Ch 14 Vocabulary Flashcards
Jurisdiction (of a court)
A given court’s authority to hear cases of a particular kind. Jurisdiction may be orignal or appellate.
Original Jurisdiction
The authority of a given court to be the first court to hear a case.
Appellate Jurisdiction
The authority of a given court to review cases that have already been tried in lower courts and are appealed to it by the losing party; such a court is called an appeals court or appellate court.
Judicial Review
The power of courts to decide whether a governmental institution has acted within its constitutional powers and, if not, to declare its action null and void.
Write of Certiorari
Permission granted by a higher court to allow a losing party in a legal case to bring the case before it for a ruling; when such a writ is requested of the U.S. Supreme Court, four of the Court’s nine justices must agree to accept the case before it is granted certiorari.
Precedent
A judicial decision that serves as a rule for settling subsequent cases of a similar nature.
Brief
A written statement by a party in a court case that details its argument.
Judicial Conference
A closed meeting of the justices of the U.S. Supreme Court to discuss and vote on the case before them; the justices are not supposed to discuss conference proceedings with outsiders.
Decision
A vote of the Supreme Court in a particular case that indicates which party the justices side with and by how large a margin.
Opinion (of a court)
A court’s written explanation of its decision, which serves to inform others of the legal basis for the decision. Supreme Court opinions are expected to guide the decisions of lower courts.
Majority Opinion
A court opinion that results when a majority of the justices are in agreement on the legal basis of the decision.
Plurality Opinion
A court opinion that results when a majority of justices agree on a decision in a case but do not agree on the legal basis for the decision. In this instance, the legal position held by most of the justices on the winning side is called a plurality opinion.
Concurring Opinion
A separate opinion written by one or more Supreme Court justices who vote with the majority in the decision on a case but who disagree with its reasoning.
Dissenting Opinion
The opinion of a justice in a Supreme Court case that explains his or her reasons for disagreeing with the majority’s decision.
Senatorial Courtesy
The tradition that a U.S. senator from the state in which a federal judicial vacancy has arisen should have a say in the president’s nomination of the new judge if the senator is of the same party as the president.
