20.1 - The nature and role of the Supreme Court Flashcards

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1
Q

Chapter 20.1 - the nature and role of the Supreme Court

A

the nature and role of the supreme court

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2
Q

What did Congress pass in 1789 to create the US courts system?

A

The Federal Judiciary Act 1789

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3
Q

What was the initial makeup of the Supreme Court?

A
  • 1 chief justice
  • 5 associate justices
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4
Q

How many district courts are there in the US?

A

94

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5
Q

How many appellate/circuit courts are there in the US?

A

13

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6
Q

What is an appellate court?

A

A court of appeal

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7
Q

What is the Supreme Court’s power of ‘original jurisdiction’?

A

The right of the Supreme Court to be the first court to hear a case in certain circumstances, rather than need the case to be an appeal

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8
Q

How many original jurisdiction cases have there been since the creation of the Supreme Court?

A

Fewer than 200

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9
Q

What % of cases sent to the Supreme Court each year are heard?

A

Less than 1%

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10
Q

What did the Constitution aim to make the Supreme Court?

A

Independent

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11
Q

What is a Baron de Montesquieu quote about the Supreme Court being independent?

A

‘There is no liberty if the judiciary power be not separated from the legislative and executive’

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12
Q

What is a Truman quote about a president appointing Supreme Court justices and their independence?

A

‘Whenever you put a man on the Supreme Court, he ceases to be your friend’

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13
Q

When was the number of justices sat on the Supreme Court set at 9?

A

The Judiciary Act 1869

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14
Q

How does the Constitution protect the salary of Supreme Court justices?

A

It prevents the salary of justices being lowered during their term in office

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15
Q

When are vacancies on the Supreme Court available?

A

When a current justice dies, retires or is impeached

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16
Q

What Supreme Court justice retired in 2022 and was replaced by Ketanji Brown?

A

Stephen Breyer

17
Q

What Supreme Court justice died in 2020 and was replaced by Amy Coney Barrett?

A

Ruth Bader Ginsburg

18
Q

What Supreme Court justice retired in 2018 and was replaced by Brett Kavanaugh?

A

Anthony Kennedy

19
Q

What do justices have, which shows the independence of the Supreme Court?

A

They are appointed for life

20
Q

How does the appointment of justices protect the independence of the Supreme Court?

A

The Constitution requires the Senate to approve the presidential nomination to the Supreme Court, which prevents one branch from dominating the Supreme Court

21
Q

How does the separation of powers protect the Court’s independence?

A

It has the power of judicial review

22
Q

What association rates the suitability of each of the justices nominated?

A

The American Bar Association (ABA)

23
Q

What did the Supreme Court rule in regards to whether Trump’s ‘Muslim travel ban’ was constitutional or not in ‘Trump v Hawaii’ (2018)?

A

That the executive power of the president covered immigration matters and national security

24
Q

What decision did the Supreme Court overturn in June 2020 by the Trump administration?

A

The administration’s decision to eliminate DACA

25
Q

In what two 19th century Supreme Court cases was the power of judicial review established?

A
  • ‘Marbury v Madison’ - 1803
  • ‘Fletcher v Peck’ - 1810
26
Q

What did Chief Justice Charles Hughes Evans say in 1907?

A

‘We are under a Constitution, but the Constitution is what the judges say it is’

27
Q

What did the Supreme Court overturn in the 2016 case of ‘Texas v U.S.’?

A

Obama’s DAPA executive order

28
Q

What did the Supreme Court rule in the ‘United States v Windsor’ case of 2013?

A

That the 1996 Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) was unconstitutional

29
Q

In what case did the Supreme Court declare the 2006 Military Commissions Act unconstitutional?

A

‘Boumediene v Bush’ - 2008