ca amer r o f sors s e c nter l a c e p S t r o Rep s ment t n o l App n a c e Jud nstrato h t or de f ump Adm u G er e Tr Pray of th Appealng to God for our U.S. Courts P resdent Donald Trump s changng the face of the federal judcary. Currently, there are more than 140 vacances to fll. It s lkely that durng hs term he wll appont more federal court judges than any other presdent n the last 50 years. Although Supreme Court nomnatons warrant tremendous publcty, the vast majorty of federal cases are determned n the dstrct and appellate courts. Because of ths, he has the potental to have a profound effect on our naton, not just for hs term, but for decades. The nomnees he s presentng are excellent canddates and orgnalsts, not judcal actvsts. Judcal actvsm has been the prmary means of varous ungodly, unbblcal changes n our socety, most notably the legalzaton of aborton and same-sex marrage as well as the restrcton of relgous lberty. Unfortunately, there s a prevalent msunderstandng of judcal actvsm, wth the term used by progressves to descrbe judges lke Justce Scala and Justce Gorsuch. Unfortunately, many judges have been legslatng from the bench n the past 50 years. One would say that Presdent Trump s "rebuldng" a judcary n the manner of orgnalsm and away from actvsm. Lord s rghteous, he loves justce; For thethe uprght wll see hs face. Psalm 11:7 INTERCESSORS FOR AMERICA www.ifapray.org 800-USA-PRAY (872-7729) E-mal: IFA@IFApray.org
Do not pervert justce; do not show partalty... --Levtcus 19:15 IMPORTANT JUDICIAL TERMS TO UNDERSTAND AND PRAY ABOUT How we read and nterpret the Consttuton should be smlar to how we read and nterpret the Bble--we do not add and we do not take away. As we hear about how judges approach the Consttuton, varous terms are used and msused. Orgnalsm s the hstorcal and desred nterpretaton. Orgnalsm: Made famous by Justce Antonn Scala, he defned orgnalsm: a manner of nterpretng the Consttuton s to begn wth the text, and to gve that text the meanng that t bore when t was adopted by the people. It s mportant to note that orgnalsm was the generally accepted method of consttutonal nterpretaton untl about ffty years ago, when judcal actvsm began. Substantve due process: Ths prncple allows courts to determne and protect fundamental rghts from government nterference under the authorty of the due process clauses of the Ffth and Fourteenth Amendments to the Consttuton. Ths s how aborton and homosexual sodomy were transformed by the Supreme Court from wdely unacceptable, llegal actons nto protected rghts. Pray for judges to be apponted who are Orgnalsts, not promotng ther own nterpretaton or changng preferences. Textualsm: In the succnct defnton of Justce Scala: The words are the law. A textualst judge s not concerned wth legslatve hstory because he lmts hmself to the words as enacted n the Consttuton or another law. If the words are not what the people want, then the people can change the law or amend the Consttuton. Strct constructonsm: Ths term, descrbng a knd of lteral nterpretaton of the Consttuton and other laws, for many years was a contrast to the judcal actvsm n cases such as Roe v. Wade. However, Justce Scala rejected ths descrpton. He sad, "I do not thnk the Consttuton, or any text should be nterpreted ether strctly or slopply; t should be nterpreted reasonably." Judcal actvsm: Judcal actvsm occurs when judges wrte subjectve polcy preferences nto the law rather than apply the law mpartally accordng to ts orgnal meanng. As such, actvsm does not mean the mere act of strkng down a law. (Hertage Foundaton) Lvng Consttuton: Ths term enables judcal actvsm to become the norm for the federal judcary. It s mportant to note that conservatves are sometmes as eager to create new rghts under ths theory as lberals. Ths s why orgnalst and