Chapter 9

Question 1

amicus curiae

Answer 1

D: someone who is not a party to a case and may or may not have been solicited by a party and who assists
S: An amicus curiae assists a court by offering information, expertise, or insight that has a bearing on the issues in the case.

Question 2

appellate court

Answer 2

D: an appeals court or court of appeals
S: An appellate court is any court of law that is empowered to hear an appeal of a trial court or other lower tribunal.

Question 3

appellate jurisdiction

Answer 3

D: the power of an appellate court to review, amend and overrule decisions of a trial court or other lower tribunal.
S: Most appellate jurisdiction is legislatively created, and may consist of appeals by leave of the appellate court or by right.

Question 4

brief

Answer 4

D: a written legal document used in various legal adversarial systems
S: A brief is presented to a court arguing why one party to a particular case should prevail.

Question 5

constitutional courts

Answer 5

D: a high court that deals primarily with constitutional law.
S: A constitutional court’s main authority is to rule on whether laws that are challenged are in fact unconstitutional, i.e. whether they conflict with constitutionally established rules, rights, and freedoms, among other things.

Question 6

dissenting opinions

Answer 6

D: written by one or more judges expressing disagreement with the majority opinion
S: When not necessarily referring to a legal decision, a dissenting opinion can also be referred to as a minority report.

Question 7

Chisholm v. Georgia

Answer 7

D: In 1792, Alexander Chisholm attempted to sue the State of Georgia in the U.S. Supreme Court over payments due to him for goods that Robert Farquhar had supplied Georgia during the American Revolutionary War.
S: Chisholm v. Georgia, 2 U.S. 419, is considered the first United States Supreme Court case of significance and impact.

Question 8

concurring opinions

Answer 8

D: a written opinion by one or more judges of a court which agrees with the decision made by the majority
S: Concurring opinions are important for many reasons. First, a concurrence can transform a majority opinion into a plurality.

Question 9

Elena Kagen

Answer 9

D: an Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States
S: Elena Kagan was nominated by President Barack Obama in May 2010, and confirmed by the Senate in August of the same year.

Question 10

11th Amendment

Answer 10

D: The Judicial power of the United States shall not be construed to extend to any suit in law or equity.
S: The 11th Amendment changed a portion of Article III, Section 2.

Question 11

Federalist No. 78

Answer 11

D: an essay by Alexander Hamilton, the seventy-eighth of The Federalist Papers.
S: Federalist No. 78 is published under the pseudonym Publius.

Question 12

John Jay

Answer 12

D: an important American statesman and a Founding Father of the United States.
S: Jay represented New York at the Continental Congress in 1774.

Question 13

John Marshall

Answer 13

D: the fourth chief justice of the U.S. Supreme Court in 1801.
S: Marshall served on the Supreme Court up until his death in 1835. He is widely considered the most important and influential Supreme Court justice in U.S. history.

Question 14

judicial activism

Answer 14

D: refers to judicial rulings that are suspected of being based on personal opinion, rather than on existing law.
S: There are significant U.S. Supreme Court decisions that are believed to be examples of judicial activism.

Question 15

judicial implementation

Answer 15

D: the process by which a court’s decision is enforced.
S: The main way of limiting the courts’ power lies with judicial implementation, the process by which a court’s decision is enforced.

Question 16

judicial restraint

Answer 16

D: a theory of judicial interpretation
S: Judicial restraint asserts that judges should hesitate to strike down laws unless they are obviously unconstitutional.

Question 17

judicial review

Answer 17

D: review by the US Supreme Court of the constitutional validity of a legislative act.
S: Judicial review is a process under which executive or legislative actions are subject to review by the judiciary.

Question 18

Judiciary Act of 1789

Answer 18

D: established the federal judiciary of the United States.
S: The Judiciary Act of 1789 was unconstitutional. In Marshall’s opinion, Congress could not give the Supreme Court the power to issue an order granting Marbury his commission.

Question 19

jurisdiction

Answer 19

D: the official power to make legal decisions and judgments.
S: Federal courts had no jurisdiction over the case.

Question 20

lame duck

Answer 20

D: an official (especially the president) in the final period of office, after the election of a successor.
S: In politics, a lame duck is an elected official whose successor has already been elected.

Question 21

legislative courts

Answer 21

D: refer to courts created by legislature, other than courts created by constitution.
S: Legislative courts are set up for some specialized purpose. For example, Court of Claims, and the U.S. Tax Court.

Question 22

Marbury v. Madison (1803)

Answer 22

D: a U.S. Supreme Court case that established the principle of judicial review
S: The Supreme Court, led by Chief Justice John Marshall, decides the landmark case of William Marbury versus James Madison, Secretary of State of the United States and confirms the legal principle of judicial review.

Question 23

original jurisdiction

Answer 23

D: the power to hear a case for the first time
S: Original jurisdiction refers to when a higher court has the power to review a lower court’s decision.

Question 24

precedents

Answer 24

D: an earlier event or action that is regarded as an example or guide to be considered in subsequent similar circumstances.
S: Precedent is a principle or rule established in a previous legal case that is either binding on or persuasive for a court or other tribunal when deciding subsequent cases with similar issues or facts.

Question 25

plurality opinions

Answer 25

D: a case without an Opinion of the Court
S: A plurality opinion is in certain legal systems the opinion from a group of judges, often in an appellate court, in which no single opinion supports a majority of the court.

Question 26

Rule of Four

Answer 26

D: a Supreme Court of the United States practice that permits four of the nine justices to grant a writ of certiorari.
S: The Rule of Four prevents a majority of the Court from controlling the Court’s docket.

Question 27

Sandra Day O’Connor

Answer 27

D: the first woman to serve on the Court. Wikipedia
S: Sandra Day O’Connor is a retired Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States, who served from her appointment in 1981 by President Ronald Reagan until her retirement in 2006.

Question 28

senatorial courtesy

Answer 28

D: a custom whereby presidential appointments are confirmed only if there is no objection to them by the senators from the appointee’s state
S: Senatorial courtesy is a long-standing unwritten, unofficial, and nonbinding political custom in the United States describing the tendency of U.S. senators to support a Senate colleague in opposing the appointment to federal office of a presidential nominee from that Senator’s state.

Question 29

solicitor general

Answer 29

D: the law officer directly below the attorney general in the US Department of Justice, responsible for arguing cases before the US Supreme Court.
S: The current Solicitor General, Noel Francisco, took office on September 19, 2017.

Question 30

stare decisis

Answer 30

D: the legal principle of determining points in litigation according to precedent.
S: Stare decisis is a doctrine, or an instruction, used in all court cases and with all legal issues.

Question 31

strict constructionist

Answer 31

D: one who favors giving a narrow conservative construction of a given document or instrument specifically
S:In the United States, strict constructionism refers to a particular legal philosophy of judicial interpretation that limits or restricts judicial interpretation.

Question 32

trial court

Answer 32

D: a court of law where cases are tried in the first place, as opposed to an appeals court.
S: A trial court or court of first instance is a court having original jurisdiction, in which trials take place.

Question 33

Whiskey Rebellion

Answer 33

D: a tax protest in the United States beginning in 1791 and ending in 1794 during the presidency of George Washington
S: Whiskey Rebellion, (1794), in American history, uprising that afforded the new U.S. government its first opportunity to establish federal authority by military means within state boundaries.

Question 34

writ of certiorari

Answer 34

D: a process for seeking judicial review and a writ issued by a court that agrees to review.
S: A certiorari is issued by a superior court, directing an inferior court, tribunal, or other public authority to send the record of a proceeding for review.