POLS101: Chapter 15

The Constitution grants ________ the right to control the Supreme Court's jurisdiction.

Congress

U.S. statutes and acts are authored by

Congress and other legislatures.

According to judicial scholar Thomas Keck, the MOST judicially active Supreme Court was the _______ Court.

Rehnquist

Which phases of the Supreme Court's hearing and deliberations process offer the MOST opportunities for civic engagement?

"friend of the court" briefs and oral arguments

How many federal courts of appeal are there?

13

How many court systems is the average American subject to?

2

For the Supreme Court to hear a case, how many of the nine justices must want to hear it?

4

How many justices are there on the Supreme Court?

9

How many federal district courts are there in the U.S. court system?

94

Which of the following statements about constitutional law is accurate?

All laws in the United States must comply with the U.S. Constitution.

Which factor influences senators as they appoint federal judges?

All of these answers are correct.

Initially, the federal judiciary was

quite weak, with little authority.

Of the members of the Supreme Court in 2016, which one had the closest confirmation vote in the Senate?

Clarence Thomas

Which of the following Supreme Court justices is generally viewed as the MOST conservative?

Clarence Thomas

According to the Constitution, which of the following is empowered to establish federal district courts?

Congress

Which of the following is a key difference between criminal trials and civil trials?

Criminal trials require a higher degree of certainty of guilt or responsibility.

Which of the following chief justices led a particularly activist Supreme Court?

Earl Warren

Which of the following Supreme Court appointees were nominated by President Obama?

Elena Kagan and Sonia Sotomayor

Which of the following statements about executive orders is accurate?

Executive orders are a type of presidential lawmaking.

Which of these special courts has come under increased media scrutiny due to its use since the 9/11 attacks?

FISA (Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act) Court

Which early landmark case granted the Supreme Court its most significant power?

Marbury v. Madison

The current Supreme Court is known as the _______ Court.

Roberts

Which of the following Supreme Court justices is MOST liberal?

Ruth Bader Ginsburg

Who is charged with drafting cert memos, which summarize the facts, describe the legal arguments, and make a recommendation as to whether the Supreme Court should take the case?

Supreme Court clerks

A court's jurisdiction is established by

a constitution or a statute.

In a civil lawsuit, negligence that causes harm to another person's body or property is known as

a tort.

A federal court would be authorized to hear all of the following cases EXCEPT

any trial to determine the facts no matter who the parties are.

The Supreme Court predominately acts as a court of

appellate jurisdiction.

The view that judicial decision making is guided by the ideology of individual judges is known as the

attitudinal model.

In Federalist No. 78, Alexander Hamilton argued that the Constitution structured the federal judiciary so that it would

be the weakest of the three branches of government.

A request to the Supreme Court that it review a case that was already decided is made via a(n)

certiorari petition.

The leading justice on the Supreme Court, who provides both organizational and intellectual leadership, is known as the

chief justice.

What term is used to describe a court made up of a group of judges who must evaluate a case together and decide on an outcome?

collegial court

A Supreme Court justice who agrees with the majority in a case, but disagrees in whole or in part with the majority opinion, has the option to write a _______ opinion.

concurring

Which of the following are considered the highest form of law?

constitutions

The attempt to ensure that governing bodies are representative of major demographic groups in proportions similar to their representation in the population at large is known as _______ representation.

descriptive

A Supreme Court justice who disagrees with the majority in a case has the option to write a _______ opinion.

dissenting

Senatorial courtesy, used today in the selection of ________, gives a senator the right to veto an appointment to when the senator and nominee are from the same home state.

district court and courts of appeals judges

What type of court system exists in the United States?

dual court system

The common law is based on which of the following?

earlier court decisions

In the process of administrative rule making, which of the following use their discretion to establish rules and regulations to implement policy?

federal bureaucrats

Over its history to date, how many women have served on the bench of the Supreme Court?

four

Which of the following best describes the ideological distribution of the Supreme Court today?

ideologically neutral, with equal numbers of conservatives and liberals

The authority of the Supreme Court to determine the constitutionality of governmental action is known as

judicial review.

Gallup opinion polls show that the public trusts the judicial branch

more than both the legislative branch and the executive branch.

The compilation of a state's criminal law is known as its _______ code.

penal

The principle of stare decisis, a Latin phrase that means "let the decision stand," is the basis of the modern legal concept of

precedent.

The U.S. circuit courts of appeals

review the interpretation or application of law in a previous court case.

The vast majority of crimes in the United States are dealt with by _______ legislation.

state

Which of the following issues articles of impeachment for federal judges?

the House

Which of the following conducts impeachment trials for federal judges?

the Senate

Which of the following share power in the selection of federal court judges?

the Senate and the president

Which of the following are considered courts of last resort, whose opinions carry the force of law?

the Supreme Court and state high courts

The compilation of all the laws passed by the U.S. Congress is known as

the U.S. Code.

Who files suit in a case dealing with a violation of criminal law?

the government

Which of the following issues serves as the basis for most common civil lawsuits?

traffic accidents

In the federal judicial system, the main courts of original jurisdiction for most cases are the

trial courts.

The term symbolic representation refers to which of the following in the selection of federal judges?

whether federal judges on the whole are a diverse body