textualst judges, lke the ones that Presdent Trump s nomnatng, are so mportant. OVERVIEW OF COURTS In our current system, there are 94 dstrct-level tral courts and 13 courts of appeals below the Supreme Court. The U.S. Supreme Court s the hghest court n the land. Of the 13 appellate courts, 12 form an ntermedate level of justce, where each court has jursdcton over a porton of the country (see map). Each of the 12 appellate courts hears challenges to dstrct court decsons from lower courts wthn ts crcut. The remanng appellate court, called the Federal Crcut, has natonwde jursdcton over specal (usually patent-related) cases. Source: www.uscourts.gov INTERCESSORS FOR AMERICA www.ifapray.org 800-USA-PRAY (872-7729) E-mal: IFA@IFApray.org Page 2
HOW ARE JUDGES APPOINTED? Supreme Court justces, court of appeals judges, and dstrct court judges are nomnated by the presdent and confrmed by the U.S. Senate. Once n offce, they can reman n ther postons for lfe. Supreme Court justces are apponted for lfe. Lfetme tenure s a safety mechansm because the role of a justce s to be ready to make decsons that are unpopular or counter to the wll of the majorty. Because they are not elected, they are free to uphold the law n spte of backlash. The manner of selecton for lower courts depends on the court and can be a combnaton of appontment, mert selecton, and electon. (To read more about the nuances, vst the webstes below.) OBJECTIVE OF APPEAL COURTS The appellate court may choose to 1) REVERSE the decson of a lower court rulng by annullng the judgment made n a prevous tral because there was a volaton of law or consttuton; 2) AFFIRM the hgher court by smply confrmng the decson of the lower court and no further acton s taken; or 3) REMAND back to lower court for further acton based on the judge s revew and advce. Sources: www.legalzoom.com, www.uscourts.gov, www.ltgaton.fndlaw.com Prayng Scrpture MEDITATE on the Scrpture verses below. Intercede for the judges who wll fll openngs lsted on the followng pages, as well as for our 9 Supreme Court justces: Clarence Thomas, John G. Roberts Jr., Samuel A. Alto Jr., Anthony Kennedy, Ruth Bader Gnsburg, Stephen G. Breyer, Sona Sotomayor, Elena Kagan, and Nel Gorsuch. 1 Tmothy 2:1-2: I urge, then, frst of all, that pettons, prayers, ntercesson and thanksgvng be made for all people for kngs and all those n authorty, that we may lve peaceful and quet lves n all godlness and holness. James 4:1-2: What causes fghts and quarrels among you? Don t they come from your desres that battle wthn you? You desre but do not have, so you kll. You covet but you cannot get what you want, so you quarrel and fght. You do not have because you do not ask God. Psalm 138:8: The Lord wll vndcate me; your love, Lord, endures forever do not abandon the works of your hands. Reflect on 2 Chroncles 20. Notce ths prayer n verse 12: Our God, wll you not judge them? For we have no power to face ths vast army that s attackng us. We do not know what to do, but our eyes are on you. Take heart at remnders found n ths verse: A) Do not be afrad nor dsmayed because of ths great multtude, for the battle s not yours, but God s; B) Prase the Lord, for Hs mercy endures forever; C) Beleve n the Lord your God and beleve Hs prophets; D) Do not fear or be dsmayed. INTERCESSORS FOR AMERICA www.ifapray.org 800-USA-PRAY (872-7729) E-mal: IFA@IFApray.org Page 3
