government chapter 15
There are ________ circuits in the U.S. Court of Appeals.
12
The president appoints judges of courts created under Congress's Article I power for
15 years
In all of American history, the Supreme Court has concluded that fewer than ________ acts of Congress have directly violated the Constitution.
160
Marbury v. Madison was decided in
1803
About ________ percent of all lower court cases are reviewed by federal appeals courts.
20
Under normal rules of oral argument, each lawyer has ________ to present his or her case before the Supreme Court.
30 minutes
Each Supreme Court justice is assigned ________ law clerks.
4
Congress has authorized the appointment of ________ federal district court judges in the United States.
678
How many justices currently serve on the Supreme Court?
9
Each year, the Supreme Court receives about ________ appeals and hears about ________ of them in full court.
9,000; 80
There are ________ U.S. district courts.
94
More than ________ percent of all cases in the United States are heard in state courts
97
Which of the following statements about federal courts is MOST accurate?
Although the federal courts hear only a small fraction of all of the civil and criminal cases decided each year in the United States, their decisions are extremely important because they interpret the Constitution and the federal laws that govern all Americans.
________ protects federal judges from political pressure by granting them life tenure
Article III of the U.S. Constitution
The Supreme Court struck down parts of the Military Commissions Act and declared habeas corpus to be a fundamental right in the case of
Boumediene v. Bush.
________ and ________ are the two MOST common types of civil law cases.
Contracts; torts
Which of the following statements about state and federal court procedures is MOST accurate?
Federal courts are required to provide a grand jury, a 12-member trial jury, and a unanimous jury verdict, while state courts are not.
What did the Supreme Court rule in Hamdi v. Rumsfeld (2004)?
Hamdi was entitled to a lawyer and an opportunity to rebut the government's charges against him.
What was the basis of Justice John Marshall's assertion that the federal courts have the power of judicial review?
It is the duty of the federal judges to say what the law is; therefore, it is necessary for them to interpret and expound the law
The power of the Supreme Court to review state actions and legislation is implied by
Marbury v. Madison.
In Schuette v. Coalition to Defend Affirmative Action (2014), the justices ruled on a(n)
Michigan; a ban on racial preferences in college admissions was
"Borking" occurs when
Senators draw extensively on excerpts from a judicial nominee's speeches and writings in order to paint the nominee as an extremist who is unqualified to serve in the federal judiciary.
Which of the following statements about Congress's delegation of power to the executive is MOST accurate?
Since the New Deal, the courts have frequently struck down congressional attempts to delegate powers to the executive branch as impermissibly broad.
The "switch in time that saved nine" referred to a(n)
Supreme Court justice who had been voting to strike down New Deal policies changing his vote to support the policies in response to a plan by President Roosevelt to increase the size of the Supreme Court.
When President Andrew Jackson reputedly said, "John Marshall has made his decision, now let him enforce it," what did he mean
The Supreme Court is unable to enforce its decisions without the aid of the executive branch.
Which of the following statements best characterizes the structure of the federal judiciary?
The entire federal judiciary is composed of 94 district courts, 12 circuit courts, one Supreme Court, and numerous specialized courts that have nationwide original jurisdiction in certain types of cases
Why has partisan conflict surrounded federal judicial appointments in recent years?
The federal courts play an increasingly important role in shaping American law and politics.
Which of the following statements best describes the formal requirements of serving as a federal court judge?
There are no formal requirements to serve as a federal court judge.
Which kind of case would NOT be granted certiorari under Rule 10 of the Rules of the Supreme Court of the United States?
a case about the constitutionality of state-level same-sex marriage bans when the state supreme courts of California and Kansas have reached opposite conclusions regarding the legality of the bans
Which of the following would the Supreme Court likely refuse to hear because the case lacked "ripeness"?
a case involving a citizen suing the Social Security Administration for failure to deliver Social Security benefits prior to the time the citizen was scheduled to receive the benefits
Which of the following would the Supreme Court likely refuse to hear because of "mootness"?
a case involving a student who was first rejected but then, later, admitted to a state-run university suing that university for discrimination in the admissions process
Which of the following cases would always be heard in federal court?
a case involving the citizens of more than one state and in which $150,000 is at stake
A single lawsuit involving thousands of smokers suing a tobacco company would be an example of
a class-action suit
________ occurs when a criminal case is resolved through a negotiated agreement before a full trial is completed.
a plea bargain
Cases in which the U.S. government is a party are
always heard in a federal court.
A person, agency, or interest group not directly a party to a case but with an interest in its outcome may file a(n) ________ brief.
amicus curiae
Unlike judges of Article III courts, the judges of courts created under Congress's Article I power
are not protected by the Constitution from salary reduction.
Marbury v. Madison (1803) is an important case because the justices
authorized the Supreme Court to exercise judicial review over laws passed by Congress.
In recent years, federal court appointments have
been characterized by intense partisan and ideological efforts to support or defeat the candidate.
The written document in which attorneys explain why the court should rule in favor of their clients is called a(n)
brief
When interest groups use a "pattern-of-cases" strategy, they
bring the same type of suit in more than one circuit in the hopes that inconsistent treatment by two different courts will improve the chance of a Supreme Court review.
Since 2017, the Senate filibuster
cannot be used against any presidential appointments.
When a U.S. court of appeals asks the Supreme Court for instructions on a point of law that has never been decided it is called a writ of
certification
Most cases reach the Supreme Court through a writ of
certiorari.
When a private individual brings a suit against a company for breaking a contract, this is an example of ________ law.
civil
In ________ cases, the losers cannot be fined or incarcerated by the state.
civil law
Which Supreme Court nominee was accused of sexual harassment during his confirmation hearing?
clarence thomas
The written opinions of appellate courts have been described as halfway between ________ law and ________ law.
common; statutory
The size of the U.S. Supreme Court is set by
congress
The government is always the plaintiff in ________ law.
criminal
The U.S. Court of Federal Claims was created by Congress to rule on
damage suits brought against the U.S. government.
