The Judiciary-Chapter 9

Senatorial courtesy is

A tradition whereby nominees for federal judgeships must meet the approval of senators of the president's party from the state in which the nominee will serve

A decision written by one or more judges expressing disagreement with the majority opinion of the Supreme Court is a(n)

Dissenting opinion

This is a request for the Supreme Court to order up the records from a lower court to review the case

Writ of centiorari

Legal briefs submitted by a "friend of the court" for the purpose of influencing the court's decision by raising additional arguments and points of view is a(n)

Amicus curiae brief

All of the following influence the selection of federal judges and Supreme Court justices EXCEPT

Campaign contributions

Which of the following statements is true about Congress's influence over Supreme Court decision making?

Congress has significant control over the court's appellate jurisdiction

Stare decisis is a judicial principle which states that the courts will decide cases largely based on

Earlier court decisions

The "rule of four" is a Supreme Court practice which permits four of the nine justices to

Grant a writ of centiorari

These petitions are filed by individuals who do not have the funds to file a lawsuit

In forma pauperis

Which of the following statements is true of the judicial system in the United States?

It is an adversarial system in which justice is supposed to emerge from the struggle between two contending points of view

The philosophy of the courts where judges make decisions based on the spirit of the times and needs of the nations is known as

Judicial activism

The power of courts to determine which acts of Congress, the executive branch, the state legislatures are constitutional is known as

Judicial implementation

The philosophy of the courts where judges play a minimal policy making role and defer to legislatures whenever possible are known as

Judicial restraint

Federal district courts are the only federal courts in which

Juries are impaneled to decide cases

All of the following are true about the Supreme Court EXCEPT

Members are seated in alphabetical order

Interest groups play a role in the federal judicial process in all of the following ways EXCEPT by

Running advertisements endorsing a judicial nominee

The Supreme Court's power to strengthened by its ability to

Select the cases it will hear

One major weakness of federal courts as policymakers is that

The courts must rely on other institutions to implement their decisions

Which of the following is true about the vast majority of cases decided by the Supreme Court?

They are decided based on how similar past cases have been decicded