The Supreme Court (Facts)

Question 1

Which Act established a system of lower federal courts?

Answer 1

Judiciary Act (1789)

Question 2

Which Justice resigned in 1968 over the threat of impeachment?

Answer 2

Abe Fortas

Question 3

How many Supreme Court Justices have been impeached?

Answer 3

0

Question 4

Current membership of Supreme Court (and which party nominated them)?

Answer 4

John Roberts (R-2005), Anthony Kennedy (R-1988), Clarence Thomas (R-1991), Ruth Bader Ginsburg (D-1993), Stephen Breyer (D-1994), Samuel Alito (R-2006), Sonia Sotomayor (D-2009), Elena Kagan (D-2010) and Neil Gorsuch (R-2017)

Question 5

Examples of Judicial Activism

Answer 5

Warren Court
Brown vs Board of Education of Topeka (1954)
Miranda vs Arizona (1966)

Question 6

Justices who have served long after ‘their’ President

Answer 6

William J Brennan - until 1990, Eisenhower left 1961

William Rehnquist - until 2005, Nixon left 1974

Question 7

Last Justice not to receive a ‘well qualified’ rating from the American Bar Association

Answer 7

Clarence Thomas (1991)

Question 8

Senate vote on rejected candidate

Answer 8

Robert Bork (1987) lost Committee vote 5-9
Lost Senate vote 42-58

Question 9

Senate vote on confirmed candidate

Answer 9

Ruth Bader Ginsburg (1993) won Committee vote 18-0

Won Senate vote 96-3

Question 10

Example of politicisation in a case

Answer 10

Obergefell vs Hodges (2015) - Fundamental right of same-sex marriage
For: Kennedy, Ginsburg, Breyer, Sotomayor, Kagan
Against: Roberts, Alito, Scalia, Thomas

Question 11

How did pressure groups thwart Robert Bork’s nomination in 1987?

Answer 11

National Abortion Rights Action League and National Organization for Women funded $15 million advertising campaign against Bork

Question 12

How was Gorsuch’s 2017 nomination politicised?

Answer 12

Republicans had to use ‘nuclear option’ to break Democrat filibuster. Only 3 Democrats joined Republicans in a 54-45 vote

Question 13

Which case established judicial review?

Answer 13

Marbury vs Madison (1803)

Question 14

When has the Supreme Court intervened in an election?

Answer 14

George W. Bush vs Albert Gore Jr (2000)
Court ruled that the recount scheme in Florida was unconstitutional as it varied from district to district; Equal Protection Clause of 14th Amendment cited

Question 15

Which case declared that the recitation of state-written prayers at schools were unconstitutional?

Answer 15

Engel vs Vitale (1962)

Question 16

Which case declared recitation of the lord’s prayer and bible passages in public schools unconstitutional?

Answer 16

School District of Abington Township vs Schempp (1963)

Question 17

Which case upheld the Ohio law that gave students financial aid to attend religious or private schools?

Answer 17

Zelman vs Simmons-Harris (2002)

Question 18

Which case declared parts of the Federal Election Campaign Act (1974) unconstitutional?

Answer 18

Buckley vs Valeo (1976)

Limiting expenditure seen to limit freedom of speech

Question 19

Which case declared the Communications Decency Act (1996) unconstitutional?

Answer 19

Reno vs American Civil Liberties Union (1997)

Act had made it illegal to expose children to ‘indecent’ or ‘offensive’ material online

Question 20

Which case declared state laws banning flag desecration as unconstitutional?

Answer 20

Texas vs Johnson (1989)

Question 21

Which case declared the Gun-Free School Zones Act (1990) unconstitutional?

Answer 21

United States vs Lopez (1995)

Question 22

Which case declared a 1976 DC law banning handguns unconstitutional?

Answer 22

District of Columbia vs Heller (2008)

Question 23

Which case extended the right to remain silent in trial to the moment of arrest?

Answer 23

Miranda vs Arizona (1966)

Question 24

Which case declared all death penalty procedures unconstitutional?

Answer 24

Furman vs Georgia (1972)

Death penalties were brought back by many states, but had to appease the 8th Amendment (ie lethal injection)

Question 25

Which case declared the use of the death penalty on minors as unconstitutional?

Answer 25

Roper vs Simmons (2005)

Question 26

Which case established lethal injection as constitutional as it is not ‘cruel’ or ‘unusual’?

Answer 26

Baze vs Rees (2008)

Question 27

Which case declared that public services could not be segregated by race?

Answer 27

Brown vs Board of Education of Topeka (1954)

Question 28

Which case made it unconstitutional to give contractors bonuses for hiring minorities?

Answer 28

Adarand Constructors vs Peña (1995)

Question 29

Which court made racial quotas for university places unconstitutional?

Answer 29

Regents of the University of California vs Bakke (1978)

Question 30

Which case upheld a woman’s right to an abortion?

Answer 30

Roe vs Wade (1973)

Question 31

Which cases have ‘chipped away’ at the 1973 abortion decision?

Answer 31

Webster vs Reproductive Health Services (1989)
Planned Parenthood of Southeastern Pennsylvania vs Casey (1992)
Gonzales vs Carhart (2003)

Question 32

Example of Supreme Court checking Presidential power?

Answer 32

United States vs Richard Nixon (1974)

Supreme Court denied Nixon ‘executive privilege’ and made him hand over taped conversations about Watergate Affair

Question 33

When has Congress overruled the Supreme Court by initiating a constitutional amendment?

Answer 33

16th Amendment (1913) - federal income tax
Overruled Pollock vs Farmers' Loan and Trust Company (1895)

Question 34

Which case upheld the right of government to enact the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (2010)?

Answer 34

National Federation of Independent Business v. Sebelius (2012)

Question 35

Which Act can the Supreme Court not strike down as they have no power of initiation?

Answer 35

War Powers Act (1973)