Chapter 4: The Court System and the Role of Judges Flashcards
Court
A unit of the judicial branch of government that has authority to decide legal disputes.
Jurisdiction
The power of a court to hear a case.
Trial courts
Courts that determine the facts and apply the law to the facts.
Original jurisdiction
The authority of a court to hear a case when it is initiated, as opposed to appellate jurisdiction.
Bench trial
A trial conducted without a jury.
Appellate courts
Courts that determine whether lower courts have made errors of law.
Appellant or petitioner
The party in a case who has initiated an appeal.
Appellee or respondent
The party in a case against whom an appeal has been filed.
Harmless error
A trial court error that is not sufficient to warrant reversing the decision.
Reverse
A decision is reversed when an appellate court disagrees with the decision of a lower court.
Remand
When an appellate court sends a case back to the trial court for a new trial or other action.
Majority opinion
An opinion in which a majority of the court joins.
Concurring opinion
An opinion that agrees with the majority’s result but disagrees with its reasoning.
Dissenting opinion
An opinion that disagrees with the majority’s decision and its reasoning.
Questions of fact
Questions relating to what happened: who, what, when, where, and how.
Questions of law
Questions relating to the interpretation or application of the law.
Entrapment
A defense requiring proof that the defendant would not have committed the crime but for police trickery.
Constitutional court
A court established by Article III of the U.S. Constitution.
U.S. district courts
The general jurisdiction trial courts in the federal system.
U.S. courts of appeals
The intermediate appellate courts in the federal system.
U.S. Supreme Court
The highest level federal appellate court, consisting of nine appointed members.
General jurisdiction
A court’s power to hear any type of case arising within its geographical area.
Limited jurisdiction
A court’s power to hear only specialized cases.
Subpoena
A court order requiring a person to appear to testify at a trial or deposititon.
En banc
When an appellate court that normally sits in panels sits as a whole.
Writ of certiorari
A means of gaining appellate review; in the U.S. Supreme Court the writ is discretionary and will be issued to another court to review a federal question if four of the nine justices vote to hear the case.
Legislative courts
Courts created under Congress’s Article I powers.
Court of record
A court where a permanent record is kept of the testimony, lawyers’ remarks, and judges’ rulings.
Exclusive jurisdiction
When only one court has the power to hear the case.
Concurrent jurisdiction
When more than one court has jurisdiction to hear a case.
Federal question
A legal question involving the application of a federal law.
Diversity jurisdiction
The power of the federal courts to hear matters of state law if the opposing parties are from different states and the amount in controversy exceeds $75,000.
Removal
The transfer of a case from one state court to another or from state court to federal court.
Stare decisis
The doctrine that normally once a court has decided an issue, other courts in the same jurisdiction will decide the same way.
Precedent
One or more prior court decisions.
Case of first impression
A type of case that the court has never faced before.
Mandatory authority
Analogous court decisions from a higher court in the same jurisdiction.
Persuasive authority
Analogous court decisions from an equal or a lower court from the same jurisdiction, or from a court in a different jurisdiction; also includes secondary authority.
Analogous
Similar; analogous cases involve similar facts and rules of law.
Distinguishable
Different; distinguishable cases involve different facts or rules of law.
Plain meaning approach
A method for interpreting enacted law in which the key terms are interpreted in light of their dictionary definitions and use in ordinary conversations.
Contextual approach
A method for interpreting enacted law in which other parts of the same document or similar documents are examined to see how the same words or phrases were used in those related contexts.
Legislative history approach
A method for interpreting statutes, regulations, and constitutional provisions in which judges attempt to determine what the drafters intended to accomplish by passing the law.
Originalism approach
A method for interpreting constitutional provisions in which judges attempt to determine what the average person, living at the time the provision was adopted, thought the provision meant.
