chapter 14 quiz

How many members sit on the US Supreme Court? Who presides over the Court?

9// the chief justice

How many federal district courts exist in the U.S.? What is the minimum number in each state?

94// 1

What percent of the nation's legal cases are decided by state or local courts?

95%

How are federal judges selected? What are the requirements?

All federal judges are nominated and appointed to office by the president, subject to confirmation by majority vote in the Senate.

judicial review

Allows the court to determine the constitutionality of laws

How long do federal judges serve? How may a Supreme Court justice be removed from office?

Federal judges serve until they die or retire voluntarily. //No Supreme Court justice and only a handful of lower-court judges have been removed through impeachment and conviction by Congress, the method of early removal specified by the Constitution.

Citing the power of the Court, what did the current chief justice say is the most important thing for the public to understand?

I think the most important thing for the public to understand is that we are not a political branch of government. They don't elect us. If they don't like what we're doing, it's more or less just too bad."

What are the similarities and differences between Justices Marshall & Thomas service on the Supreme Court?

Marshall was one of the most liberal justices ever to serve on the Court, while Thomas has been one of the most conservative justices ever.

How do presidents influence judicial policy long after they have left office?

Presidents usually appoint jurists who have a compatible political philosophy.

How many justices on the Supreme Court are female? Minorities? Who were the first?

Roughly two-thirds of Barack Obama's appointees were women or minorities, an all-time high Until 1916, when Louis D. Brandeis was appointed to the Court, no Jewish justice had ever served Sandra Day O'Connor in 1981 was the first woman justice. Antonin Scalia in 1986 was the Court's first justice of Italian descent. Sotomayor, who was appointed in 2009, is the first Hispanic justice.

What did President Eisenhower say when asked if he made any mistakes as president?

Yes, two, and they are both sitting on the Supreme Court."12

What does writ of certiorari mean? How many parties apply & are accepted?

a request to the lower court to submit to the Supreme Court a record of the case. Each year roughly 8,000 parties apply for certiorari, but the Court grants certiorari to fewer than 100 cases

What is "Senatorial courtesy?"

a tradition that dates back nearly two centuries, holds that a senator from the state in which a district court vacancy has arisen should be consulted on the choice of a nominee if the senator is of the same party as the president

Which framer argued forcefully for life tenure for federal judges?

alexander hamilton

Where do cases appealed from district courts go to? How many of these courts exist in the U.S.?

appeals// 13

Where are most federal cases resolved? (what level of the courts)

district (lower)

How do most state judges take office? How are state judges selected in Florida? (see How the 50 States Differ)

in most states judges are elected to office. // merit plan

The judiciary is an independent branch of the US gov't but how is it unlike the other two branches?

its top officials are not elected by the people. The judiciary is not a democratic institution, and its role is different from and, in some ways, more controversial than the roles of the executive and legislative branches.

Note the difference between Judicial Restraint & Judicial Activism? Which did Chief Justice Marshall & Holmes ascribe to?

judicial activism holds that judges should actively interpret the Constitution, statutes, and precedents in light of fundamental principles and should intervene when elected representatives fail to uphold these principles.- marshall judicial restraint holds that policy decisions in nearly every instance should be decided by elected lawmakers and not by appointed judges. - holmes

What percentage of cases is actually reviewed by the Supreme Court?

less than 1%

According to the tenth amendment, what is protected of each state? As a result, what does each state have?

protects each state in its sovereignty, and each state has its own court system.

What is precedent?

refers to previous court rulings on similar cases.

When is the Supreme Court most likely to grant certiorari?

resolving issues that are being decided inconsistently by the lower courts, correcting serious departures from accepted standards of justice, settling key questions of federal law, and reviewing lower-court rulings that conflict with a previous Supreme Court decision.

What did the Supreme Court rule in Obergefell v. Hodges?

that a ban on same-sex marriage violated the Fourteenth Amendment.

What occurs during a Supreme Court hearing?

the attorney for each side presents its oral argument, which typically is limited to 30 minutes.5 Each side also provides the Court a written brief, which contains its fuller argument. The oral session is followed by the judicial conference, which is attended only by the nine justices and in which they discuss and vote on the case. The conference's proceedings are secret, which allows the justices to speak freely about a case and to change their mind as the discussion progresses.6

How is it decided who will write the majority opinion of a Supreme Court case?

the chief justice // senior justice

Most cases that originate in state courts also end there, but when does a case go to a federal court?

when state authorities are alleged to have violated a right protected by the U.S. Constitution

What is an opinion? Distinguish between a majority, concurring and dissenting opinion.

which explains the legal basis for the decision. When a majority of the justices agree on the legal basis of a decision, the result is a majority opinion. concurring opinion, a separate view written by a justice who votes with the majority but disagrees with all or part of its reasoning. dissenting opinion; in it, a justice (or justices) on the losing side explains the reasons for disagreeing with the majority position.