mass 421 exam 1
There are ______ different judicial systems in the United States, one for the federal government and one for each of the states, plus the District of Columbia.
52
The jurisdiction of the federal courts is outlined in ______ of the Constitution.
Article III
The first constitution adopted by the new nation in 1781, even before the end of the Revolutionary War, is called the
Articles of Confederation.
The test frequently used by courts to rule in wrongful death, negligence and product liability lawsuits whether a media artifact like a film or video game played some part in inciting the actual perpetrator of the crime to commit illegal acts is called the
Brandenburg test.
In the United States, the ______ is in charge of establishing the number of justices who sit on the high court
Congress
T or False: The trial courts of general jurisdiction are similar to the federal district courts, but they handle only criminal and not civil matters.
False
Which of the following is true of statutory law?
It can anticipate problems.
The ______ is the oldest federal court of the United States, having operated since 1789.
Supreme court
Which of the following acts forbade false, scandalous, and malicious publications against the U.S. government, Congress, and the president
The Alien and Sedition Acts of 1798
Which of the following must a government prove for a content-based regulation to be constitutional under strict scrutiny?
The government has a compelling interest in regulating the speech at issue. The means of serving an interest of the highest order are narrowly tailored to regulate speech in the least restrictive way.
Identify true statements about the comparison between content-based regulations and content-neutral regulations
Time, place, and manner regulations are considered content-neutral regulations rather than content-based regulations. In contrast to content-neutral regulations, laws that regulate protected speech based on the content, topic or subject matter of that speech are called content-based regulations.
When the Supreme Court grants a(n) ______, it is ordering the lower court to send the records to the high court for review.
When the Supreme Court grants a(n) ______, it is ordering the lower court to send the records to the high court for review.
The argument that the First Amendment presents a complete barrier to government censorship is the essence of the
absolutist theory
According to ______ theory, the right to freedom of expression must be balanced with other values.
ad hoc balancing
The ______ must provide the high court with a complete record of the lower-court proceedings.
appellant
The Constitution was drafted in such a way as not to infringe on state
bill of rights
______ are repositories for the constitutional law that governs a nation
case reporters
To understand the meaning of freedom of the press and speech, it is necessary to understand the meaning of
censorship
The new charter was far different from the Articles of Confederation as it gave vast powers to the
central government
People who violated the Espionage Act of 1917 were
charged a fine of not more than $10,000
A ______ is the first speaker, sets the agenda and raises the key issues for each case.
chief justice
The common law was called thus to distinguish it from the ______ law prevalent during the 11th century
church
In the case of Dennis v. U.S., Chief Justice Vinson used a variation of the clear and present danger test and called it a ______ test.
clear and probable danger
Equity law was originally a supplement to the ______ and developed side by side with it
common law
was developed in England during the 200 years after the Norman Conquest in the 11th century.
common law
In the United States, the ______ is in charge of establishing the number of justices who sit on the high court.
congress
The U.S. Constitution gives ______ the right to establish inferior courts if it deems these courts to be necessary.
congress
a law that prevents concerts by foreign musicians from being held in the country
content-based regulations
a law that prevents concerts from being held in a residential area between 11pm and 8 am
content-nuetral regulations
When a court overrules a precedent, it
declares the prior decision wrong.
John Austin, a 19th-century English jurist, defined law as
definite rules of human conduct with appropriate sanctions for their enforcement.
The essence of a(n) ______ is participation by citizens in the process of government.
democracy
A maxim in the law holds that a judge, while writing a court opinion, should stick to the problem at hand and not wander off and talk about matters that do not really concern the specific issue before the court. It considers such remarks as
dicta
in the context of authority of federal courts, category 7 cases that involve controversies between citizens of different states are known as
diversity jurisdiction
T or F : Both the intent element and the likelihood element of Brandenburg are generally satisfied by the plaintiffs, who are required to prove all aspects of Brandenburg to win.
false
A state court ruling on a question involving the First Amendment guarantees of free speech and press will be substantially guided by ________ precedents on the same subject.
federal court
A state court ruling on a question involving the First Amendment guarantees of free speech and press will be substantially guided by _________ ________ precedents on the same subject.
federal court
Category 1 cases that arise under the U.S. Constitution are known as
federal question jurisdiction
The amici curiae are allowed to present briefs and to participate
for 30 minutes in the oral arguments in courts.
