Deck 15: The Federal Courts

Question 1

How many justices currently serve on the Supreme Court?

A) five
B) six
C) eight
D) nine

Answer 1

D

Question 2

Which of the following is the authority vested in a particular court to hear a case first?

A) original jurisdiction
B) judicial review
C) jurisprudence
D) confirmation

Answer 2

A

Question 3

Which of the following is a way that interest groups attempt to influence the Supreme Court's decisions?

A) claiming disputes are justiciable
B) filing standing to sue briefs
C) lobbying legislators
D) filing amicus curiae briefs

Answer 3

D

Question 4

What is the name given to the power of the courts to determine whether the actions of Congress and the executive branch are permissible under the Constitution?

A) original jurisdiction
B) strict construction
C) judicial review
D) stare decisis

Question 5

A writ of __________ is issued by the Supreme Court when it agrees to hear a case.

A) mandamus
B) prohibition
C) certiorari
D) attachment

Question 6

Which type of law concerns the violation of the legal rights of one individual toward another?

A) civil
B) natural
C) recidivist
D) criminal

Question 7

Who is in charge of the federal government's appellate court litigation?

A) the attorney general
B) the chief of staff
C) the solicitor general
D) the White House counsel

Question 8

Which of the following must confirm all federal judges?

A) the House of Representatives
B) the Supreme Court
C) the Senate
D) the states

Question 9

What is common law?

A) the accumulation of judicial decisions about legal issues
B) laws passed by legislatures
C) disputes between two parties
D) issues capable of being settled as a matter of law

Question 10

Who nominates judges to the U.S.district courts?

A) the president
B) the House of Representatives
C) the Senate
D) the Supreme Court

Question 11

The Supreme Court hears cases from state courts only if they involve __________ law.

A) common
B) civil
C) federal
D) criminal

Question 12

Which court hears appeals from independent regulatory commissions?

A) courts of appeals
B) the cabinet
C) district courts
D) U.S. Supreme Court

Question 13

Who represents the federal government in appeals to the Supreme Court?

A) attorney general
B) president
C) solicitor general
D) chief prosecutor

Question 14

The __________ Act of 1789 established the basic three-tiered structure of the federal court system.

A) Federal Courts
B) Appellate
C) Confirmation
D) Judiciary

Question 15

In which of the following cases did the Supreme Court first claim the right of judicial review?

A) Chisholm v. Georgia
B) Brown v. Board of Education
C) Dred Scott v. Sandford
D) Marbury v. Madison

Question 16

For a case to be heard in the Supreme Court,a minimum of how many justices must vote to hear the case?

A) one
B) four
C) five
D) six

Question 17

The Supreme Court issues __________ that are essentially written statements containing the legal reasoning behind the Court's decisions.

A) opinions
B) amicus curiae briefs
C) per curiam statements
D) treatises

Question 18

Only a(n)__________ court can review the decisions of a lower court.

A) trial
B) original
C) administrative
D) appellate

Question 19

Federal district court judges are appointed to __________ terms.

A) three-year
B) 10-year
C) 20-year
D) life

Question 20

A(n)__________ brief might be submitted by an interest group hoping to influence the Supreme Court's decision.

A) amicus curiae
B) appellate
C) habeas corpus
D) coram nobis

Question 21

Which of the following is an opinion written by a justice in the majority that outlines an alternative basis for the decision?

A) concurring
B) dissenting
C) majority
D) per curiam

Question 22

What type of standing to sue permits a small number of people to sue on behalf of all other people in similar circumstances?

A) criminal
B) statute
C) class action
D) justiciable

Question 23

How and whether judicial decisions are translated into actual policy is known as judicial __________.

A) implementation
B) execution
C) legislation
D) intention

Question 24

In which federal courts are trials conducted?

A) circuit courts
B) district courts
C) courts of appeals
D) the Supreme Court

Question 25

In which courts are the vast majority of all cases tried?

A) federal
B) district
C) state
D) appellate

Question 26

How many district courts are in the federal system?

A) five
B) 16
C) 91
D) 412

Question 27

What are two types of jurisdiction courts can have?

A) original and appellate
B) trial and appeals
C) constructionist and restrained
D) active and restrained

Question 28

Which of the following is within the original jurisdiction of the Supreme Court?

A) federal criminal matters
B) tax disputes
C) military tribunals
D) prosecuting diplomats

Question 29

Under which chief justice did the Supreme Court establish the power of judicial review?

A) James Madison
B) John Marshall
C) Oliver Wendell Holmes
D) Earl Warren

Question 30

Which of the following must plaintiffs have in order to sustain a lawsuit in court?

A) a serious injury
B) money
C) standing to sue
D) an attorney

Question 31

Proponents of which of the following believe that it is appropriate for judges to make bold policy decisions when doing so is necessary to address pressing societal needs?

A) judicial restraint
B) strict constructionism
C) judicial activism
D) originalism

Question 32

Where is the entry point for most litigation in the federal courts?

A) the Supreme Court
B) the U.S. district courts
C) the U.S. Court of Federal Claims
D) the U.S. courts of appeals

Question 33

At President Roosevelt's urging,Congress passed dozens of laws designed to end the Depression.Why did the Supreme Court initially overturn these New Deal policies?

A) The Court believed that federal intervention in the economy was unconstitutional.
B) The Court believed that Roosevelt was meddling in the Court's jurisdiction.
C) The Court typically gave deference to the decisions enacted by the elected branches of government.
D) Federal intervention in the economy was perceived as being the best way to end the Great Depression.

Question 34

In court rulings,reliance on past decisions to formulate decisions in new cases is known as which of the following?

