AP Government Chapter 14

Stare decisis

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

Amicus curiae

A Latin term meaning "a friend of the court." Refers to interested groups or individuals, not directrly involved in a suit, who may file legal briefs or make oral arguements in support of one side.

per curiam opinion

A brief, unsigned opinion issued by the Supreme Court to explain its ruling.

writ of habeas corpus

A court order that requires authorities to bring a prisoner to court to explain why they are holding the person.

dissenting opinon

A dissenting opinion is an opinion in a legal case written by one or more judges expressing disagreement with the majority opinion of the court which gives rise to its judgment. Example: The outcome of the O.J. Simpson case.

impeachment

A formal accusation of misconduct in office against a public official. Example: Bill Clinton was impeached for his actions with Monica Lewinsky.

criminal law

A law concerned with public wrongs against society. Example: Laws concerning murder and theft.

civil law

A law that governs relationships between individuals and defines their legal rights. Example: Laws concerning marriage and property owning.

standing

A legal concept establishing who is entitled to bring a lawsuit to court. Example: An individual must ordinarily show personal harm in order to acquire standing and be heard into court.

Plaintiff

A person who brings a legal action against another. Example: If an assaulted man takes the man who assaulted him to court, the man who was assaulted is the plaintiff of the case.

litmus test

A scientific term used in politics to describe a test of ideological purity. A way of finding a persons purity towards the liberal or conservative/what their views are on a contoversial question.

defendant

An individual or group being sued or charged with a crime. Example: Wal-Mart is the defendant in the Dukes v. Wal-Mart case.

concurring opinion

An opinion that agrees with the majority in a Supreme Court ruling but differs on the reasoning.

writ of mandamus

Court order directing an official to perform an official duty. Example: In Marbury v. Madison, the plaintiff wanted a writ of mandamus to be issued.

Class action suit

Lawsuit brought by an individual or a group of people on behalf of all those similarly situated. Example: In Dukes v. Wal-Mart, the plaintiff contained many women who were sexually discriminated by Wal-Mart.

writ of certiorari

Order by the Supreme Court directing a lower court to send up the records of a case for review. Example: The Supreme Court uses a writ of certiorari to take a Maryland state court case to take it to the national level.

senatorial courtesy

Presidential custom of submitting the names of prospective appointees for approval to senators from the states in which the appointees are to work.

Marbury v. Madison

The 1803 case in which Chief Justice John Marshall and his associates first asserted the right of the Supreme Court to determine the meaning of the U.S. Constitution. The decision established the Court's power of judicial review over acts of Congress, (the Judiciary Act of 1789).

Appellate jurisdiction

The authority of a court to review decisions made by lower courts.

original jurisdiction

The jurisdiction of courts that hear a case first, usually in a trial. These are the courts that determine the facts about a case.

judicial review

The power of the courts to declare acts of the legislature and of the executive to be unconstitutional and hence null and void. Example: The Executive Branch's power to perform a line item veto went under judicial review and was declared unconstitutional.

"rule of four"

The unwritten requirement that four Supreme Court justices must agree to grant a case certiorari in order for the case to be heard.

strict-constructionist approach

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

activist approach

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