Legal Fundamentals: Case Reading

Question 1

federal law

Answer 1

supreme law of the land when it conflicts with state law

Question 2

federal and state governments function…

Answer 2

independently (co-sovereign)

Question 3

federal government

Answer 3

the President, Congress, federal courts, and federal administrative agencies

Question 4

power of the federal government

Answer 4

limited by the constitution, can be binding throughout the whole country or specific laws for group of people

Question 5

power of the state government

Answer 5

protected in and limited by the constitution

Question 6

state representation

Answer 6

two senators and proportionate representatives to population of state

Question 7

current U.S. territories

Answer 7

Puerto Rico, U.S. Virgin Islands, Northern Mariana Islands, American Samoa, Guam

Question 8

territory representation

Answer 8

no representation in congress, cannot vote in federal elections (parties may allow people to vote in caucuses and primaries)

Question 9

power of territories

Answer 9

U.S. citizens, federal law applies to and in territories, control internal affairs (elect governors, legal systems), but no control over foreign affairs

Question 10

Indian law

Answer 10

federal U.S. laws about tribes within borders of U.S., treaties between and among U.S. government and tribal governments, tribal laws, and interrelationships

Question 11

tribes in U.S.

Answer 11

sovereign nations with own systems of laws

Question 12

tribal sovereignty

Answer 12

highly contested, U.S. federal government claimed significant authority

Question 13

federally recognized tribal lands

Answer 13

state laws do not apply, but tribal and federal generally do

Question 14

common law

Answer 14

(not Louisiana) judges make the law

Question 15

common types of law

Answer 15

constitutions, statutes, regulations, rules, cases, executive orders, treaties

Question 16

constitutions

Answer 16

usually multiple types of levels of government create them (ex. U.S. Constitution)

Question 17

statutes

Answer 17

legislatures create them (ex. Affordable Care Act)

Question 18

regulations

Answer 18

courts or committees designated by courts create them (ex. Federal Rules of Civil Procedure)

Question 19

cases

Answer 19

courts or agencies create them (ex. Roe v. Wade)

Question 20

executive orders

Answer 20

an executive like a president or governor creates them (ex. Executive Order 9066)

Question 21

treaties

Answer 21

two or more sovereign nations create them (ex. Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons)

Question 22

primary source

Answer 22

any law

Question 23

secondary source

Answer 23

anything that is not law, but that talks about law

Question 24

judicial hierarchy

Answer 24

higher courts can make decisions that lower courts are supposed to follow, can be appealed

Question 25

federalism

Answer 25

relationship between federal and state government

Question 26

state/territorial courts

Answer 26

hear cases based on state law, territorial law, or federal law

Question 27

federal courts

Answer 27

hear cases based on state law, territorial law, or federal law, but limited on when

Question 28

binding, controlling or mandatory

Answer 28

decision that a court is supposed to follow

Question 29

non-binding or persuasive

Answer 29

a decision that a court may consider

Question 30

decisions of higher courts are generally ___ on lower courts within the same jurisdiction

Answer 30

binding

Question 31

supreme court

Answer 31

highest court in the federal system, nine justices, appeals jurisdiction through certiorari process

Question 32

supreme court justices

Answer 32

Chief Justice John Robert, Clarence Thomas, Stephen Breyer, Samuel Alito, Sonia Sotomayor, Elena Kagan, Neil Gorsuch, Brett Kavanaugh, Amy Coney Barrett

Question 33

courts of appeal

Answer 33

intermediate level in the federal system, 12 regional circuit courts (and DC), no original jurisdiction, strictly appellate

Question 34

district courts

Answer 34

lowest level in the federal system, 94 judicial districts in 50 states and territories, no appellate jurisdiction, original jurisdiction over most cases, trial courts

Question 35

first circuit

Answer 35

Massachusetts, Maine, New Hampshire, Puerto Rico, Rhode Island

Question 36

second circuit

Answer 36

Connecticut, New York, Vermont

Question 37

third circuit

Answer 37

Delaware, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Virgin Islands

Question 38

fourth circuit

Answer 38

Maryland, North Carolina, South Carolina, Virginia, West Virginia

Question 39

fifth circuit

Answer 39

Louisiana, Mississippi, Texas

Question 40

sixth circuit

Answer 40

Michigan, Kentucky, Ohio, Tennessee

Question 41

seventh circuit

Answer 41

Illinois, Indiana, Wisconsin

Question 42

eight circuit

Answer 42

Arkansas, Iowa, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota, South Dakota

Question 43

ninth circuit

Answer 43

Alaska, Arizona, California, Guam, Hawaii, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, Northern Mariana Islands, Oregon, Washington

Question 44

tenth circuit

Answer 44

Colorado, Kansas, New Mexico, Oklahoma, Utah, Wyoming

Question 45

eleventh circuit

Answer 45

Alabama, Florida, Georgia

Question 46

D.C. circuit

Answer 46

District of Columbia

Question 47

federal circuit

Answer 47

nationwide for certain subjects (patents, veterans’ benefits, etc)

Question 48

a state’s highest court is the ______ authority on questions of that ______

Answer 48

highest; state’s law (decision are binding on all other courts including federal in consider question of state law)

Question 49

u.s. supreme court is the _______ authority on questions of _______

Answer 49

highest; federal law

Question 50

grant certiorari

Answer 50

supreme court has agreed to hear a case