American Politics Ch. 14

3. (p. 469) A writ of certiorari is A. a request to a lower court to submit to the Supreme Court a record of the case it has been requested to hear. B. the statement explaining the reasoning behind a Supreme Court decision. C. the official transcript of Supreme Court proceedings. D. a statement from a group not directly involved in a Supreme Court case, indicating the group's opinion on the legal issue at hand. E. an application for a waiver of court fees due to indigence.

A. a request to a lower court to submit to the Supreme Court a record of the case it has been requested to hear.

20. (p. 483) The term stare decisis refers to A. adherence to precedent. B. judicial activism. C. judicial restraint. D. judicial review. E. excessive partisanship.

A. adherence to precedent.

21. (p. 488) An amicus curiae ("friend of the court") brief provides a court with the view held by A. an interest that is not a direct party to the case. B. the Justice Department. C. the House and Senate judiciary committees. D. the American Bar Association. E. the solicitor general.

A. an interest that is not a direct party to the case.

26. (p. 494) According to the doctrine of judicial restraint, the judiciary should A. defer to precedent and to decisions made by legislature. B. deny most appeals for retrials. C. deny individual rights when they conflict with the majority's desires. D. decline to make any decision that requires judges to give added meaning to the words of the Constitution. E. conform to the will of the people as measured by public opinion polls.

A. defer to precedent and to decisions made by legislature.

9. (p. 469) With regard to the lower courts, the Supreme Court's primary responsibility is A. establishing legal precedents that will guide their decisions. B. correcting any technical mistakes the lower courts make in the cases they hear. C. settling jurisdictional disputes among federal judges. D. settling jurisdictional disputes between state and federal judges. E. All these answers are correct.

A. establishing legal precedents that will guide their decisions.

38. (p. 468) The Supreme Court has original jurisdiction in legal disputes involving A. foreign diplomats. B. the president. C. the Congress. D. private parties. E. free speech and equal protection issues.

A. foreign diplomats.

16. (p. 481) According to the Constitution, the federal courts can issue a decision only A. in response to actual legal cases. B. in cases where the U.S. government is one of the parties involved in the dispute. C. on cases heard previously by a state court and appealed by the losing party. D. in cases where the U.S. government is one of the parties involved in the dispute, and where the cases were heard previously by a state court and appealed by the losing party. E. None of these answers is correct.

A. in response to actual legal cases.

12. (p. 477) The appointment of federal judges is influenced most substantially by A. partisanship. B. logrolling. C. pork barreling. D. affirmative action. E. personal friendships.

A. partisanship.

4. (p. 471) A concurring opinion A. explains the chief justice's position on a case. B. is a separate view written by a justice who votes with the majority but disagrees with its reasoning. C. is delivered when the Court interprets a constitutional issue. D. is delivered when at least two justices, but less than a majority, hold the same opinion in a case. E. explains why the Court accepted the case in the first place.

B. is a separate view written by a justice who votes with the majority but disagrees with its reasoning.

23. (p. 483) Precedent, while not an absolute constraint on the courts, is needed to A. preserve the courts as a counter majoritarian institution. B. maintain legal consistency over time, so confusion and uncertainty about the law can be avoided. C. check the president in the area of public law. D. balance the policy making authority of Congress. E. check the president in the area of foreign policy.

B. maintain legal consistency over time, so confusion and uncertainty about the law can be avoided.

37. (p. 474) The Supreme Court is likely to grant a hearing when a case involves A. an issue of state law as opposed to an issue of federal law. B. an issue of private law as opposed to an issue of public law. C. an issue that is being decided inconsistently by the lower courts. D. the possibility that an innocent person has been wrongly convicted of a crime. E. an issue dealing with state constitutional law.

C. an issue that is being decided inconsistently by the lower courts.

1. (p. 469) A judicial decision that establishes a rule for settling subsequent cases of a similar nature is a A. writ of certiorari. B. landmark decision. C. writ of mandamus. D. precedent. E. writ of error.

D. precedent.