheff get advice on the problem with Nic and drugs. What surprised me when I was reading this part of the chapter is was surprised when I read that the teacher said that it is just something that all kids go through. This surprised me because this lack of urgency caused Nic to begin his path of drugs to methamphetamine. Another chapter inn the story that I find significant is chapter 20. When David suffers a brain hemorrhage. I found this to be of great importance to the story because his injury brings his family together when it is the most important I believe that this instant of family unity is astounding. Another reason that this is an important event in Nics life because if David were to pass away it would most likely end any hope of Nics recovery. This is because it is shown that Nics addiction to drugs is fueled by the pain of his parents divorce and the anger towards himself for continuing to abuse drugs. Also it shows how much his dad loves and misses him. For example, when he is in the ICU David Sheff thinks,†Nic. Where is Nic? Where is Nic? Where is Nic? Where is Nic? I must call Nic†(239). David Sheff constantly thinks about Nic, but not as much as this. It effected me by telling me a description of what this poor man has been through with his â€Å"Beautiul Boy†, Nic. All the times he relapses, and taking him to rehab centers everywhere. Another example of David Sheffs distress: the whole day he has been thinking about Nics phone number. Asking various nurses if he or she can call his son for him: â€Å"What is his telephone number? Nic†(242). David Sheff is to distracted for even a mallet hitting his skull, to stop thinking about Nic. His whole life has been worrying about Nic ever since 7th grade. This has been about â€Å"a fathers journey through his sons addiction†. It is a fascinating story, full of joy and misery. It will helps hundreds of others with their or a family members addiction. In the end, there will always be addicts and alcoholics, but there will always be a way to fix them, over a long time or short time, with your beautiful girl or boy.

Violence And Nonviolence Essays - Pacifism, Dispute Resolution

Violence And Nonviolence Violence and Nonviolence Violence is a problem that we as humans, deal with everyday. Today, it seems that we deal with it in just about every aspect of our lives. From children's cartoons to the nightly news, we are witnesses to its power and harm. A highly debated argument for the causes of violence are surrounding our homes as well as our government. No matter the causes of violence or for that fact aggressors, we have a personal responsibility must be taken for violent actions. We are given the choice to decide how we each want to live our lives; but before we decide, we must look at the ethical issues that surround our choices. Most humans strive to live a good, pure life. Violence is one of the few instances that destroys that good life. It is something that we work towards eliminating. It is defined as an act taken against another being with the intent to do harm. We often consider violence in terms of the physical aggressor, yet violence can surface in a variety of ways even including self-defense. Violence is a result of conflicting interests or unresolvable differences. In most instances, both parties to he conflict feel that they are right and that their actions are justified. However, there are other cases in which their is a clear aggressor and victim. Nevertheless, violence is a very complicated and difficult issue. By its very nature, violence is an act against life. Life, is sacred. It is cherished, not out of purpose of use, not instrumental, but for the good, intrinsic value of its very being. Violence is instrumental. It is a means to an end. There is no intrinsical goodness in violence. Violent acts are not good for the sake of violence itself. A single question that arises out of the argument of violence and nonviolence, Is violence ever justifiable or acceptable. The two main types of arguments that arise are the self-defense paradigm and pacifism. The self-defense paradigm accepts violence as a means to protect one's life, or the life of others. This argument interprets life as being intrinsically good and for instrumental purposes, but accepts lethal results as an unintended consequence of defense. Pacifism argues that violence is never acceptable. Because violence is an instrumental act, it undermines and disrespects human life as a cherished entity. Upon first evaluation of these arguments, I preferred the self-defense paradigm. I believe I am more of a realist. I thought that violence was inevitable. No matter the strategy, violence is going to be the end result. However, by the end of the semester, I have discovered something. The whole purpose of pacifism is to change the fact that violence is inevitable. It is a movement that teaches humans how to deal with the situations that inevitably end in violence. It is a way to defend life from aggressive threats. The pacifist may never risk killing his opponent, regardless of the consequences. At all times, they must be respectful and compassionate of life. I believe that I have changed my view because I have a greater understanding of pacifism. At first, I thought that it was the easy way out. It was the way to take to avoid a situation; ?no matter the situation, never be violent.? I thought of issues such as wars or if someone was trying to kill you or your family. How could someone not do anything? It was a weak person's answer to the argument. Then, out of the blue, it struck me. We are always talking about ?bettering? the world, getting rid of violence. Well, we are imitative creatures. We do what we see. How are the younger generation of people going to be nonviolent when all they see is violence. If, we don't start demonstrating nonviolent, peaceful acts, what are they going to imitate? We are presenting self-defense as an excuse. It is justifiable but only if you don't intend to kill the other person. This can be a very risky situation. When defending yourself or someone else, you are allowed violence as long as you didn't mean to kill the aggressor? What happens when you can't decipher the aggressor? Nothing should be taken away from the self-defense philosophy. It is understandable and ethical. It would be hard not to defend yourself from an attacker, or to help a loved one. But, it just seems to me that in today's world, we must reevaluate our morals. Self-defense takes