The increase of administrative agencies since the New Deal has resulted in a(n
delegation of power by Congress to administrative agencies
The Supreme Court struck down state laws in the cases Brown v. Board of Education and Pavan v. Smith because the statutes in question
denied citizens equal protection of the law
Trial courts in the federal judicial system are called
district courts
appeals courts
do not hear witnesses or examine additional evidence before reaching their decisions.
During the Constitutional Convention, a "departmentalist" was someone who believed that
each branch of the new government would interpret the Constitution as it applied to its own actions rather than having the Supreme Court be the sole interpreter of the Constitution.
Section 1983 of the U.S. Code is significant because it
encourages individuals and groups to bring their problems to the courts rather than to Congress or the executive branch.
The essence of the rule of law is
ensuring that "the state" and its officials are judged by the same laws as the citizenry
The jurisdiction of the federal courts is determined
for the most part of geography
Activist judges believe that federal judges should
go beyond the words of a constitution or statute to consider the broader societal implications of their decisions.
The Administrative Procedure Act is important in civil law because it
governs agency rule making
The number of cases filed in the Supreme Court
has increased dramatically since 1940.
The Supreme Court has ruled that the president
has the unilateral power to declare someone an "enemy combatant."
The requirement of standing means that parties in a case must
have a concrete injury or interest at stake.
The assignment of the opinion in a Supreme Court case is
important because differences in wording and emphasis can have important implications for how the decision is interpreted in future litigation.
If someone is an advocate of the philosophy of judicial restraint, he or she believes
in looking only at the words of the Constitution in order to understand its meaning
A class-action suit is a legal action
in which a group of individuals with common interests can file a suit on behalf of everyone who shares that interest.
Roe v. Wade is a good example of
judicial activism, because it was based on a constitutional right to privacy that is not found in the actual words of the Constitution.
Through the exercise of ________, the Supreme Court has held actions or laws of the executive and legislative branches unconstitutional.
judicial review
What is common law?
law made by judges through their decisions, not through specific statutes
The solicitor general is the
lawyer who represents the United States before the Supreme Court in cases where the federal government is a party.
In Roe v. Wade (1973), the Supreme Court was required to rule
mootness
Civil cases involving the citizens of more than one state and in which more than $75,000 is at stake
must always be heard in federal district court.
Once the president has formally nominated an individual for a federal judgeship, the nominee
must be considered by the Senate Judiciary Committee and be confirmed by a majority vote in the full Senate.
The U.S. Supreme Court has been composed of
nine justices since 1869.
If a defendant is found not guilty in a criminal case, the government is
not entitled to appeal the verdict
In a typical tort case...
one individual charges that he or she has been injured by another's negligence or malfeasance.
Normally, ________ hear(s) a specific case on a federal circuit court of appeals
one judge
One example of ________ is the fact that a lawsuit filed by California against Nevada over river pollution goes directly before the Supreme Court.
original jurisdiciton
If a defendant is charged with burglary but admits to a lesser charge of trespassing in exchange for the prosecution dismissing the burglary charge and forgoing the criminal trial, it is an example of a(n)
plea bargain
The federal courts have ruled that the "case or controversy" clause of the Constitution means that they do NOT have the
power to render advisory opinions to legislatures or agencies about the constitutionality of proposed laws or regulations.
A certiorari pool describes the
practice by which Supreme Court law clerks work together to evaluate each petition.
Prior cases whose principles are used by judges to decide current cases are called
precedents
The chief justice of the Supreme Court
presides over the courts public sessions and private conferences
The fact that the Supreme Court has been more willing to rule on affirmative action in recent years illustrates that the
question of which cases to accept is often simply a matter of the preferences and priorities of the Supreme Court's justices.
When a justice agrees with the majority decision but disagrees with the rationale presented in the majority opinion, he or she may write a
regular concurrence
What is the MOST frequent and best-known action of Supreme Court justices in their role as circuit justices
reviewing requests for stays of execution
Generally speaking, state defendants seeking a federal writ of habeas corpus must
show that they have exhausted all available state remedies and must raise issues not previously raised in their state appeals
Aside from the justices themselves, who or what has the greatest power in shaping the flow of cases to the Supreme Court?
solicitor general
The doctrine of ________ requires courts to follow authoritative prior decisions when ruling on a case.
stare decisis
The ________ is established by the Constitution and cannot be abolished by a congressional law.
supreme court
Cases ________ are LEAST likely to be accepted by the Supreme Court.
that address state laws but do not raise constitutional issues
The Supreme Court's power to review acts of Congress has NOT been seriously questioned because
the Court has been reluctant to strike down congressional laws and has overturned only a small number over the last 200 years.
If a man is arrested because his home was searched by police without a legal warrant, he could argue in court that he had been denied
the due process of law
A writ of habeas corpus declares that
the government must show a legal cause for holding someone in detention.
In the 2014 case of Riley v. California, the Supreme Court held that
the police cannot undertake a warrantless search of the digital contents of a cell phone.
What did the framers call the "LEAST dangerous branch" of American government?
the supreme court
The solicitor general is the ________-ranking official in the ________.
third; Department of Justice
Medical malpractice suits are good examples of ________ cases.
tort
The first court to hear a criminal case involving a violation of state law is called a(n) ________ court.
trial
When O. J. Simpson faced a criminal trial in Los Angeles for two counts of murder, the plaintiff(s)
was the state of California.
Cases ________ are NOT part of the original jurisdiction of the U.S. Supreme Court
where more than $1 million is at stake