A) per curiam
B) stare decisis
C) coram nobis
D) amicus curiae

Question 35

The Court of Military Appeals is an example of which type of court?

A) constitutional
B) district
C) legislative
D) circuit

Question 36

Who attempted to expand the number of Supreme Court justices in 1937?

A) Chief Justice Warren
B) Chief Justice Marshall
C) President Hoover
D) President Roosevelt

Question 37

In a process known as __________,presidents generally allow senators of the president's party from the state in which a judicial vacancy occurs to block the nomination.

A) advice and consent
B) presidential deference
C) judicial review
D) senatorial courtesy

Question 38

Which of the following has the most control over the cases it hears?

A) federal district courts
B) trial courts
C) state courts of original jurisdiction
D) the U.S. Supreme Court

Question 39

In 1987,the Senate refused to confirm the nomination of __________ to the Supreme Court.

A) Antonin Scalia
B) Earl Warren
C) Robert Bork
D) John Roberts

Question 40

Which Court was one of the most active in shaping public policy in the twentieth century?

A) Rehnquist
B) Warren
C) Fortas
D) Chase

Question 41

Which of the following limits judicial power?

A) judicial review
B) judicial activism
C) stare decisis
D) life tenure

Question 42

If a judge believes that she should defer to the decisions made by elected representatives whenever possible,she likely believes in which of the following?

A) judicial activism
B) the attitudinal model of decision making
C) originalism
D) judicial restraint

Question 43

When the U.S.Supreme Court agrees to hear a case appealed to it from a court of appeals,it is exercising its __________ jurisdiction.

A) original
B) constitutional
C) mandatory
D) appellate

Question 44

Presidents have failed less than half of the time to appoint the nominees of their choice to the Supreme Court.

Question 45

Why did Justice Souter wait until 2009 to retire?

A) so that he would get a bigger pension
B) so that Barack Obama rather than George W. Bush would name a new justice
C) to avoid the appearance of impropriety when deciding important cases on the docket in 2008
D) to ensure that he would be covered under the Affordable Care Act

Question 46

The district courts are appellate courts.

Question 47

The Supreme Court regularly exercises its original jurisdiction.

Question 48

Senatorial courtesy is specified in the Constitution.

Question 49

The Constitution sets the terms of district court judges at 10 years and court of appeals judges at 20 years.

Question 50

The increasing polarization of partisan politics in recent years has made the confirmation process for court of appeals judges longer and less certain.

Question 51

The conference of the U.S.Supreme Court is __________.

A) limited to the justices and other Court staff
B) limited to the justices themselves
C) open to the justices and the public
D) open to the justices and the media

Question 52

Who decides whether to appeal a case that the government has lost to the Supreme Court?

A) the president of the Senate
B) the solicitor general
C) the Supreme Court clerk of courts
D) the chief justice of the United States

Question 53

Civil law consists of both statutes and common law.

Question 54

Which of the following are most commonly heard by the U.S.Supreme Court?

A) federal habeas corpus cases
B) original jurisdiction cases
C) civil actions from lower federal courts
D) criminal cases from state and federal courts

Question 55

Litigants have an automatic right to have their appeal heard by the Supreme Court.

Question 56

The Judiciary Act of 1789 established the federal circuit courts and district courts.

Question 57

Under which of the following circumstances would a presidential nominee to the Supreme Court have the most trouble being confirmed?

A) when the House is opposed to the nominee's ideological orientation
B) when a president nominates a woman or an ethnic or racial minority
C) when a president makes a nomination at the beginning of his or her term
D) when a president's party affiliation is in the minority in the Senate

Question 58

According to the principle of __________,a court should not overturn precedent unless it is absolutely necessary.

A) original intent
B) judicial review
C) stare decisis
D) prior restraint

Question 59

The U.S.Court of Appeals for the First Circuit is a constitutional court.

Question 60

A dissenting opinion is written by a justice who agrees with the decision of the majority,but disagrees with the rationale.

Question 61

__________ courts are staffed by judges who have fixed terms of office and who lack the protections against removal or salary reductions that judges on constitutional courts enjoy.

Question 62

The U.S.courts of appeals hear cases that have been appealed from the __________ courts.

Question 63

If North Dakota sues South Dakota,the case will be heard by the __________.

Question 64

The solicitor general handles all appeals to the Supreme Court on behalf of the __________.

Question 65

U.S.attorneys do not have lifetime appointments.

Question 66

The __________ decided to sue the school board of Topeka,Kansas,on behalf of Linda Brown.

Question 67

Those who lose their case in the district court have the right to appeal to a higher court.

Question 68

Rotating three-judge panels typically decide cases in the federal courts of appeals.

Question 69

Before the justices enter the courtroom to hear the lawyers for each side present their arguments,they have received elaborately prepared written __________ from each party involved.

Question 70

Of the federal courts,only the __________ is explicitly mentioned in the Constitution.

Question 71

Judicial __________ encourages deference to the policy judgments of elected branches of government.

Question 72

Courts can only decide cases that present __________ controversies-not hypothetical ones.

Question 73

Marbury v.Madison significantly expanded the power of the federal judiciary.

Question 74

Describe the different types of federal constitutional courts.

Question 75

Most people do not consider opposition to a Supreme Court nominee's ideology a valid reason for senators to vote against his or her confirmation.

Question 76

Only the Supreme Court can review the decisions of district courts.

Question 77

Justices who do not agree with the outcome of a case write __________ opinions.

Question 78

The Constitution sets no specific requirements for judges and justices.

Question 79

In a __________ case,it is the government that charges an individual with violating the law.

Question 80

When the president makes nominations to the federal courts,ideology is as important as partisanship.