Supreme Decider
| Supreme Decider of the United States of Quentin | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
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| Motto: Law Over Politics | |||||
| Incumbent | |||||
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| Incumbent | Sue Jevic | ||||
| Appointed | October 6th, 2017 President Kyle Lovestington | ||||
| Prior Experience | Associate Decider Third Federal Snowland District Court | ||||
| Formalities | |||||
| Titles | Madame Supreme Decider (Informal) Your Honor (In Court) | ||||
| Status | Chief Justice | ||||
| Directs | Supreme Council Federal Impeachment Committee | ||||
| History | |||||
| Created: | June, 1834 | ||||
| First Holder Takes Office: | February 18th, 1834 Sophie Verrecchia | ||||
| Political Information | |||||
| Seat | Verrecchia Building Mechanicsburg, GA | ||||
| Residency | 1 Downing Circuit | ||||
| Appointment Process | Appointed by President, with approval by House of Bureaucrats | ||||
| Tenure | Life | ||||
| Constituting Document | United States of Quentin Constitution | ||||
| Miscellaneous | |||||
| Salary | Ð20,000 ($200,000) | ||||
The Supreme Decider of the United States of Quentin is the chief decider, or judge, of the United States of Quentin Supreme Council, and is also the highest-ranking judge in the entire Quentinian federal judiciary. The Supreme Council and the concept of deciders was first mentioned by the Constitution, in Article IV, however the position of Supreme Decider was never mentioned. After ratification, Sophie Verrecchia was the first decider appointed, and Congressional approval of the choice was high. In June of 1834, Verrecchia decided upon creating a Supreme Council Procedural Document, similar to that of Congress, and soon decided there was a need for a higher position, creating the position of Supreme Decider with Congress' approval.
The Supreme Decider has many additional roles and responsibilities separate from those of the associate deciders, including but not limited to leading the Council in decisions on judicial reviews and the outcome of cases, presiding over impeachment trials of the President and GTNEC, reviewing any and all death penalty cases, and writing the opinion of the Council when the Supreme Decider is in the majority for a case. Despite all these, however, the Supreme Decider does not have extra voting power on the Council. Currently the Supreme Decider is Sue Jevic, who has served in that capacity since 2017, although she has been on the Council since 1995. The first Supreme Decider was Sophie Verrecchia, who served for a record of 42 years.
Contents
History
Appointment and Requirements
The Supreme Decider is, like all other Supreme Council deciders, appointed to the position by the President, who must submit the proposal to the House of Bureaucrats for their approval after making the choice. Unlike in the supreme courts of other countries, there has been an established precedent to choose the Supreme Decider from among the existing deciders on the Council, although this has never been mandated by law. Sophie Verrecchia was the first Supreme Decider, and thus no Council existed from which to pick a Supreme Decider. So, President Olivia Ehresman was the first to select a Supreme Decider in 1876, after the long-serving Verrecchia had died. Ehresman chose Medha Gredy, who had been appointed to the Council in 1851, because she believed experience was an important factor, and thus the tradition was established. This also means when the President appoints a Supreme Decider, they must also appoint a new Associate Decider to fill the place of the Supreme Decider candidate. The only exception to this rule was in 2001, when Matthew Bourne was appointed to the position by President Blaze Peters. Bourne had served on the Federal Appeals Court of the Grassland Area as Chief Justice, however had never been appointed to the Council. His approval by the House was much closer than any decider ever, with a 58-52 vote.
Requirements for the position of Supreme Decider are exactly the same as the requirements for the other positions on the Council. They must be at least 30 years of age, must have been a citizen of the USQ for their entire lives, and have passed the Quentinian Federal Justice Examination, a basic test all federal lawyers and judicial officials must take to understand federal law. The Supreme Decider's salary is set by the Quentinian Economic Council when they create the yearly budget, and currently the Supreme Decider's salary is $200,000. This amount is $10,000 more than the pay of the Associate Deciders.
Disability or Vacancy
When the office of Supreme Decider is vacant because of a death, resignation, removal, or temporary disability, the Supreme Decider position is temporarily filled by the senior-most Associate Decider. Currently, that position would fall to Associate Decider Kelsey Kinnings, who was been the senior-most decider since 2018.
Powers and Responsibilities
Along with the general responsibilities of judicial review, review of executions, and case appeals that the position on the Supreme Council entails, the Supreme Decider must take on numerous other tasks, including the following.
Impeachment Trials
Under the 2nd Amendment to the Constitution, the Supreme Decider presides over all impeachment trials of the executive branch, including those of the President and GTNEC. Only once in history has a Supreme Decider had to perform this function, during the presidency of Jackson Shield, who was impeached by the House in 1923.
Functions of the Council
In the Supreme Council, there are levels of seniority for each decider which allows them to speak at certain times and have advantages over the other deciders in terms of completing business. By the order of the Supreme Council Procedural Document, the Supreme Decider has seniority over all other deciders, regardless of whether they have been on the Council longer than the rest. In this role, the Supreme Decider has first priority on questioning, in matters of speaking, and in matters of bringing cases to the Council.