Govt 2302 Essays

Govt 2302 Essays Govt 2302 Paper Govt 2302 Paper HAPTER 12 The Judiciary Chapter Focus The purpose of this chapter is to describe the policy-making role of the federal judiciary, in particular that of the Supreme Court. To appreciate the significance of this role, students need basic knowledge about the history of the Supreme Court, the structure and procedures of the federal courts, the nature of controversy over the courts, and the restraints on judicial policy making. After reading and reviewing the material in this chapter, you should be able to do each of the following: 1. Discuss the meaning and significance of judicial review and its relationship to Marbury v. Madison. 2. List and comment on the three eras of varying Supreme Court influences on national policy from the days of slavery to the present. 3. Describe the partisan influences on federal judicial appointments. 4. Describe how the nature of federalism affects the jurisdiction of federal and state courts. 5. Discuss the ways in which cases can get to the Supreme Court. 6. Describe the financial and non-financial obstacles of getting into federal court. 7. Explain how political scientists classify justices as liberal or conservative and why they do so. 8. Enumerate four measures of judicial power and describe how judicial power can be restrained by Congress and by public opinion. 9. Develop arguments for and against an activist Supreme Court. 10. Explain the relationship between public and the courts. Study Outline I. Introduction A. Courts in the United States play a major role in policy making 1. Due to judicial review: right to declare acts and laws unconstitutional 2. Since 1789, Supreme Court has ruled over 100 laws unconstitutional 3. In Great Britain, no judicial review in American sense, but parliamentary supremacy B. : Controversy is over method of judicial review 1. Strict constructionist (conservative philosophy today) 2. Activist approach (liberal philosophy today) II. The Development of the Federal Courts A. Introduction 1. Founders did not expect a major policy role for the federal courts 2. Traditional view: judges find and apply existing law 3. Evolution of courts shaped by political, economic, and ideological forces B. National supremacy and slavery (1789–1865) 1. Marbury v. Madison- established doctrine of judicial review (see the â€Å"Marbury v. Madison† box) 2. McCulloch v. Maryland: federal law declared supreme over state law 3. Dred Scott v. Sandford: blacks were not, and could not become, free 4. Interstate commerce clause is placed under the authority of federal law C. Government and the economy (1865–1937) 1. Dominant issue of the period: whether the economy could be regulated by state and federal governments 2. Private property held to be protected by the Fourteenth Amendment 3. Courts unsure of how to draw line between â€Å"reasonable† and â€Å"unreasonable† regulation 4. The Court interpreted the Fourteenth and Fifteenth Amendments narrowly as applied to blacks D. The protection of political liberty and economic regulation (1937–present) 1. Supreme Court gave regulatory powers to legislatures 2. Voided congressional acts that violate personal liberties 3. Court-packing plan shifts interpretation III. The Structure of the Federal Courts A. Only federal court mandated by Constitution is Supreme Court 1. Congress has created constitutional courts- district Courts (94), courts of appeals (12), plus other specialized courts (e. . , Court of International Trade) 2. Legislative courts- specialized purpose, fixed office terms for judges (e. g. , Court of Military Appeals and other territorial courts) B. Recent court nominations 1. Bush administration nominees 2. Filibustering by Senate democrats C. Supreme Court appointments are partisan 1. Nominated by president, confirmed by Senate (only five rejected during the twentieth century) 2. Presidents cann ot be sure how a judge will behave after appointment 3. Presidents can tilt Court ideologically D. Lower federal courts 1. Senatorial courtesy† checks presidential control in district court nominations 2. Comparison of Carter and Reagan appointments: number of women and blacks 3. Democratic and Republican judges differ in voting, but ideology usually does not influence decisions IV. The Jurisdiction of the Federal Courts (see the â€Å"Jurisdiction of the Federal Courts† box) A. Dual court system 1. Federal jurisdiction: Article III and the Eleventh Amendment- involve â€Å"federal question† cases, diversity of citizenship cases 2. Federal District Court handles federal criminal laws 3. Appeal from a federal regulatory agency goes to U. S. Court of Appeal 4. Only Supreme Court handles disputes between two state governments 5. Vast majority of all federal cases begin in district courts 6. Gideon case illustrates how lower court’s appeal can be influential B. Appeals to the Supreme Court 1. Certiorari- main route involving substantial federal questions 2. Courts of appeal usually last word V. Getting to Court A. Deterrents 1. The Court rejects 95 percent of applications for certiorari 2. High costs of appeal (pauper writs) B. Fee shifting . Each party must pay cost of lawsuit 2. Fee shifting allows plaintiff to collect costs from defendant 3. Flood of Section 1983 lawsuits C. Standing 1. Must be controversy between adversaries 2. Personal harm must be demonstrated 3. Being taxpayer not entitlement for suit 4. Sovereign immunity, but government can waive D. Class-action suits 1. Brought on behalf of all similarly situated- Brown v. Board of Education 2. Financia l incentives to bring suit; Congress not addressing issues; profitable for lawyers 3. Need to notify all members of the class since 1974 VI. The Supreme Court in Action A. Oral arguments by lawyers 1. Questions by justices 2. Role of solicitor general 3. Amicus curiae briefs influence as well as legal periodicals B. Conference procedures 1. Role of chief justice 2. Selection of opinion writer 3. Opinions- per curiam, unanimous, majority, concurring, or