Judicial Branch

Question 1

Concurrent jurisdiction

Answer 1

Power shared by federal and state courts to hear certain cases

Question 2

Civil law

Answer 2

The portion of the law relating to human conduct, to disputes between private parties, and to disputes between private parties and government not covered by criminal law

Question 3

Concurring opinion

Answer 3

Written explanation of the views of one or more judges who support a decision reached by a majority of the court, but wish to add or emphasize a point that was not made in the majority decision

Question 4

Appellate jurisdiction

Answer 4

The authority of a court to review decisions of inferior (lower) court

Question 5

Judicial review

Answer 5

The power of a court to determine the constitutionality of a governmental action

Question 6

Inferior courts

Answer 6

The lower federal courts, beneath the Supreme Court

Question 7

Amicus curiae

Answer 7

The court may also receive amicus curiae (friend of the court) briefs. These are briefs filed by a persons or groups who are not actual parties to a case but who nonetheless have a substantial interest in its outcome.

Question 8

Certificate

Answer 8

This process is used when a lower court is not clear about the procedure or the rule of law that should apply in a case

Question 9

Writ of certiorari

Answer 9

An order by the court directing a lower court to send up the record in a given case for its review

Question 10

Dissenting opinions

Answer 10

Often written by those justices who do not agree with the courts majority decision

Question 11

Majority opinion

Answer 11

The courts opinion is often Called the majority opinion. Officially called the opinion of the court, it announces the courts decision in a case and sets out the reasoning on which its based

Question 12

Precedents

Answer 12

Examples to be followed in similar cases as they arise in the lower courts or reach the Supreme Court

Question 13

Docket

Answer 13

It’s lists of cases to be heard

Question 14

Criminal cases

Answer 14

In the federal courts, is one in which a defendant is tried for committing some action that congress has declared by law to be a federal crime

Question 15

Civil cases

Answer 15

Involves some noncriminal matter, such as a dispute over the terms of a contract or a claim of patent infringement

Question 16

Plaintiff

Answer 16

The person who files suit-may bring the case in the proper state or federal court, as he or she chooses

Question 17

Defendant

Answer 17

The person whom the complaint is against-can have the trial moved, under certain circumstances, to the federal district court

Question 18

Original jurisdiction

Answer 18

A court in which a case is first heard is said to have original jurisdiction over that case

Question 19

Exclusive jurisdiction

Answer 19

Those cases can be heard only in the federal courts

Question 20

Jurisdiction

Answer 20

The authority of a court to hear a case

Question 21

Article 3

Answer 21

The framers created a national judiciary for the us in a single sentence in the constitution

Question 22

Rule of four

Answer 22

At least four of its nine justices agree with the decision of the lower court or believe that the case involves no significant point of law

Question 23

Judicial activism

Answer 23

Believe that a judge should use his or her position to promote desirable social ends

Question 24

Judicial restraint

Answer 24

Hold that in making their decisions, judges should defer to the actions of the executive and legislative branches-except in cases where those actions are clearly unconstitutional

Question 25

Federal judges can be removed from office through the legislative branches impeachment process: t/f

Answer 25

True

Question 26

Candidates nominated to the Supreme Court by the president must first be confirmed by both the house and the senate

Answer 26

False

Question 27

An appellate court is a higher court than a district court

Answer 27

True

Question 28

A person who files suit is called

Answer 28

Plaintiff

Question 29

The authority of a court to hear a case. Literally means “to say the law”

Answer 29

Jurisdiction

Question 30

Judges of the constitutional courts are appointed

Answer 30

For life

Question 31

Which article in the constitution creates the judicial branch?

Answer 31

Article 3

Question 32

When it comes to the appointment of federal judges, the president commonly practices senatorial courtesy. Which best describes that practice?

Answer 32

President chooses someone recommended by the home states us senators

Question 33

A criminal case involving a bank robbery in mobile Alabama would probably be heard in

Answer 33

District court

Question 34

A civil case involving tariffs on DVDs manufactured in china would probably be heard in

Answer 34

Court of international trade

Question 35

The reason the courts of appeals are sometimes called gatekeepers is that

Answer 35

They allow only the most controversial and significant cases past the gate to the Supreme Court

Question 36

Massachusetts is part of which judicial court circuit?

Answer 36

Ninth

Question 37

The court of appeals for the federal circuit differs from the other 12 federal courts of appeals because it

Answer 37

Hears cases from across the country

Question 38

Criminal law

Answer 38

The portion of the law that defines public wrongs and provides for their punishment

Question 39

Senatorial courtesy

Answer 39

Custom that the senate will not approve a presidential appointment opposed by a majority party senator from the senate in which the appointee would serve

Question 40

Solicitor general

Answer 40

A principal officer in the department of justice, is often called the federal governments chief lawyer