Chapter 10

Question 1

law established by the bureaucracy on behalf of congress

Answer 1

Administrative law

Question 2

trial procedures designed to resolve conflicts through the clash of opposing sides, moderated by a neutral, passive judge who applies the law

Answer 2

Adversarial system

Question 3

“friend of the court” documents filed by interested parties to encourage the court to grant or deny certiorari or to urge it to decide a case in a particular way

Answer 3

Amicus curiea briefs

Question 4

a rehearing of a case because the losing party in the original trial argues that a law was not applied properly

Answer 4

Appeal

Question 5

the authority of a court to review decisions made by lower courts

Answer 5

Appellate jurisdiction

Question 6

a legal system based on a detailed comprehensive legal code, usually created by the legislature

Answer 6

Civil law tradition

Question 7

laws regulating interactions between individuals; violation of a civil law is called tort

Answer 7

Civil laws

Question 8

a legal system based on the accumulated rulings of judges over time, applied uniformly judge made law

Answer 8

Common law traditions

Question 9

documents written by justices expressing agreement with the majority ruling but describing different or additional reasons for the ruling

Answer 9

Concurring opinions

Question 10

law stated in the constitution or in the body of judicial decisions about the meaning of the constitution handed down in the court

Answer 10

Constitutional law

Question 11

institutions that sit as neutral third parties to resolve conflicts according to the law

Answer 11

Courts

Question 12

laws prohibiting behavior the government has determined to be harmful to society; violation of a criminal law is called a crime

Answer 12

Criminal laws

Question 13

documents written by justices expressing disagreement with the majority ruling

Answer 13

Dissenting opinions

Question 14

trial procedures designed to determine the truth though the intervention of an active judge who seeks evidence and questions witnesses

Answer 14

inquisitorial systems

Question 15

view that the courts should be lawmaking, policy making bodies

Answer 15

judicial activism

Question 16

a judicial approach holding that the constitution is a living document and that judges should interpret it according to changing times and values

Answer 16

judicial interpretivism

Question 17

view that the courts should reject any active lawmaking functions and stick to judicial interpretations of the past

Answer 17

judicial restraint

Question 18

power of the supreme court to rule on the constitutionality of laws

Answer 18

judicial review

Question 19

a court’s authority to hear certain cases

Answer 19

jurisdiction

Question 20

applied the principle of judicial review - the power of federal courts to void acts of congress in conflict with the constitution. decision played a key role in making the supreme court a separate branch of government on par with congress and the executive.

Answer 20

Marbury v. Madison

Question 21

the written decision of the court that states the judgment of the majority

Answer 21

Opinion

Question 22

the authority of a court to hear a case first

Answer 22

Original jurisdiction

Question 23

a previous decision or ruling that, in common law tradition, is binding on subsequent decisions

Answer 23

Precedent

Question 24

procedural laws that protect the rights of individuals who must deal with the legal system

Answer 24

Procedural due process

Question 25

laws that establish how laws are applied and enforced how legal proceedings take place

Answer 25

procedural laws

Question 26

the unwritten requirement that four supreme court justices must agree to grant a case certiorari in order for the case to be heard

Answer 26

rule of four

Question 27

tradition of granting senior senators of the president’s party considerable power over federal judicial appointments in their home states

Answer 27

senatorial courtesy

Question 28

justice department office who argues the government’s case before the supreme court

Answer 28

solicitor general

Question 29

laws passed by a state or the federal legislature

Answer 29

statutory laws

Question 30

a judicial approach holding that the constitution should be read literally, with the framer’s intentions uppermost in mind

Answer 30

strict constructionism

Question 31

laws whose content, or substance, defines what we can or cannot do

Answer 31

substantive laws

Question 32

formal requests by the US supreme court to call up the lower court case it decides to hear on appeal

Answer 32

writs of certiorari