judiciary

Explain the concept of stare decisis

"Let the decision stand" or allowing prior rulings to control the current case

Define class action suits

A case brought on by someone to help him or her and all others who are similarly situated

The fact that prayer continues in some public schools and that segregation remain intact for years after the Court struck is down demonstrates what great weakness of the Courts?

A judge has no police force or army; decisions that he or she makes can sometimes be resisted or ignored, IF the person or organization resisting is not highly visible and is willing to run the risk of being caught and charged with contempt of court.

Explain the significance of Marbury v. Madison

Supreme Court declared an act of congress unconstitutional, established judicial review

How many attempts to remove a supreme court justice and when?

one and in 1790

Constitutional courts -(district courts, and court of appeals)

one exercising the judicial powers found in Article III of the constitution and therefore it judges are given constitutional protections: they cannot be fired and their salaries cannot be reduced

Handling political question

political question is an issue the Supreme Court will allow the executive and legislative branches decide

Which is the only court mandated by the Constitution?

The Supreme Court is the only court required by the constitution

How can Congress check the Courts? (4 ways) SINU mnemonic device

* It can gradually alter the composition of the judiciary by the kinds of appointments that the Senate is willing to confirm * It can impeach judges it does not like * Congress can alter the number of judges in the Supreme Court * Congress and the states can also undo a Supreme Court decision interpreting the Constitution by amending that document SINU- Senate (what they hear), Impeach (justices), Number (of justices on the bench), Undo (what they rule by changing wording)

How frequently has Congress utilized impeachment to check the courts?

15 judges have been impeached (and 9 have resigned expecting to be impeached)

How many laws have been declared unconstitutional?

160

Define litmus test. Explain its importance to the judicial selection process.

An examination of the political ideology of a nominated judge

What is a writ of certiorari?

An order by a higher court directing a lower court to send up a case for review

Only in the US would the selection of judges produce such dramatic and bitter conflict, why?

Because only in the United States do judges play so large a role in making public policy.

If a member of Congress disagreed with a constitutional decision by the court, can he or she propose to amend the Constitution?

Congress and the states can also undo a Supreme Court decision interpreting the Constitution by amending that document

What are the four ways that the courts have increased their power to influence policy?

Declaring laws unconstitutional, overturning precedents, handling political questions, and designing remedies

Explain the significance of Robert Fulton's "steamboat" case (Gibbons v. Ogden).

Established that interstate commerce will be monitored by the federal government and not the states

Explain the significance of McCulloch v. Maryland.

Established that the federal law is the supreme law of the land, and therefore overrules state laws in this case it deemed that a state may not tax an enterprise (bank) created by the federal government.

Who wrote Fed. 78?

Hamilton

What role do interest groups (such as the ACLU and the NAACP) play in getting cases to court?

Interest groups help people who are poor but the matter is not a criminal case, then if they have an interest in the case they will often take up the cost of the case, they also organize the case, find the plaintiffs, choose the legal strategy, and mobilize legal allies

The text argues that getting a case into court depends most strongly on what?

It depends on having standing and having resources

What happens to a judicial appointment if a senator refuses to return the "blue slip?"

It usually kills the nomination

Explain senatorial courtesy. Which judicial appointments are effected by senatorial courtesy?

Only applies to district court judges. The president will submit a possible candidate who he might nominate to the senators of that state, using a "blue slip," and he will not nominate the candidate unless both senators approve

How frequently has Congress merely re-passed a law that the Court declared unconstitutional?

Over 30 times

What issue has primarily occupied the Supreme Court since the 1930s?

Personal political liberties have been the dominant issue since the 1930s

How important is party and ideology to presidents when selecting judges?

Presidents want to nominate a judge with the same party and ideology, but no one ever knows how that person will act once in court, despite his or her ideology

What is a "dual court system?"

The United States has a state court and a federal court system.

From the Civil War to the 1930s, what issue primarily occupied the Supreme Court?

The dominant issue the Supreme Court was faced with was deciding when the economy would be regulated by the states and when by the federal government.

Explain the argument in support of judicial activism.

The federal courts must correct injustices when the other branches of the federal government, or the states, refuse to do so. The courts are the institution of last resort for those without the votes or the influence to obtain new laws, and especially for the poor and powerless.

