The "Judiciary" (also known as the judicial system) is the system of courts that interprets and applies the law in the name of the state. The judiciary also provides a mechanism for the resolution of disputes. Under the doctrine of the separation of powers, the judiciary generally does not make law (that is, in a plenary fashion, which is the responsibility of the legislature) or enforce law (which is the responsibility of the executive), but rather interprets law and applies it to the facts of each case. This branch of the state is often tasked with ensuring equal justice under law. It usually consists of a court of final appeal (called the "Supreme court" or "Constitutional court"), together with lower courts.

In many jurisdictions the judicial branch has the power to change laws through the process of judicial review. Courts with judicial review power may annul the laws and rules of the state when it finds them incompatible with a higher norm, such as primary legislation, the provisions of the constitution or international law. Judges constitute a critical force for interpretation and implementation of a constitution, thus de facto in common law countries creating the body of constitutional law.

Steven Arnold "Steve" King (born May 28, 1949) is the U.S. Representative for Iowa's 5th congressional district, serving since 2003. He is a member of the Republican Party.

The district is located in the western part of the state and includes Sioux City and Council Bluffs.

King was born on May 28, 1949 in Storm Lake, Iowa. The son of Emmett King, a state police dispatcher, and Mildred King, a homemaker, King graduated in 1967 from Denison Community High School. He attended Northwest Missouri State University from 1967 to 1970, taking courses toward becoming a wildlife officer. He does not have a college degree. In 1975, he founded King Construction, an earth moving company. King founded the Kiron Business Association in the 1980s. His involvement with the Iowa Land Improvement Contractors' Association led to regional and national offices in that organization and a growing interest in public policy.

From 1996 to 2002, King served as an Iowa State Senator, representing the 6th district. King worked as the Chairman of the State Government Committee and Vice Chairman of the Oversight Budget Committee. He was a part of the Appropriations Committee, Judiciary Committee, Business and Labor Committee, and the Commerce Committee. He assisted in eliminating the inheritance tax, enforcing workplace drug testing, strengthening parental rights, passing tax cuts for working residents of Iowa, and passing a law that made English the official language in Iowa.

Rafael Edward Cruz, known as Ted Cruz (born December 22, 1970), is the former Solicitor General of the U.S. state of Texas, a position which he held from 2003 to May 2008. Cruz was appointed by Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott. He was the first Hispanic Solicitor General in Texas, the youngest Solicitor General in the United States, and had the longest tenure in the post thus far in Texas history. He is currently a partner at the law firm Morgan, Lewis & Bockius, where he leads the firm’s U.S. Supreme Court and national appellate litigation practice.

Cruz is a candidate for the 2012 Republican nomination for the United States Senate seat being vacated by Kay Bailey Hutchison.

Cruz previously served as the director of the Office of Policy Planning at the Federal Trade Commission, an Associate Deputy Attorney General at the United States Department of Justice, and as Domestic Policy Advisor to U.S. President George W. Bush on the 2000 Bush-Cheney campaign. In addition, from 2004-2009 Cruz was an Adjunct Professor of Law at the University of Texas School of Law in Austin, where he taught U.S. Supreme Court litigation.

Robert William "Bob" Goodlatte ( /ˈɡʊdlæt/; born September 22, 1952) is the U.S. Representative for Virginia's 6th congressional district, serving since 1993. He is a member of the Republican Party. The district is based in Roanoke and also includes Lynchburg, Harrisonburg and Staunton.

Born in Holyoke, Massachusetts, Goodlatte received a B.A. in political science from Bates College in Lewiston, Maine in 1974. He also holds a Juris Doctor from Washington and Lee University School of Law in Lexington, Virginia, which he earned in 1977. Goodlatte was an attorney in private practice in his early professional career before becoming a staff aide for 6th District U.S. Congressman M. Caldwell Butler from 1977 to 1979.

Bob Goodlatte received the Republican nomination at the Republican District convention after Democrat Jim Olin, opted not to run for reelection in 1992. In the 1992 November general election, Goodlatte defeated Democrat Stephen Musselwhite, who had defeated Olin's preferred choice at the district Democratic convention, with 60% of the vote. Goodlatte has been reelected ten times, often running unopposed by Democratic challengers. He has never faced a Republican primary challenge. His most substantive opposition was in 1996, with Democrat Jeff Grey, and again in 1998, with Democratic Roanoke mayor David Bowers who challenged him. In an overwhelmingly conservative district, Goodlatte turned back these challenges, with 67% and 69% of the vote, respectively. In 2008, he was challenged by Democrat Sam Rasoul of Roanoke. This time, Goodlatte garnered 62% of the vote.