BEATRIZSANTILLANES | CHAPTER 9 Flashcards
CHAPTER 9 VOCABULARY
LAME DUCK
D: An executive or legislature during the period just before the end of a term of office, when its power and influence are considered to be diminished.
S: The president nominated a lame duck to head commision.
JURISDICTION
D: Authority vested in a particular court to hear and decide the issues in a particular case.
S: Since the crime took place in China, the Chinese government has jurisdiction of the case.
ORIGINAL JURISDICTION
D: The jurisdiction of courts that hear a case first, usually in a trial. These courts determine the facts of a case.
S: The court has original jurisdiction over a small number of cases.
APPELLATE JURISDICTION
D: The power vested in particular courts to review and/or revise the decision of a lower court.
S: Congress may limit the appellate jurisdiction of the Supreme Court even in constitutional cases.
FEDERALIST NO. 78
D: A Federalist Papers essay authored by Alexander Hamilton that covers the role of the federal judiciary, including the power of judicial review.
S: In the Federalist No. 78 Alexander Hamilton said that the Judiciary branch was the weakest branch.
JUDICIARY ACT OF 1789
D: Legislative act that established the basic three-tiered structure of the federal court system.
S: With the Judiciary Act of 1789, the Supreme Court was established with six members.
JOHN JAY
D: A member of the Founding generation who was the first Chief Justice of the United States. A diplomat and a co-author of The Federalist Papers.
S: John Jay was a founding one of the founding fathers.
WHISKEY REBELLION
D: A civil insurrection in 1974 that was put down by military force by President George Washington, thereby confirming the power of the new national government.
S: He had fought in the Whiskey Rebellion in Pennsylvania and then entered the army.
CHISHOLM V. GEORGIA (1793)
D: A Supreme Court case that allowed U.S. citizens to bring a lawsuit against states in which they did not reside; overturned by the Eleventh Amendment in 1789.
S: The Chisholm v. Georgia was a 4 to 1 decision.
ELEVENTH AMENDMENT
D: An amendment adopted in 1789 protecting states from being sued in federal court by a citizen of a different state or country.
S: The eleventh amendment serves as a protection for the states.
JOHN MARSHALL
D: The longest-serving Supreme Court chief justice, Marshall served from 1801 to 1835. Marshall’s decision in Marbury v. Madison (1803) established the principle of judicial review in the United States.
S: John Marshall is a major aspect of the United States history.
JUDICIAL REVIEW
D: Power of the courts to review acts of other branches of government and the states.
S: During the judicial review, former cases were cited to help the judge make a decision.
MARBURY V. MADISON (1803)
D: Case in which the Supreme Court first asserted the power of judicial review by finding that part of the congressional statute extending the Court’s original jurisdiction was unconstitutional.
S: A writ of mandamus was written in the Marbury v. Madison case.
TRIAL COURT
D: Court of original jurisdiction where cases begin.
S: I cannot accept the reasoning that led the trial court to its decision.
APPELLATE COURT
D: Court that generally reviews only findings of law made by lower courts.
S: The appellate court affirmed the judgement of the lower court.
CONSTITUTIONAL (OR ARTICLE III) COURTS
D: Federal courts specifically created by the U.S. Constitution or by Congress pursuant to its authority in Article III.
S: Constitutional courts were created by the Judiciary Act of 1789.
LEGISLATIVE COURTS
D: Courts established by Congress for specialized purposes, such as the Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims.
S: Examples of legislative courts are the Court of Claims and U.S. Tax Court.
BRIEF
D: A document containing the legal written arguments in a case filed with a court by a party prior to a hearing or trial.
S: He discovered that the agreement, far from being in accordance with the papal Brief, was in direct opposition to it.
PRECEDENT
D: A prior judicial decision that serves as a rule for settling subsequent cases of a similar nature.
S: The description is so redolent of history as to be a constitutional precedent in itself.
STARE DECISIS
D: In court rulings, a reliance on past decisions or precedents to formulate decisions in new cases.
S: But the Democrats’ loyalty to the principle of stare decisis is highly selective.
SENATORIAL COURTESY
D: A process by which presidents generally allow senators from the state in which a judicial vacancy occurs to block a nomination by simply registering their objections.
S: The truth is, that on this occasion, had senatorial courtesy been on the job, it would have worked for a final vote.
SANDRA DAY O’CONNOR
D: An Associate Justice of the Supreme Court from 1981-2005 who was appointed by President Ronald REagan as the first woman to serve on the Court.
S: Sandra Day O’Connor being the first woman to serve on the Court is a powerful move.
ELENA KAGAN
D: An Associate Justice of the Supreme Courts, appointed by President Barack Obama in 2009 while she was serving as solicitor general in his administration.
S: On this matter of marriage existing for the purpose of procreation, Elena Kagan delivered the question of the day.
WRIT OF CERTIORARI
D: A request for the Supreme Court to order up the records from a lower court to review the case.
S: They want the Supreme Court to overturn the decision and have submitted a petition for a writ of certiorari.
RULE OF FOUR
D: At least four justices of the Supreme Court must vote to consider a case before it can be heard.
S: Under the rule of four, the petition for a writ of certiorari will be granted.
SOLICITOR GENERAL
D: The fourth-ranking member of the Department of Justice; responsible for handling nearly all appeals on behalf of the U.S. government to the Supreme Court.
S: After more objections from the Attorney-General and Solicitor General, the Court held the witness’s testimony inadmissible.
AMICUS CURIAE
D: “Friend of the court”; amici may file briefs or even appear to argue their interests orally before the court.
S: Appellate courts may also grant permission for an amicus curiae to submit a brief in support of a particular party or position.
PLURALITY OPINION
D: A type of judicial opinion, the reasoning of which is agreed to by fewer than a majority of judges on a court; although it resolves the particular case, the opinion does not establish a binding precedent.
S: This was a plurality opinion, but on this point she commanded a majority of votes on the court.
CONCURRING OPINION
D: A type of judicial opinion issued by a minority of judges on a court who agree with the outcome of a case, but wishes to express different legal reasoning.
S: It is interesting to note that a concurring opinion was filed.
DISSENTING OPINION
D: A type of judicial opinion issued by a minority of judges on a court who disagree with the outcome of a case and wish to explain their legal reasoning.
S: While only the majority opinion is considered precedential, an outvoted judge can still publish a dissenting opinion.
JUDICIAL RESTRAINT
D: A philosophy of judicial decision making that posits courts should allow the decisions of other branches of government to stand, even when they offend a judge’s own purposes.
S: Courts following these guidelines exercise judicial restraint.
JUDICIAL ACTIVISM
D: A philosophy of judicial decisions making that posits judges should use their power broadly to further justice.
S: These statutory changes took place in a period of judicial activism in this area which had relaxed the law.
STRICT CONSTRUCTIONIST
D: An approach to constitutional interpretation that emphasizes interpreting the Constitution as it was originally written and intended by the Framers.
S: The City has used strict constructionist criteria in deciding which large projects were included in analysis of reasonably projects.
JUDICIAL IMPLEMENTATION
D: How and whether judicial decisions are translated into actual public policies affecting more than the immediate parties to a lawsuit.
S: The controversy between judicial activism and judicial restraint is still heavily debated.
