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judiciary branch Flashcards

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1
Q

What did Alexander Hamilton argue in Federalist No. 78?

A

that granting life tenure to judges of the federal courts enabled judges to issue opinions that were lawful and constitutional even when they were unpopular with the public/political classes

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2
Q

What is judicial activism?

A

a decision by a court (usually the Supreme Court) that strikes down a law passed by Congress/state legislature as unconstitutional without clear textual authority

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3
Q

What is judicial pacifism?

A

when a court allows a law passed by Congress/a state legislature to go into effect even if it seems to clearly violate the text of the Constitution

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4
Q

What is judicial restraint?

A

a choice by a court to allow Congress/a state legislature to pass a law that doesn’t clearly violate the text of the Constitution

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5
Q

What is a judicial precedent?

A

a firmly established legal principle that future courts are supposed to follow

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6
Q

What does “stare decisis” mean?

A

Let the decision stand.

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7
Q

What are the five factors to consider when overturning a precedent of the Supreme Court?

A
  1. The precedent prevents people from being able to settle the issue via voting for lawmakers to write laws to strike a balance between two sides of an issue.
  2. The precedent lacks ground in the text of the Constitution. It is neither directly addressed nor is anything closely analogous addressed.
  3. The precedent is unworkable. It hasn’t settled the issue and the courts have continued to struggle with how to apply the precedent to issues that arise in new lawsuits.
  4. The precedent is causing distortions in other parts of the law. If the same methods, reasoning, and approach were applied in other areas of the law it would lead to clearly illogical, unlawful, and/or unconstitutional results.
  5. Overruling the precedent would not upend concrete reliance interests of individuals. This means that people’s lives wouldn’t be significantly disturbed in the future by personal decisions they made in the past for their in reliance on the previous Supreme Court precedent being changed.
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8
Q

Where in the Constitution is the Judicial Branch established and outlined?

A

Article III

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9
Q

What does Article III of the Constitution do specifically?

A

It creates the Supreme Court and authorizes Congress to create inferior courts.

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10
Q

What did the Judiciary Act of 1789 create?

A

U.S. District Courts, United States Circuit Courts of Appeal, and the Supreme Court

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11
Q

Who represents the federal government in trial courts?

A

the United States Attorney

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12
Q

Which circuit court of appeal has subject matter jurisdiction?

A

the Federal Circuit

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13
Q

What does the Federal Circuit have jurisdiction over?

A

intellectual property and government benefits law

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14
Q

The appellate courts exercise what kind of review?

A

mandatory

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15
Q

What is an en banc appeal?

A

an appeal to the entire appellate court to reconsider a case

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16
Q

Who represents the federal government in appellate courts?

A

the Solicitor General

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17
Q

What does “en banc” mean?

A

the entire bench of a particular court

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18
Q

What does a party submit to ask the Supreme Court to review their case?

A

a petition for certiorari

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19
Q

When the Supreme Court grants review to a case, what do they issue?

A

a writ of certiorari

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20
Q

What is court packing?

A

an attempt by the president/Congress to shift Supreme Court rulings in their favor by adding judges to the court

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21
Q

In a criminal case, if the defendant is found to have broken the law, what are they declared?

A

guilty

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22
Q

In a civil case, if the defendant is found to have caused alleged harm to the plaintiff, what are they declared?

A

liable

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23
Q

What did the Supreme Court rule in Dred Scott v. Sandford and which court was the opinion issued by?

A

The Taney Court ruled that a slave wasn’t a citizen of the United States and therefore had no legal right to be a party in federal court. A slave owner’s constitutional right to due process and property prevented the government from declaring their slave free just because they had escaped to a state where slavery was not legal.

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24
Q

What did the Supreme Court rule in Plessy v. Ferguson and which court was the opinion issued by?

A

The Fuller Court ruled that it was constitutional for the government to segregate facilities by race as long as those facilities were equal.

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25
Q

What did the Supreme Court rule in Lochner v. New York and which court was the opinion issued by?

A

The Fuller Court ruled that the state of New York lacked the ability to restrict the number of hours that bakers could work because it interfered with the bakeries’ and bakers’ Fourteenth Amendment liberty interests to freely negotiate and agree to enter into an employment contract for the number of hours they would work. This ruling was later overturned because of the state’s Tenth Amendment reserved powers.

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26
Q

What did the Supreme Court rule in Grovey v. Townsend and which court was the opinion issued by?