dissenting C. Voting behavior 1. Blocs on Court are predictable 2. Three blocs: liberal, conservative, and swing VII. The Power of the Courts A. The power to make policy 1. By interpretation 2. Importance of stare decisis, or precedent, but court will change mind 3. Court’s willingness to deal with â€Å"political questions† 4. Judicial â€Å"remedies†- may affect thousands or even millions of people B. Views of judicial activism 1. Courts are last resort and correct injustices 2. Courts lack expertise in particular 3. Court is not accountable to the people; judges not elected C. The causes of activism 1. U. S. has more lawyers, but a symptom not a cause 2. American adversary culture 3. Easier for people to get into court 4. Vague congressional language requires judicial interpretation 5. Reviewing regulatory agency decisions 6. Belief of many judges/law professors that courts should make policy VIII. Checks on Judicial Power A. Court decisions can be resisted, since courts cannot enforce B. Congress and the courts 1. Alter the composition of the judiciary 2. Confirmation and impeachment proceedings 3. Changing the number of judges 4. Revising legislation declared unconstitutional 5. Altering jurisdiction of the courts 6. Constitutional amendment C. Public opinion and the courts 1. Opinion can both restrain and energize the courts 2. Supreme Court most powerful when parties have been weak or divided 3. Opinion may object to decisions but not to court as institution 4. Opinion of courts vary with support of government as a whole Key Terms Match Match the following terms and descriptions. Set 1 |1. _____ Describes when a president has attempted to appoint his |a. activist | |type of judges to the Court in order to secure a majority. |b. amicus curiae brief | |2. _____ A means by which one who has an interest in a case, but |c. briefs | |is not a litigant, can present views. d. class-action suit | |3. _____ A means by which one who has been injured can bring |e. recess appointment | |action on behalf of all similarly situated. |f. constitutional courts | |4. _____ The power of the courts to determine the |g. courts of appeal | |constitutionality of legislative and executive acts. |h. dissenting opinion | |5. ____ Litigation in which a citizen of one state sues a |i. Dred Scott | |citizen of another state and the amount of money in dispute is |j. diversity case | |more than $50,000. |k . Federalist No. 78 | |6. _____ A court established under Article III of the |l. †packing the court† | |Constitution. |m. in forma pauperis | |7. _____ An approach to judicial review which holds that judges |n. udicial review | |should discover the general principles underlying the |o. American rule | |Constitution. |p. Marbury v. Madison | | |q. McCulloch v. Maryland | | | | | | | |8. ____ Correlates with the thoughts of the Founding Fathers | | |that the courts would play a relatively neutral-passive role in | | |public affairs. | | |9. _____ Intermediate appellate courts of the federal judiciary | | |which have been classified â€Å"constitutional courts† by Congress. | | |10. ____ Describes how in America each party to a lawsuit must | | |pay its own way. | | |11. _____ A petition filed with the U. S. Supreme Court by a | | |pauper. | | |12. _____ Considered one of the most disastrous judicial opinions| | |ever issued- declaring the Missouri Compromise unconstitutional. | | 13. _____ Legal documents submitted by lawyers which set forth | | |the facts of a case. | | |14. _____ A decision of the Supreme Court which interpreted the | | |Constitution to give the Supreme Court the power to declare an | | |act of Congress unconstitutional. | |15. _____ A decision of the Supreme Court which held that the | | |power of the federal government flows from the people and that | | |federal law is supreme over state law. | | |16. _____ A judicial appointment made by a president while the | | |Congress is not in session. | | |17. ____ This is an opinion of one or more justices of the | | |Supreme Court on the losing side. | | Set 2 |1. _____ Known as the school desegregation case. |a. Opinion of the Court | |2. _____ Set the precedent that all accused persons in state as |b. per curiam opinion | |well as federal criminal trials be supplied with a lawyer, free if |c. Gideon case | |necessary. d. remedy | |3. _____ A landmark case dealing with reverse discrimination. |e. senatorial courtesy | |4. _____ A tradition under which the Senate will defer to the |f. Brown v. Board of Education | |judgment of a senator of the president’s party when determining the|g. sovereign immunity | |suitability of candidates for federal judgeships from the senator’s|h. Bakke case | |state. i. stare decisis | |5. _____ An example of a legislative court where terms are fixed |j. strict constructionism | |and justices can be removed or have their salaries reduced. |k. voting blocs | |6. _____ The rule of precedent. |l. Court of Military Appeals | |7. _____ Groups of justices on the Supreme Court who tend to take | | |consistent positions on issues. | |8. _____ This is a judicial order setting forth what must be done | | |to correct a situation a judge believes to be wrong. | | |9. _____ An approach to judicial review which holds that judges | | |should confine themselves to applying those rules that are stated | | |in or clearly implied by the language of the Constitution. | |10. _____ The doctrine that a citizen cannot sue the government | | |without its consent. | | |11. _____ This is a brief, unsigned opinion of the Supreme Court. | | |12. _____ This is the written opinion of the Supreme Court’s | | |majority. | | Did You Think That . . . ? A number of misconceptions are listed below. You should be able to refute each statement in the space provided, referring to information or argumentation contained in this chapter. Sample answers appear at the end of the Study Guide. 1. â€Å"The Framers expected the Supreme Court to play the large role that it subsequently has played. †

