Judicial Branch Part 1 Quiz

judicial v. legislative powers

judicial: -interpreting the constitution -declare an executive order unconstitutional legislative: -establishing inferior courts

dissenting opinion

opinion expressed by justices who disagree with the majority

majority opinion

opinion representing the final decision on the case

concurring opinion

opinion that agrees with the majority but disagree with the reasoning behind decision

Appellate (Circuit) Courts

-12 courts representing geographic locations (eleven numbered circuits and Washington DC) and the Federal Circuit Court of Appeals -multiple judges serve on each circuit (6 on First Circuit to 29 on the Ninth) -when a district court decides a case, litigants can appeal decision to corresponding appellate court

Article 3: Section 1-3

-Constitution says that we will have a Supreme Court separate from both the legislature and the executive -up to Congress to decide on other federal courts -3 level federal court system: trial courts, courts of appeals, and the SC (800 judges w life tenure) -all judges and justices are appointed by President and confirmed by the Senate

Shaw v. Reno (1993)

-Ruled that North Carolina violated the equal protection clause of the Fourteenth Amendment -Decided that redistricting plans based on race must be held to a high standard of scrutiny

original jurisdiction

-SC has original jurisdiction in certain types of cases (such as disputes between states and those involving ambassadors) -these cases are brought directly to the SC

policy implementation

-SC must rely on other branches of gov to enforce its rulings -must rely on the strong political norm within the United States of obeying the rulings of the Court -ex: Brown v. Board / Gonzales v. Raich

US Supreme Court

-highest court in the US judicial system -jurisdiction over all cases brought in federal court as well as those decided by state supreme court on the basis of federal law -rulings are final word

District Courts (Trial Courts)

-over 670 district judgeships with 94 districts authorized by Congress (at least one district court in each state) -hear both criminal and civil cases (jurisdiction is limited to disputes that involve an actual case or controversy) -disputes may involve a constitutional provision, federal law, be between litigants of different states, or involve one litigant that is a citizen of another country

writ of certiorari

-petition to appeal decision made by circuit or state supreme court to SC -interested groups/individuals may file amicus briefs to encourage SC to hear or reject petition -at least 4 justices must agree to hear case; if there are not 4 justices, petition is denied and lower court's decision stands -SC's decision to deny cert does not mean that the lower court is right -over 7000 petitions are filed each year and the SC only accepts about 70-80

Federalist 78 (Hamilton)

-proposes form for judicial branch -judges should serve for life pending good behavior to ensure judicial independence -judicial branch is least dangerous as it can not wage nor collect taxes -argues for judicial review

Which of the following statements describes a way for the executive branch to limit the Supreme Court's power?

By appointing new Supreme Court justices

Based on the text, which of the following statements would the author most likely agree with?

By issuing unpopular decisions, the Supreme Court invites challenges to its legitimacy from the American public.

Which of the following is an accurate comparison of the powers of the judicial branch and the powers of the legislative branch?

Comparison A: Interpreting the Constitution/Establishing inferior courts

Which of the following is an accurate comparison of the two court cases? Marbury v. Madison (1803) and Baker v. Carr (1961)

Comparison B: Led to more power for the Supreme Court to check the other branches/Led to the "one-person, one-vote" judicial doctrine

Which of the following is an accurate comparison of the two court cases? Marbury v. Madison (1803) Shaw v. Reno (1993)

Comparison C: Decided that the Supreme Court can declare a law unconstitutional/Decided that redistricting plans based on race must be held to a high standard of scrutiny

Which of the following may the judicial branch do to limit the power of the president?

Declare an executive order unconstitutional

Marbury v. Madison

Established the principle of "judicial review," that it is the Supreme Court's duty to review the laws and reject ones that are inconsistent with the Constitution.

Which statement accurately summarizes the impact of the Marbury v. Madison (1803) decision?

It increased the power of the Supreme Court to rule on the constitutionality of acts of Congress, states, and the president

Which of the following statements best describes judicial restraint?