A

The Hughes Court ruled that the Democratic Party of Texas could restrict African-Americans from voting in its primaries because it was a private organization and the Constitution’s Fourteenth Amendment Equal Protection of the laws guarantees only applies to the government.

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27
Q

What did the Supreme Court rule in Smith v. Allwright and which court was the opinion issued by?

A

The Stone Court ruled that when a private organization is carrying out a government function (such as voting and police protection), the private organization has to provide the same Constitutional protections that the government would have to provide. This ruling overturned Grovey v. Townshend.

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28
Q

What did the Supreme Court rule in Brown v. Board of Education and which court was the opinion issued by?

A

The Warren Court ruled that separate was inherently unequal under the Fourteenth Amendment’s Equal Protection Clause and forced public schools (and, by interference, other public/government institutions) to desegregate. This ruling overturned Plessy v. Ferguson.

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29
Q

What did the Supreme Court rule in Mapp v. Ohio and which court was the opinion issued by?

A

The Warren Court ruled that illegally obtained evidence is inadmissible in court.

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30
Q

What did the Supreme Court rule in Engle v. Vitale and which court was the opinion issued by?

A

The Warren Court ruled that the First Amendment prohibited school-sponsored prayer.

31
Q

What did the Supreme Court rule in Gideon v. Wainwright and which court was the opinion issued by?

A

The Warren Court ruled that all citizens must be afforded criminal defense attorneys even if they cannot afford one.

32
Q

What did the Supreme Court rule in Miranda v. Arizona and which court was the opinion issued by?

A

The Warren Court ruled that when a suspect is formally arrested, they must be informed of their rights.

33
Q

What did the Supreme Court rule in Tinker v. Des Moines and which court was the opinion issued by?

A

The Warren Court ruled that students do not give their free speech rights at school entirely so long as their speech (particularly political speech) is non-disruptive and symbolic.

34
Q

What did the Supreme Court rule in Roe v. Wade and which court was the opinion issued by?

A

The Burger Court ruled that the ability to have an abortion was a Constitutional right.

35
Q

What did the Supreme Court rule in Heller v. District of Columbia and which court was the opinion issued by?

A

The Roberts Court ruled that the Second Amendment establishes an individual right to keep and bear arms (not a collective militia right). This struck down onerous gun regulations in Washington, DC that prohibited having firearms for hunting and/or self-defense.

36
Q

What did the Supreme Court rule in Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission and which court was the opinion issued by?

A

The Roberts Court ruled that corporations and labor unions are entitled to the same First Amendment free speech rights as individuals and struck down the Bipartisan Campaign Finance Reform Act of 2002.

37
Q

What did the Supreme Court rule in National Federation of Independent Business v. Sibelius and which court was the opinion issued by?

A

The Roberts Court narrowly ruled the Affordable Care Act as Constitutional. Chief Justice John Roberts agreed with all of the legal arguments against the act, but he reasoned that citizens were not forced to buy health insurance because if they did not, they had to pay a penalty based on their taxes which essentially is a tax (enumerated power of Congress). As long as this penalty wasn’t high enough to compel someone to buy health insurance against their will, it was valid.

38
Q

What did the Supreme Court rule in Dobbs v. Jackson and which court was the opinion issued by?

A

The Roberts Court ruled that the constitution does not give citizens right to an abortion. This opinion overturned Roe v. Wade and Planned Parenthood v. Casey.

39
Q

What is the ability of a party to bring a lawsuit called?

A

standing, locus standi

40
Q

What criteria must be met in order to bring a lawsuit to federal court?

A
  1. The plaintiff must have suffered “an invasion of a legally protected interest” that is “concrete and particularized” as well as “actual or imminent”, not “conjectural or hypothetical”.
  2. The plaintiff’s injury must be “fairly traceable” to the conduct that is the subject of the lawsuit.
  3. A decision in the plaintiff’s favor must likely (not merely speculatively) provide adequate remedy for the plaintiff’s injuries.
41
Q

What is a class action lawsuit?

A

a lawsuit in which a large group of plaintiffs with a same or similar claim/cause of action against a single defendant or group of defendants

42
Q

Can an individual opt back into a class-action lawsuit if they pursue their own individual claim and get less than what they would’ve gotten if they remained in the class-action lawsuit?

A

No.

43
Q

What does Article III of the U.S. Constitution prohibit Congress from doing to Supreme Court judges?

A

Article III prohibits Congress from forcing a judge off of the court by a method other than impeachment and conviction by disallowing it from using the power of the purse to decrease the compensation of federal judges.