Philadelphia Freedom Award- Fredrick Douglass essays

Philadelphia Freedom Award- Fredrick Douglass essays Philadelphia, July 3, 2002- As a student that has much to achieve in life, I believe that this years Freedom Award should be Awarded to Fredrick Douglass. Fredrick Douglass individualism and heroism reminded me of the self-reliance piece. Douglass was born into slavery and turned his life into something great for the future to observe. Douglas felt that slavery was unacceptable in his as well as in America. He used this unacceptability as a driving force to educate himself and to become free. As, a black man of his time, Fredrick Douglass was able to read and write which made him a very influential person. Fredrick Douglass was known as the African- American who did it all. Douglass was born a slave in Tuckahoe, Maryland, and spent his adolescence as a houseboy in Baltimore. He escaped to Massachusetts, were he began a career as an abolitionist after giving an important speech at an antislavery convention. Douglas did much through his travel to protest slavery. Douglass used his skills over the years to lecture in the northern star against slavery. He also helped slaves escape to the North while working with the Underground Railroad. Douglass established the abolitionist paper The North Star on December 3, 1847, and also developed it into the most popular, influential black antislavery paper published during the antebellum era. The North Star was used to not only denounce slaver, but to fight for the women and other oppressed groups. The North Star reached up to 4,000 readers in the United Sates, Europe, and the West Indies. The North Star merged with the Liberty Party Paper of Syracuse, and renamed his paper to Fredrick Douglass Paper. Douglass devoted the next three year of his life after this exciting event in publishing and abolitionist magazine called Douglass Monthly. A weekly established in Washington, D.C. to serve former slaves. He renamed this magazine to The New National Era., and published it unt...

Network security Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

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