What happens if a vote by the Supreme Court ends in a tie?

The lower court decision is left standing

Why did Alexander Hamilton consider the judiciary to be the "least dangerous" branch?

The president has the "sword of community", congress appropriates money "commands the purse" and controls laws, but the judiciary branch has no control over "the sword or the purse" and so it is the weakest of the three, the only real reason it has judicial review is to check the power of the other two branches.

Where do the vast majority of all cases heard by the federal courts begin?

The vast majority begin in the federal district courts

The framers expected that judicial review would be relatively passive. Why?

The view that judges interpret law and do not make policy made it easy for the Founders to justify the power of judicial review and led them to predict that the courts would play a relatively neutral, even passive, role in public affairs.

In a typical year, how many petitions for cert will the Supreme Court receive? How many will it accept?

They receive over 7000 they decide to review about 100

What types of cases are exclusively under the jurisdiction of the federal courts?

When a federal criminal law is broken (but not a state one) the case is heard in federal district court

What determines which cases the Supreme Court hears on appeal?

Whether or not they review the case and decide to issue a writ of cert to it, it is the Supreme Court's decision

Amicus curiae

a brief submitted by a "friend of the court" (other parties who are not directly associated with the case but are interested in it enough to submit their opinions)

Per curiam opinion

a brief unsigned court opinion (usually written when the Supreme Court is in agreement 9-0 in a case and they don't feel like writing a 50 pg. summary)

Legislative courts

a court set up by congress for some specialized purpose and staffed with people who have fixed terms of office and can be removed or have their salaries reduced. Legislative court include the Court of Military Appeals and the territorial courts

Standing

a legal rule stating who is authorized to start a lawsuit • There must be actual controversy between real adversaries • You must show that you have been harmed by the law or practice abut which you are complaining • Merely being a tax payer does not ordinarily entitle you to challenge the constitutionality of a federal governmental action (that is what voting is for)

In forma pauperis

a method whereby a poor person can have his or her case heard in federal court without charge, if the case is a criminal trial

Fee shifting

a rule that allows a plaintiff to recover costs from the defendant if the plaintiff wins

Dissenting opinion

a signed opinion in which one or more justices disagree with the majority view

Concurring opinion

a signed opinion in which one or more members agree with the majority view but for different reasons

Opinion of the court

a signed opinion of a majority of the Supreme Court

Brief

a written statement by an attorney that summarizes a case and the laws and rulings that support it

Federal Questions Case

cases concerning the Constitution, federal laws, or treaties

Diversity Case

cases involving citizens of different states who can bring suit in federal courts

what is the order of the courts?

district court, court of appeals, supreme court

Judicial review

the power if courts to declare laws unconstitutional

Sovereign immunity

the rule that a citizen cannot sue the government without the government's consent

Judicial restraint view

the view that judges should decide cases strictly on the basis of the language of the laws and the Constitution

Judicial activist view

the view that judges should discern the general principles underlying laws or the Constitution and apply them to modern circumstances

Overturning precedents

this happens when the court changes its mind about a matter it has debated before, the precedent is important for two reasons • If the meaning of the law keeps changing, the decisions of the judges become unpredictable and then human affairs affected by those laws become chaotic • If the principle of equal justice means anything, it means that similar cases should be decided in a similar manner

Designing remedies

this is the most powerful indicator of judicial power can be found in the kinds of remedies that the courts will impose (a remedy is a judicial order enforcing a right or redressing a wrong), these remedies with often now apply to many groups and affect circumstances of MANY people

Federalist 78

written by Alexander Hamilton; talks about the federal judiciary; judiciary must depend on other two branches to uphold its decisions

Explain the most frequent arguments against judicial activism. (4) ELCU mnemonic device

• Judges have no special expertise in the subject matter that they decide. • They are lawyers, experts in defining rights and duties, but not in designing and managing complex institutions • Implementing the principles the Supreme Courts decides requires the balancing of conflicting needs of various interest groups, raising and spending tax money, and assessing the costs and benefits of complicated alternatives • Federal judges are appointed, not elected, and therefore immune to popular control, and if they depart from their traditional task of interpreting the law and start making policy, they become unelected legislators. ELCU- Expertise (lack of), Lawyers (not policy makers), Conflicting (groups and balancing needs), Unelected (representatives and policy makers)