44
Q

What is the only crime that is defined by the U.S. Constitution and how is it defined?

A

Treason. The Constitution defines treason as levying way against the United States and/or giving “aid or comfort” to an enemy of the United States.

45
Q

What does being “borked” mean?

A

to destroy a judicial nominee through a concerted attach on his character, background, and philosophy

46
Q

What is a per curiam opinion?

A

an opinion issued in the name of the Supreme Court, tend to be short and non-controversial

47
Q

What is judicial review?

A

the authority the Supreme Court has to review if Congress’s actions are constitutional and if the executive branch complies with both the Constitution and the laws passed by Congress

48
Q

What case established judicial review?

A

Marbury v. Madison. The Supreme Court ruled that Secretary of State James Madison did violate the Judiciary Act of 1789, but since the act expanded the court’s original jurisdiction beyond that prescribed in Article III Section 2, it was therefore unconstitutional and the Supreme Court could not enforce it since it was only simple legislation and not a constitutional amendment.

49
Q

How does the Justices’ Conference operate?

A

The judges speak and vote in order of seniority in deciding the outcome of a case. After this process, the most senior member of the majority assigns a justice in that majority the majority opinion. The most senior member of the minority assigns a justice within the minority the dissenting opinion.

50
Q

What is a concurring opinion?

A

a justice’s reasoning on how they reached the outcome of the majority when they agree with the outcome but not the legal reasoning

51
Q

How many votes must a Supreme Court case have in order to have value as precedent?

A

5

52
Q

What does the Take Care clause of the Constitution require the president to do?

A

to take care that the laws of the United States are faithfully executed

53
Q

On what grounds can a lawsuit be initiated?

A

a constitutional injury to one’s liberty, financial injury, or physical injury

54
Q

What is strict constructionism?

A

an umbrella term for multiple conservative interpretative theories, involved a hyper-literal reading of the Constitution

55
Q

What is textualism?

A

an interpretation of the Constitution that looks at the ordinary meaning of the word, does not include outside information such as the problem the law was intended to address or the drafter’s intent

56
Q

What is originalism?

A

an interpretation of the Constitution that discerns what the original public meaning of the Constitution would have meant at the time it was written with the assistance of history and historical dictionaries

57
Q

What is living constructionism/constitutionalism?

A

an interpretation of the Constitution that views it as a “living document” and takes into account changes in social conditions since ratification or passage

58
Q

What is a binding precedent?

A

when a court is required to follow a previous legal reasoning of a court

59
Q

What is a persuasive precedent?

A

when a court may consider the legal reasoning of another court but is not required to follow it

60
Q

If a higher court renders a ruling, it is what kind of precedent for all lower courts?

A

binding precedent

61
Q

If a court renders a ruling, it is what kind of precedent for all courts for which is lacks appellate jurisdiction?

A

persuasive precedent

62
Q

What ways can a judge/justice be removed from a court in the United States?

A

impeachment and conviction, retirement, and senior status (a type of semi-retirement in which a judge may continue to occasionally serve on 3-judge panels on cases that appear before the U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals)

63
Q

What part of a trial court’s verdict is reviewable by a court of appeal?

A

the part where it applies the law

64
Q

What part of a trial court’s verdict is not reviewable by a court of appeal?

A

the part where it determines the facts

65
Q

How must the government prove that the defendant is guilty in a criminal case?

A

beyond a reasonable doubt

66
Q

How must a plaintiff prove that the defendant caused them harm in a civil case?

A

by a preponderance of evidence (more likely than not)

67
Q

What is jurisdiction stripping?

A

when Congress votes to exclude certain types of cases from the federal court’s jurisdiction

68
Q

What is original jurisdiction?

A

the right to hear a case for the first time in a trial in which evidence is gathered and weighed to determine the facts and subsequently apply the law to those facts

69
Q

What kind of jurisdiction do the United States District Courts have?

A

original jurisdiction

70
Q

In what cases does the Supreme Court have the power of original jurisdiction?

A

if one of the two parties is a state, ambassador, or public minister

71
Q

What is appellate jurisdiction?

A

the right to consider whether or not a lower court correctly applied the law to the facts found

72
Q

Is the United States Circuit Courts of Appeal required to consider whether or not a trial court correctly applied the law? If so, what is obligation called?

A

yes, mandatory review

73
Q

What is discretionary review and which court has this power?

A

the ability to choose which cases to reconsider whether or not the law was correctly applied, Supreme Court

74
Q

What is subject-matter jurisdiction?

A

the right to hear a case based upon its topic

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