Courts have attempted to balance the rights of free speech and press with the constitutionally guaranteed right of a
free trial
In the ______ ruling, the Supreme Court linked the First Amendment to the due process clause of the Fourteenth Amendment thereby restricting the power of states to abridge people's speech and press rights.
gitlow
According to the ______ test, Congress has the right to outlaw certain kinds of actions or words, through speeches or pamphlets, that might be harmful to the nation
holmes
John Austin proposed that both the rules and the sanctions of human conduct must be prescribed by
human authority
Common law is a(n) ______ system because it involves arriving at a legal rule and legal standards after considering many cases involving similar facts.
inductive
The fundamental concept of common law is that
judges should look to the past and follow court precedents
The power of a jury in a criminal case to ignore a law and to return a verdict according to its conscience is called
jury nullification
The Supreme Court of the United States is primarily interested in
making sure the law is being developed properly
According to Daniel Farber, the ______ theory embodies "the truth-seeking rationale for free expression."
marketplace of ideas
State judges frequently look outside their borders to precedents developed by the federal courts because ______ is so heavily affected by the First Amendment
mass media law
State judges frequently look outside their borders to precedents developed by the federal courts because ______ is so heavily affected by the First Amendment.
mass media law
Meiklejohnian theory represents a hierarchical approach to First Amendment theory, with ______ placed at the top of this hierarchy
political speech
According to William Blackstone, freedom of the press can be defined as freedom from
prior restraint
The Articles of Confederation reflected the spirit of the Declaration of Independence by
ranking the rights of citizens higher than the needs of a government
In order to limit or restrict the in press in England, the British used ______ laws to punish those who criticized the government or the Crown regardless of whether the criticism was truthful or not
seditious libel
The second peacetime sedition law that was aimed directly at the Communist Party of the United States is known as the
smith act
The right to ______ is inherent in a nation governed by popularly elected rulers.
speak and print
A disagreement among the lower courts is referred to as a
split of authority
In the United States, ______ are approved or changed by a direct vote of the people.
state constitutions
The third great source of laws in the United States today is created by elected legislative bodies at the local, state, and federal levels and is known as
statutory law.
The standard of judicial review for content-based statutes requiring the government to prove that it has a compelling interest in regulating the speech at issue and that the means of serving that interest are narrowly tailored to regulate speech in the least restrictive way is called
strict scrutiny
The ______ of the United States is the final arbiter on the meaning of the U.S. Constitution.
supreme court
In the context of Executive orders and administrative rules as a source of American law, administrative rules include rules generated by Multiple choice question.
the government administrative agencies at the federal, state, and local levels.
In the context of the constitutional guarantee of freedom of expression, A.J. Liebling wrote that freedom of the press belongs to
the man who owns one.
______ courts are empowered to consider both the facts and the law in a case.
trial
_____ are the base of each judicial system.
trial courts
T or F : Legislative bodies enact statutes rather easily by obtaining a majority vote
true
t or f : When the restriction of free speech and free press is unconstitutional, the government has to bear the burden of proof in any legal action challenging the censorship.
true
In which of the following circumstances do courts generally overrule prior opinions as bad law?
when there are changes in the judges/justices on the court when there are changes in factual knowledge when the social mores and values of the time of the precedent no longer apply
A(n) ______ is a discretionary order issued by the court when it feels that an important legal question has been raised.
writ of certiorari
The most common way for a case to reach the nation's high court is via a
writ of certiorari
