FINAL!!! Flashcards
Shadow Docket (Emergency Docket)
refers to decisions made by the U.S. Supreme Court without the usual full briefing, oral arguments, or written opinions that accompany major cases.
-These decisions are usually in the form of orders issued by a single justice or by the Supreme Court as a whole, and they are independent of the Court’s merits docket
-The cases are resolved by unsigned procedural orders issues without full briefing, oral arguments, or lengthy written opinions
Normative ARGUMENTS
arguments from reasons to a course of action
Empirical ARGUMENTS
based on direct observation or experimentation.
-Provide evidence to confirm or disconfirm scientific theories or justify beliefs in specific propositions
Attitudinal model
is a framework that holds that personal policy preferences are the strongest influence on how a judge will rule on the merits of a case, limited by the facts of the controversy.
-Sincere policy preferences of judges influence their behavior
Types of cases
-Issues
-Constitutional or Statutory
-Landmark or Progeny
Presidential Behavior
Pardon power and limits
Preferential Behavior
Refers to the tendency to treat certain individuals or groups more favorably than others, often based on specific characteristics such as social status or personal relationship
Strategic approach
refers to decision-making that takes into account the action reactions of other economic agents (informed decisions)
-Involved recognizing the interdependence between one’s behavior and that of others.
Craig v. Boren
ruled that statutory or administration sex classification were subject to intermediate scrutiny under the 14th amendment’s equal protection clause
-Cases involved the conditionality of an Oklahoma statute that prohibited the sale of “non intoxicating” 3.2 percent beer to males under the age of 21.
-The Court held that statue made unconditional gender classification and that the statics relied on by the state of Oklahoma were insufficient to show a substantial relationship between the law and the maintenance of traffic safety
Interdependent choices
the context of law referring to situations where the choices of one “actor” depends on those of others
Sincere preferences
a judges true ideological belief
Strategic preferences
the closest point to a judges true ideological belief that they believed that can be accepted by four other judges
Bargaining
refers to an agreement between parties that settles what each gives or received in a transaction between them
Merits
substance of a legal dispute
Strategic opinion writing
involves crafting persuasive arguments to convince the reader a certain position
Formal and Informal–Institutional Context
structure and rules that govern an organization or system
Precedent
decision made by judges in past cases that subsequent cases must follow
The Rule of Four
a practice in the U.S. Supreme Court that permits 4 of the 9 justices to grant a writ of certiorari
Opinion Assignment
the process which a justice of the Supreme Court is designated to write the Court’s opinion on a particular case
Justices as policy seekers
Epstein and Knight argue that justices are strategic policy seekers than that neutral interpreters of law
Informal norm
SCOTUS Justices Should appear Apolitical
Normative ISSUES
questions about how the law should be, rather than how it currently is
-examination of prescriptive and evaluative questions about the law
Empirical QUESTIONS
focus on observable occurrences within the legal system and are answered through data collection and analysis
-Can be answered through observation, evidence, and data collection
Parties & Amicus
Parties: primary participants directly involved in a lawsuit
Plaintiff
Defendant
Intervening parties
Amicus Brief (friend of the court): an individual or organization who is not a party to a legal case, who offers information, expertise, or insight to the court
Polarization
increasing division and ideological distance between groups, particularly issues of law, policy, and governance
Majority Opinion
rules in favor of the defendant
Dissenting (disagreement) opinion
written by one or more judges expressing disagreement with the majority opinion of the court in a legal case
Concurring (agree with someone) opinion
written opinion files by a judge which agrees with the majority decision
Ideology (Liberal—Conservative)
connection between legal systems and political ideas
Empirical ISSUES
study of how laws work in practice