The graphs on ths page reflect the current status of vacances n the federal judcary. Crcut Authorzed Populaton Percentage of Openngs Judges U.S. Populaton D.C. Crcut 11 601,723 0.19% 1 9th Crcut 29 61,742,908 19.74% 4 8th Crcut 11 20,568,237 6.58% 2 7th Crcut 11 25,001,420 7.99% 3 6th Crcut 16 32,105,616 10.26% 0 5th Crcut 17 32,646,230 10.44% 4 4th Crcut 15 29,788,417 9.52% 0 3rd Crcut 14 22,498,612 7.19% 3 2nd Crcut 13 23,577,940 7.54% 2 1st Crcut 6 13,970,816 4.47% 0 11th Crcut 12 33,268,699 10.64% 0 Federal Crcut 12 17,020,355 5.44% 0 Total 179 312,790,973 100% 19 Page 4 Court Authorzed Judgeshps Vacances Nomnees Pendng Nomnees Pendng Future Vacances U.S. Court of Appeals 179 18 8 2 U.S. Dstrct Courts (ncludes terrtores) U.S. Court of Internatonal Trade U.S. Court of Federal Clams Source: Ballotpeda.org 677 119 35 0 9 2 0 0 16 6 3 0 U.S. Supreme Court 9 0 0 0 Total 890 145 46 2 Source: USCourts.gov INTERCESSORS FOR AMERICA www.ifapray.org 800-USA-PRAY (872-7729) E-mal: IFA@IFApray.org
10 PRAYER POINTS FOR THE MASTERPIECE CAKE SHOP SUPREME COURT HEARING On December 5, 2017, the Supreme Court wll be hearng a crtcal relgous lberty case, nvolvng Jack Phllps and hs Masterpece Cake Shop. Jon us n prayng for a decson affrmng the freedom of belevers to refuse to volate sncerely held relgous belefs. The queston before the Supreme Court: Whether applyng Colorado's publc accommodatons law to compel Phllps to create expresson that volates hs sncerely held relgous belefs about marrage volates the Free Speech or Free Exercse Clauses of the Frst Amendment. Pray for bblcal values to preval n the decson. [Y]our kngdom come, your wll be done, on earth as t s n heaven. (Matthew 6:10) Pray for a clear, defntve rulng from the Court n favor of freedom to operate a busness wthn one s fath values. Intercede that the Court wll not permt the government to encroach on the belefs of Chrstans who lve out ther fath n the marketplace, such as florsts and bakers. In the same way, let your lght shne before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorfy your Father n heaven. (Matthew 5:16) Pray for vndcaton for Masterpece Cake Shop owner Jack Phllps by the Court. The name of the Lord s a fortfed tower; the rghteous run to t and are safe. (Proverbs 18:10) Pray that lost busness would be restored to Phllps. The Lord ther God wll care for them; he wll restore ther fortunes. (Zephanah 2:7b) Pray that relgon clauses n the Consttuton would contnue to protect relgous ndvduals from forced partcpaton n relgous events that volate ther relgous belefs. (Becket Fund for Relgous Lberty Amcus Bref) Do not move an ancent boundary stone set up by your ancestors. (Proverbs 22:28) Page 5
Pray for God to touch each Supreme Court Justce as they hear ths case. I urge, then, frst of all, that pettons, prayers, ntercesson and thanksgvng be made for all people for kngs and all those n authorty, that we may lve peaceful and quet lves n all godlness and holness. (1 Tmothy 2:1-2) (left) Jack Phllps of Masterpece Cake Shop Pray for a just dstncton between cvl rghts and declnng to partcpate n an event based on relgous values. Peter and the other apostles repled: We must obey God rather than human bengs!" (Acts 5:29) Pray for lawyers representng Masterpece Cake Shop to be clear and convncng n ther brefs and oral argument, persuadng the justces. The hearts of the wse make ther mouths prudent, and ther lps promote nstructon. (Proverbs 16:23) Pray for far and honest reportng by the meda on ths case. Pray that truth would be evdent. The one who gets wsdom loves lfe; the one who chershes understandng wll soon prosper. A false wtness wll not go unpunshed, and whoever pours out les wll persh. (Proverbs 19:8-9) Pray that God would be glorfed through ths Supreme Court hearng and rulng. I wll prase you, Lord my God, wth all my heart; I wll glorfy your name forever. (Psalm 86:12) "What s mportant s that I m beng obedent to Chrst. He s gven me ths busness and f he were here, he wouldn t make the cake. If he were my employee, I wouldn t force hm to make the cake and partcpate n t because t doesn t honor God." --Jack Phllps, owner Masterpece Cake Shop PO Box 915 Purcellvlle, VA 20134 (800) USA-PRAY (872-7729) IFApray.org