Judges and Legislators - Essay Example

If precedence has been established, the Court is unlikely to change precedence. This is not to say that this never happens. Precedence is sometimes overturned as the make-up of the court changes and the interpretation of the Constitution changes over the years. The next idea is that of the judicial conference. This is an event when all of the Federal justices get together and talk about things. The conference was established in 1922 and is made up of the Chief Justices of the Supreme Court and a justice from each of the circuit courts.

The purpose of this conference is to establish rules that Federal justices are to follow. The rules are largely procedural, but they can affect which cases the Supreme Court hears. A final way to filter cases is by looking back at the published opinions of Supreme Court justices and other federal judges. An opinion gives insight into why a judge ruled the way she did. This can be used to justify bringing a case to the Supreme Court if the opinion shows the ruling to be very narrow or biased in some way.