Unit 4 Part 1 Judicial Branch

Question 1

What is Jurisdiction?

Answer 1

the authority of the courts to hear certain cases

Question 2

What types of cases do district courts decide?

Answer 2

civil and criminal cases that arise under the Constitution and federal laws

Question 3

What does the Court of Appeals do?

Answer 3

decide appeals from US district courts and review decision of agencies.

Question 4

What is the definition of an appeal?

Answer 4

an application to a higher court for a decision to be reversed.

Question 5

What is the difference between original jurisdiction and appellate jurisdiction?

Answer 5

an original hears a case for the first time whereas an appellate reviews a decision of a lower court.

Question 6

How do federal judges get their position?

Answer 6

the president appoints them and the Senate confirms the appointment

Question 7

What is Senatorial Courtesy?

Answer 7

the practice of allowing individual senators who represent the respective state approve potential nominees for a district court

Question 8

What are four factors presidents consider in nominees?

Answer 8

party, philosophy, experience, and (race, gender, religion, and region)

Question 9

Who was the first African American justice?

Answer 9

Thurgood Marshall

Question 10

Who was the first woman justice?

Answer 10

Sandra Day O’Connor

Question 11

How many justices out of nine have to agree to hear a case?

Answer 11

four

Question 12

What are brief orders?

Answer 12

the way the supreme court can return a case to a lower court

Question 13

What is a writ of certiorari?

Answer 13

an order by the court to a a lower court to send records of a case for review

Question 14

What is certificate?

Answer 14

where a lower court may ask the Supreme Court about a rule or law of procedures in specific cases.

Question 15

How do justices use law clerks?

Answer 15

to research the information presented in oral arguments and briefs

Question 16

What is a concurring opinion?

Answer 16

when a justice agrees with the majority opinion but not the reasoning behind the decision

Question 17

What is a dissenting opinion?

Answer 17

when a justice disagrees with the majority opinion

Question 18

Explain the concept of procedural due process

Answer 18

the process of how the government protects the rights of the accused

Question 19

List four of the procedural rights protected by the Constitution

Answer 19

○ right to fair and speedy trial
○ right against search and seizure without warrant
○ right against self-incrimination
○ right to an attorney

Question 20

List four Supreme Court cases and the protections provided for procedural due process

Answer 20

○ Mapp v. Ohio - 4th, search and seizure, illegal evidence cannot be used
○ Miranda v. Arizona - 5th, Miranda Rights
○ Gideon v. Wainwright- 6th right to attorney
○ Gregg v. Georgia - 8th, death penalty constitutional

Question 21

What is the establishment clause?

Answer 21

The government cannot support one religion over another or no religion over religion. This sets up the governmental principle of separation of church and state.

Question 22

What are three cases that used the establishment clause?

Answer 22

• Engel v Vitale
  * Abington v Schempp
  * Lemon v Kurtzman

Question 23

What is the free exercise clause?

Answer 23

The government cannot deny anyone the right to practice their religion of choice. However, this only applies to beliefs. Religious practices that are illegal under federal law are not protected by the free exercise clause.

Question 24

What is a case that used the free exercise clause?

Answer 24

Reynolds v US, where a Mormon was denied the ability to practice polygamy because it was against federal law.

Question 25

What did the Brown v. Board of Education address?

Answer 25

racial segregation and inequality in education and indirectly the rest of the public sector.

Question 26

What case was the doctrine of separate but equal established in?

Answer 26

Plessy v Ferguson

Question 27

What was the decision of the Supreme Court in Brown v. Board?

Answer 27

separate but equal is inherently unequal and unconstitutional due to the Equal Protection Clause and 14th.

Question 28

What did the Civil Rights Act of 1964 outlaw?

Answer 28

discrimination based on race, color, religion, sex, or national origin in order to enforce the fourteenth amendment

Question 29

What is affirmative action?

Answer 29

efforts to bring about increased employment, promotion, or admission for members of groups who have suffered from discrimination especially in education and employment.

Question 30

What is the Supreme Court’s general position on affirmative action?

Answer 30

it is acceptable as long as it is not the only factor used in the decision

Question 31

What was the “most liberal court ever”?

Answer 31

the Warren Court

Question 32

Was Burger and Rehnquist conservative or liberal?

Answer 32

conservative

Question 33

What is philosophy of judicial activism?

Answer 33

the Court should play an active role in determining national policies

Question 34

What is the philosophy of judicial restraint?

Answer 34

the court should be passive and operate strictly under the limits of the constitution

Question 35

What two types of jurisdiction does the Supreme Court have?

Answer 35

original and appellate

Question 36

What is writ of habeas corpus?

Answer 36

you must be brought before the court and informed of the charges against you

Question 37

What does no bill of attainder mean?

Answer 37

you cannot be punished without a trial

Question 38

What does no ex post facto laws mean?

Answer 38

law applied to acts committed before the laws are passed are unconstitutional

Question 39

What does the fourteenth amendment set up?

Answer 39

selective incorporation and extends the bill of rights to the states

Question 40

How far does freedom of expression go?

Answer 40

until it gives a “clear and present danger” to the national government

Question 41

What are amicus curia briefs?

Answer 41

“friends of the court” briefs that support the litigants and attempt to influence the Court’s decision by raising additional points of view

Question 42

What was the grandfather clause?

Answer 42

a statute enacted that allowed potential white voters to circumvent literacy tests, poll taxes, and other tactics designed to disfranchise southern blacks