Judges should limit the exercise of their own power to interpreting the Constitution according to its original intent

Which of the following statements best explains how judicial activism influences decisions made by individual justices when deciding cases heard by the Court?

Justices are influenced by the social effects the decision might have on the public

"That inflexible and uniform adherence to the rights of the Constitution, and of individuals, which we perceive to be indispensable in the courts of justice, can certainly not be expected from judges who hold their offices by a temporary commission. Periodical appointments, however regulated, or by whomsoever made, would, in some way or other, be fatal to their necessary independence." -Alexander Hamilton, Federalist No. 78, "The Judiciary Department," 1788 Which of the following government policies would the author most likely support?

Life terms, pending good behavior, for Supreme Court justices

"There is no position which depends on clearer principles, than that every act of a delegated authority, contrary to the tenor of the commission under which it is exercised, is void. No legislative act, therefore, contrary to the Constitution, can be valid." -Alexander Hamilton, Federalist No. 78, "The Judiciary Department," 1788 Supporters of Hamilton's view that acts contrary to the Constitution are invalid could point to which of the following cases?

Marbury v. Madison

A Supreme Court precedent approving mandatory busing of students to ensure greater racial integration in public schools throughout the South could be viewed as interfering with state powers under the Constitution, and as creating law rather than interpreting it. Which of the following could Congress do to limit the Supreme Court's power in response?

Pass legislation changing the Court's jurisdiction

Based on his statement in the passage, which of the following policy goals does Trump want to promote through ideological appointments to the Supreme Court?

Reversing the precedent that the right of privacy extends to a woman's decision to have an abortion

"There is no position which depends on clearer principles, than that every act of a delegated authority, contrary to the tenor of the commission under which it is exercised, is void. No legislative act, therefore, contrary to the Constitution, can be valid." -Alexander Hamilton, Federalist No. 78, "The Judiciary Department," 1788 Which of the following statements best summarizes Hamilton's argument?

The Supreme Court should have the power of judicial review

"The distinction between a government with limited and unlimited powers is abolished, if those limits do not confine the persons on whom they are imposed, and if acts prohibited and acts allowed, are of equal obligation. It is a proposition too plain to be contested, that the constitution controls any legislative act repugnant to it; or, that the legislature may alter the constitution by an ordinary act. Between these alternatives there is no middle ground. The constitution is either a superior, paramount law, unchangeable by ordinary means, or it is on a level with ordinary legislative acts, and, like other acts, is alterable when the legislature shall please to alter it." ->John Marshall, decision in Marbury v. Madison (1803) Which of the following statements is most consistent with Marshall's argument in this passage?

The Constitution is above ordinary laws

Which of the following describes a difficulty the judicial branch faces in the policy implementation process?

The Supreme Court must rely on the other branches of government to enforce its rulings

"So if a law be in opposition to the constitution; if both the law and the constitution apply to a particular case, so that the court must either decide that case conformably to the law, disregarding the constitution; or conformably to the constitution, disregarding the law; the court must determine which of these conflicting rules governs the case. This is of the very essence of judicial duty. If, then, the courts are to regard the constitution, and the constitution is superior to any ordinary act of the legislature, the constitution, and not such ordinary act, must govern the case to which they both apply." -John Marshall, decision in Marbury v. Madison (1803) Which of the following statements best summarizes Marshall's argument?

The Supreme Court should judge whether a law is constitutional

"The complete independence of the courts of justice is peculiarly essential in a limited Constitution. By a limited Constitution, I understand one which contains certain specified exceptions to the legislative authority . . . Limitations of this kind can be preserved in practice no other way than through the medium of courts of justice, whose duty it must be to declare all acts contrary to the manifest tenor of the Constitution void. Without this, all the reservations of particular rights or privileges would amount to nothing." -Alexander Hamilton, Federalist No. 78, "The Judiciary Department," 1788 Which of the following statements best summarizes Hamilton's argument?

The judicial branch is responsible for interpreting the Constitution and judging whether the laws passed by Congress are constitutional

judicial duty

the duty of the judicial branch to determine whether a law conflicts with the Constitution, which is superior to ordinary law