Article 3- Federal Judiciary Flashcards
What court is not made by Congress?
The Supreme Court
What does article 3 talk about?
It talks about only one court, and that is the Supreme Court. It says there will be a Supreme Court and any inferior courts Congress creates
What are courts called officially?
Constitutional courts, because they are expressed in the Constitution
How many levels of courts are there?
Three
What are the three levels of courts?
The district court is at the bottom and there are 91 of them, appeals court is in the middle, America 12, and the Supreme Court which is the top at a federal level
How long are judges appointed for?
Term life
Can judges be impeached?
Yes
How many Supreme Court judges have been impeached?
Only one
What are courts created by legislators called?
Legislative courts
What are some examples of legislative courts?
US tax courts, and military appeals
Does the military apply to the federal justice system?
No, they have their own military justice system
How are judges selected?
They are appointed, not elected
Can judges be fired?
Yes
Do judges have tenure?
No, They do not have a set length of time that they can be in office
What contains all of the government jobs?
The Plum book
What are the jurisdictions of courts?
Anything under the Constitution, treaties or statutes,
all cases of Admiralty and Maritime,
all cases affecting diplomats,
any controversy in which the US is a party,
a controversy between two states,
a citizen of one State versus a citizen of another,
Citizen of State versus that state,
a US citizen versus an International state or citizen
What is original jurisdiction?
It is a keep that originates in the states, it originates in the district courts or trial court
What is appellate jurisdiction?
Case can only reach the appeals court through the lower levels
How many judges can the District Court have?
One or three
Can a district court or appellate court have an even number of judges?
No, they must always be odd number of judges
What is the court of last appeal?
The Supreme Court
How many justices does the Supreme Court have?
Nine, there Are 8 Justices and one Chief Justice. They are bound by law, And Congress can change the number of justices by changing the law
What do the trial courts do?
They hear facts and make decisions
What Is another name for the trial court?
A court of fact
What is the judiciary system?
An adversarial system. There is a winner and loser, it is a zero-sum game
When there’s more than one judge, or three judges sitting together what is it called?
En banc
What does en banc mean?
On bench
Can jurisdictions be changed by law?
No they can only be changed by constitutional amendments
Who are the players in the case? E.g. the plaintiff and the defendant
The litigants
Who is the head of the Justice Department in the executive branch?
Atty. Gen.
Who is the nations top lawyer? They argue for the United States
The solicitor Gen.
Who is the prosecutor for the Justice Department?
The US attorney
What do litigants have if they have injury?
Standing
When do you not have standing?
When you do not have an injury
When can you not sue someone?
If you don’t have standing, or the case cannot be decided
What do you have if you have injury or suffered a loss?
Standing to sue
What kind of law covers disputes between people?
Civil law
What kind of law covers crimes against society?
Criminal law
What is it called if a decision can be reached by legal means?
Justicable
What is latin for friend of the court?
Amicus curiae
When does Amicus curiae come into play?
When a brief is filed against a case in which you have no standing, but you have an opinion
Name the sources of law
The Constitution, statutes legislators make, administrative rules and regulations, common-law, equity law, and international law
What is A written statement or opinion?
A brief
what is it called when you claim injury as a group?
Class action suit
What is the dual system?
Civilians are under and subject to the federal law and state and local law
What is the law that doesn’t have the same civilian rights as the rest of the United States?
Military law
Who doesn’t hear every case, and wants broad solutions?
Appeals court in states
What must one have to bypass appeals to get straight to the Supreme Court?
Fundamental federal question
Who goes through cases preliminarily?
Law clerks
What is it called when four justices have to want the case in order to read it?
Rule of four
What is Latin for “to make certain”?
Writ of certiorari
What transfers a case?
Writ of certiorari
When is the court in session?
October to June
Who assigned cases to Justices? And has their own opinions?
Chief Justice
What happens when the when the court is in session?
The Chief Justice assigned cases to other justices, he has his own opinions on the cases, justices make notes on this cases, the neighborhood. the law clerks gather info about the cases
What happens before the court votes on a case?
They read the written briefs, they hear oral arguments they vote right their own opinions issued the opinions on opinion day
When is opinion day and what is it?
Every Monday between October and June and the justices is she their opinions on a case
What happens after voting?
The Supreme Court issues opinions and they do not have to give a written one
What is Latin for results without reason?
Per curium
What are the four opinions the Supreme Court can issue?
Majority, unanimous, concurring and dissenting
What is majority opinion?
For the majority agrees with the results but for different reasons. It can go 5-4, 6-3, 7-2, 8-1. Similar to concurring opinion
What is a unanimous opinion?
All justices agree with the same reasons, and there’s only one type of legal reasoning
What is a dissenting opinion?
They disagree and this is why I may explain why. It is minority opinion
What happens when a case is sent back down with or without reason?
It has been Remanded
What is a reason for a court not to take a case?
Political question
What is it called when the Supreme Court wants Congress to fix a problem? Or the legislators can correct it
Political question
What is it called when the court does something Congress can do?
Legislating from the bench
How is the court divided?
Four are restraints, four are activists, one guy has a swing vote
What are the views of judicial activism?
That the Constitution should be reinterpreted by current standards. They enjoy landmark decisions
What are the views of judicial restraint?
Believe in interpreting the Constitution by its original intent. Believe in stare decisis and following precedents
What is it called when the constitution is interpreted by what is meant when it was written?
Original intent
What is Latin for let the decision go?
Stare decisis
What are politics involved in?
Everything
What changes a laws direction?
Landmark decision
What is the Arizona immigration policy?
Arizona police can stop car if it looks like an illegal alien
Can cases be brought from State Supreme Court federal Supreme Court?
Yes
What is a metaphor for checking someone’s ideology?
Litmus test
What is a list of the order in which court takes up cases?
Docket
What is adversarial system?
One person wins, one person loses
What percent of cases to the Supreme Court reject?
90%
What percent of arrests are plea deals?
95%
one is subject to both federal and state jurisdiction?
Dual jurisdiction
What is it when two jurisdictions overlap?
Concurrent jurisdiction
What is the law of the high seas?
Admiralty
What are the courts created an article 3
Constitutional courts
What is the custom presidents observed before appointing a judge?
Senatorial courtesy
What is the swing vote?
A tiebreaker
What court hears evidence investigates and decides if one is guilty or innocent
The court of fact in the district courts
What law prevents injury (something that hasn’t happened yet)?
Equity law
What is the law of the land?
Constitution
What is the law of the state
Common law
What federal court has appellate and original jurisdiction?
The Supreme Court
What is it called when one needs for votes to accept the case?
Rule of four
What is a legal written or oral argument?
Brief
