Chapter 15: The Judiciary Flashcards
adversarial judicial system
A judicial system in which two parties in a legal dispute each present its case and the court must determine which side wins the dispute and which loses.
amicus curiae brief
A legal brief, filed by an individual or a group that is not a party in the case; it is written to influence the Court’s decision.
article I courts
Courts created by Congress under constitutional authority provided in Article I that help administer and resolve conflicts over specific federal legislation.
appellate jurisdiction
Judicial authority to review the interpretation and application of the law in previous decisions reached by another court in a case.
associate justice
Title of the eight Supreme Court justices who are not the chief justice.
attitudinal model
Judicial decision-making model that claims judicial decision making is guided by policy and ideological preferences of individual judges.
bench memo
Written by a justice’s law clerk, a summary of the case, outlining relevant facts and issues presented in the case documents and briefs, that may also suggest questions to be asked during oral arguments.
bench trial
A trial in which the judge who presides over the trial decides on guilt or liability.
beyond a reasonable doubt
The standard of proof the government must meet in criminal cases; the government must convince the judge or the jury that there is no reasonable doubt that the defendant committed the crime.
cert memo
Description of the facts of a case filed with the Court, the pertinent legal arguments, and a recommendation as to whether the case should be taken, written by one of the justices’ law clerks and reviewed by all justices participating in the pool process.
certiorari petition
A petition submitted to the Supreme Court requesting review of a case already decided.
chief justice
The leading justice on the Supreme Court, who provides both organizational and intellectual leadership.
civil law
The body of law dealing with disputes between individuals, between an individual and corporations, between corporations, and between individuals and their governments over harms caused by a party’s actions or inactions.
collegial court
A court made up of a group of judges who must evaluate a case together and decide on the outcome; compromise and negotiation take place as members try to build a majority coalition.
common law
Judge-made law grounded in tradition and previous judicial decisions, instead of in written law.
concurring opinion
A judicial opinion agreeing with how the majority decides the case but disagreeing with at least some of the legal interpretations or conclusions reached by the majority.
constitutional law
The body of law that comes out of the courts in cases involving the interpretation of the Constitution.
courts of apeal
Courts with authority to review cases heard by other courts to correct errors in the interpretation or application of law.
court of last resort
The highest court in a court system.
criminal law
The body of law dealing with conduct so harmful to society as a whole that it is prohibited by statute, and is prosecuted and punished by the government.
descriptive representation
The attempt to ensure that governing bodies include representatives of major demographic groups—such as women, African Americans, Latinas, Jews, and Catholics—in proportions similar to their representation in the population at large.
