Honors Government: Unit 5 Test

What article provides that Congress "may" establish lower federal courts?

Article III

What are Constitutional courts also called?

Article III courts or Regular Courts

How did Congress create the Constitutinal Courts?

As permitted by the Constitution, Congress created these courts.

Corrective justice

Concerned about the fairness of a response to some wrong doing or injury Fighting a wrong This is often the first thing that comes to mind when thinking about justice

Who creates the inferior courts?

Congress

Why did Congress create the special courts?

Congress created the special courts to hear cases arising out of some of the expressed powers given to Congress in Article I.

What power did Congress exercise in creating the special courts?

Congress created the special courts under the power given to an article 1 "to constitute tribunals inferior to the Supreme Court".

Who created the special courts?

Congress created the special courts.

What power did Congress exercise in creating the Constitutional Courts?

Congress exercised the broad "judicial Power of the United States" as stated in Article III.

Article I, Section 8, Clause 9

Congress is also given the expressed power "to constitute Tribunals inferior to the Supreme Court"

What are the two main questions of procedural justice?

1) Is there a process? 2) Is it followed fairly?

What are the two distinct types of federal court?

1) constitutional courts 2) special courts

What parties must be involved in order for a case to fall within the jurisdiction of the federal courts?

1) the United States or one of its officers or agencies 2) an ambassador, consul, or other official representative of a foreign government 3) one of the 50 States suing either another State, a resident of another State, or a foreign government, ore one of its subjects 4) a citizen of one State suing a citizen of another State 5) a U.S. Citizen suing a foreign government or one of its subjects 6) a citizen of one State suing a citizen of that same State where both claim land under grants from different States

What are the two major components of our dual court system?

1) the national judiciary: spans the country with its more than 120 courts 2) the state courts: each of the 50 states has its own system of courts

When are 12 jurors usually found?

12 jurors are usually found in felony cases.

What were the years of the Articles of Confederation?

1781-1789

What concernments make a case fall under the jurisdiction of the federal courts?

A case falls within the jurisdiction of the federal courts if it concerns: 1) the interpretation and application of a provision in the Constitution or in any federal statute or treaty 2) a question of admiralty law (matters that arise on the high seas of navigable U.S. waters) 3) a question of maritime law (matters arising on land but directly relating to water)

Civil case

A civil case is a dispute between two or more parties.

What is an example of "a question of maritime law"?

A contract to deliver a ship's supplies at dockside

Criminal case

A criminal case is if you have violated a law.

True or False: All juries have 12 people.

False

True or False: You always have to have a jury.

False.

True or false: Federalism requires two court systems.

False.

Concurrent jurisdiction

Federal and state courts share the power to hear a case

Distributive justice

Looking at how fair distributing or dividing something Can be good or bad

Jury

People who decide the outcome of the case

What is an example of procedural justice?

Police crimes

What are the three categories of justice?

Procedural, distributive, and corrective

Which hears more cases: national or state courts?

State courts hear most of the cases in the country

What is an example of corrective justice?

Suing

True or False: All cases that are not heard by the federal courts are within the jurisdiction of the States' courts.

True

True or False: During the years of the Articles of Confederation there were no national courts or judiciary.

True

True or False: The Framers gave the federal courts exclusive jurisdiction in admiralty and maritime cases to ensure national supremacy in the regulation of all waterborne commerce.

True

True or False: The criteria for deciding what are federal cases are quite complicated.

True

True or False: The special courts do not exercise the broad "judicial Power of the United States."

True

True or False: The special courts hear a much narrower range of cases than those that may come before the constitutional courts.

True

True or False: You can waive your right to a jury.

True

True or False: Justice is very fluid. You have to have your own idea.

True.

Article III, Section 1

"The judicial Power of the United States shall be vested in one Supreme Court, and in such interior Courts as the Congress May from time to time ordain and establish."

Dyer Act

(1925) makes it a federal crime to transport a stolen automobile across a State line

What is an example of an exclusive jurisdiction case?

- A case involving an ambassador or down river official of a foreign government cannot be heard by the state court; it must be tried in the federal court. - The trial of a person charged with a federal crime, or a suit involving the infringement of a patent or a copyright, or a case involving any other matter arising out of an act of Congress

Procedural justice

About the process

In 1789, what did Congress decide to establish?

At its first session, in 1789, Congress decided to construct a complete set of federal courts to parrellel those of the States.

Exclusive jurisdiction

Cases under exclusive jurisdiction can be heard only in the federal courts

What is an example of "a question of admiralty law"?

Collision at sea or crime committed aboard ship

Defendant

Defending case

What is an example of a civil case?

Divorce

What is an example of distributive justice?

Do we tax fairly?

How were laws interpreted during the reign of the Articles of Confederation?

During the Articles of Confederation, laws were interpreted as each state saw fit (sometimes not at all).

How does the court system work?

Each level of our federal government has a court system, but they are not linear.

For what kind of proceeding can you request a jury?

For any criminal proceeding you can request a jury.

What is the size of juries of minor cases?

In minor cases juries are smaller.

How do federal court systems typically work of other countries?

In most of the world's other federal court systems, the principal courts are those of the state or provinces; typically, the only significant federal court is a national court of last resort, often called a Supreme Court.

How did states respond to other state court decisions during the Articles of Confederation?

Often, decisions by the courts in one state were ignored by the courts in other states.

"The want of a judiciary [as a] circumstance which crowns the defects of the Confederation." "Laws are a dead letter without courts to expound and define their true meaning."

The Federalist No. 22, Alexander Hamilton

How did the Framers create a national judiciary?

The Framers created a national judiciary for the United States in a single sentence in the Constitution.

Jurisdiction

The authority of a court to hear (to try and to decide) a case; the power "to say the law"

What type of courts has jurisdiction over most federal cases?

The constitutional courts

What type of courts hear the most of the cases tried in the federal court?

The constitutional courts

What is justice?

The definition is subjective. There is an universal sense of justice.

What two factors mold the different types of jurisdiction of the federal courts?

The federal courts have several different types of jurisdiction, depending on whether or not 1) they share the power to hear the case with State courts and 2) they are the first court to hear the case.

What does Article III, Section 2 say about federal courts?

The federal courts may hear a case because of either 1) the subject matter or 2) the parties involved

Inferior courts

The lower, federal courts; those beneath the Supreme Court

Plaintiff

The party who brings the charge

How is the size of a jury determined?

The size of the jury is determined by state.

How are the special courts power is defined?

The special courts have narrowly defined powers

How many court systems are there in the United States?

There are two separate court systems in the US.

What are the Special Courts also known as?

They are also called the legislative courts or article I courts.

What courts are included in the special courts?

They include the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Armed Forces, the U.S. Court of Appeals for Veteran Claims, the U.S. Tax Court, the various territorial courts, and the courts of the District of Columbia.

Why is the criteria for deciding federal cases complicated?

This is due to federalism and our two court systems.

What courts are included under the jurisdiction of the Supreme Court and the Constitutional courts?

Together with the Supreme Court, they now include the Courts of Appeals, at the district courts, and the US court of international trade.

What is an example of a criminal case?

Traffic violation