Besides seniority, the Supreme Decider also leads the Council in its agenda making and process of justice. This includes deciding which decider's proposals of appeal come up first at weekly meetings, deciding whether a judicial review is needed for acts passed by the rest of the government or whether they do not need a full meeting, and deciding when trials and reviews take place. In this role, the Supreme Decider can have a large influence on the outcome of these petitions and reviews, as the Council might take a case for review and then not have room for another case which is of less importance. They can also influence the understanding of proceedings by the Council by directing the conversation after different trials and reviews to other places which reinforce their position.
Another power of the Supreme Decider within the functions of the Council is their ability to decide who writes the opinion for the Council on certain cases. This is only when the Supreme Decider is in the majority opinion, however, and they cannot decide who writes the minority opinion. Vice versa also applies if the Supreme Decider is in the minority. Regardless, the Supreme Decider has large influence on how the public and legal precedent sees a case when they choose who writes the opinion, as more radical deciders could be less diplomatic in their writing than a more moderate decider. For her entire tenure as Supreme Decider, Sophie Verrecchia wrote the opinion for her opinion on the Council in every single case and judicial review. No Supreme Decider since has followed this example, however, and usually the Supreme Decider delegates the least important cases to others on the Council.
Oath of Office
The Supreme Decider, as a tradition, has administered the oath of office for the President, GTNEC, and new members of the Supreme Council. This responsibility is not required by law, with the official taking the oath in the presence of a judicial official being the only thing required by law. However, tradition has dictated the Supreme Decider be the one to administer the oath for the President, GTNEC, and new members of the Supreme Council. The Supreme Decider does not administer the oath for members of Congress, mainly because Congresspeople take a mass oath, which places less importance on the individual official. If the Supreme Decider cannot administer the oath, traditionally the most-senior associate will administer it.
Only in the case of the death or incapacitation of a President or GTNEC while in office has someone other than the Supreme Decider administered the oath. This has been due to the urgency of the situation, as the position of President or GTNEC requires an official to fill it at all times to protect the viability of the government. The oath of President Arthur Chikes was administered by a justice of the Federal Appeals Court of the Capital, Andrew Popal, in 1894 after the death of Steve Caillons. President Hayden Dehoff's oath was reportedly administered by his longtime girlfriend, Morgan Gase, at 777 Cupboard Place after the sudden assassination of Jackson Shield. Gase had passed the federal law examination, and was a clerk at the First Federal Grassland District Court. The oath was contested by many members of the Mild RePublican Party, however the Supreme Council ruled in Crutch v. Dehoff that the oath was valid, as Gase testified under oath that she had given the oath to Dehoff. Another instance of the Supreme Decider not giving the oath was in 1983, when at the Megatridimensional Economic Summit an attack by the Ascendancy left GTNEC Steve Boissont temporarily incapacitated. At that moment, Secretary of Defense Frasier Crane was temporarily sworn in as GTNEC by justice of the Federal Appeals Court of the Capital, Sheev Patine.
List of Supreme Deciders
The following is a list of all USQ Supreme Deciders. In italics are those who were removed from office.
Number Name Date Confirmed (Vote) Tenure as Supreme Decider Total Tenure on Council Appointed By Home State 1 Sophie Verrecchia February 18th, 1834 (25-0) 1834-1876 (42 years) 1834-1876 (42 years) George Firedawn Grassland Area 2 Medha Gredy October 17th, 1876 (39-14) 1876-1896 (20 years) 1851-1896 (45 years) Olivia Ehresman Tantallegara 3 Nathaniel Bryarpache June 12th, 1896 (67-3) 1896-1910 (14 years) 1889-1910 (21 years) Cheryl Gruver Desert Area 4 Ryan Styles February 1st, 1910 (51-19) 1910-1927 (17 years) 1905-1927 (22 years) Steve Reywalker Maxx Area 5 Aditi Sanghvi June 6th, 1927 (93-12) 1927-1944 (17 years) 1924-1944 (20 years) Adithan Kumar Kumar Area 6 Ragy Ebeid May 21st, 1944 (101-6) 1944-1968 (24 years) 1927-1968 (41 years) Ali Shamji Chip Area 7 Nancy Krentz August 25th, 1968 (64-46) 1968-1984 (16 years) 1953-1984 (31 years) Jamie Petruzelli Desert Area 8 Jacob Miller August 11th, 1984 (79-31) 1984-2001 (17 years) 1975-2001 (26 years) David Wagner Grassland Area 9 Matthew Bourne February 26th, 2001 (58-52) 2001-2017 (16 years) 2001-2017 (16 years) Blaze Peters Grassland Area 10 Sue Jevic October 6th, 2017 (83-27) 2017-Present (Incumbent) 1995-Present (Incumbent) Kyle Lovestington Desert Area
