Deck 8: Judiciary

Question 1

How many federal district court judges are appointed? ​

A) ​50
B) ​535
C) ​677
D) ​9

Answer 1

C

Question 2

What article of the Constitution establishes the judicial branch of the federal government? ​

A) ​Article I
B) ​Article II
C) ​Article III
D) ​Article IV

Answer 2

C

Question 3

What is double jeopardy? ​

A) ​Being tried twice for the same crime
B) ​Being tried without knowing your rights
C) Being charged for two crimes at the same time
D) Being charged for a criminal and civil case at the same time

Answer 3

A

Question 4

What is a federal court's legal domain?

A) Cases involving a legislative question
B) Cases involving a federal question
C) Cases involving a state question
D) ​Cases involving a criminal question

Question 5

​Which of the following would not be a federal case?

A) ​A constitutional law case
B) ​A case involving a federal treaty
C) ​An admiralty case
D) A violent murder case​

Question 6

What type of court has the authority to hear the facts of the case for the first time? ​

A) Circuit courts
B) ​Appellate courts
C) ​Courts of original jurisdiction
D) State supreme courts​

Question 7

What are the two main categories of law operating within the United States? ​

A) Civil law and criminal law
B) ​Federal law and district law
C) Civil law and federal law
D) ​State law and criminal law

Question 8

In civil cases, if the defendant is deemed at fault, then a sentence is imposed that usually includes

A) ​incarceration.
B) ​financial redress.
C) ​loss of life.
D) ​probation.

Question 9

​How long is the term of a Supreme Court judge?

A) ​Two years
B) ​Four years
C) ​Six years
D) ​Life

Question 10

The Supreme Court is the only court allowed to hear all of the following cases except ​those

A) ​affecting the military.
B) affecting ambassadors.
C) affecting other public ministers.
D) in which a state is a party.

Question 11

What does civil law govern?

A) Public safety
B) Private interactions among individuals and organizations
C) Social interactions that do not involve harm
D) Interactions between states

Question 12

Which court or court system is specifically mentioned in the Constitution?

A) The lower federal courts
B) The Supreme Court
C) ​The state court system
D) ​The military court system

Question 13

Appeals to the U.S. Circuit Court are ​

A) ​trials showing that the original case was handled improperly.
B) ​retrials of the original case.
C) local cases involving original jurisdiction.​
D) ​federal cases involving original jurisdiction.

Question 14

Which of the following is not a constitutional protection for the accused? ​

A) ​The right to a speedy trial
B) ​The right to trial by jury
C) The right to a plea bargain
D) The right to confront witnesses against them

Question 15

Who initiates the court's assistance in a civil case by filing a formal legal complaint?

A) The prosecuting attorney
B) The defendant
C) ​The government
D) The plaintiff

Question 16

What determined the composition of the Supreme Court, organized the rest of the federal judicial system, established the jurisdiction of the lower federal court system, and expanded the original jurisdiction of the U.S. Supreme Court? ​

A) ​The Judiciary Act of 1789
B) The Judiciary Act of 1879
C) ​Marbury v. Madison
D) ​McCulloch v. Maryland

Question 17

Which of the following has jurisdiction over lawsuits against the federal government? ​

A) The Court of International Trade
B) ​Any federal court
C) The Supreme Court
D) ​The U.S. Court of Federal Claims

Question 18

Which of the following is not typical of a criminal case?

A) ​Cases are initiated by government officials.
B) The defendant is charged with a crime.
C) There is an arraignment and the defendant enters a plea.
D) Financial redress is directed to the plaintiff.

Question 19

Criminal laws exist to protect

A) ​those accused of crimes.
B) society from harm.
C) organizations from financial disputes.
D) the United States from foreign influences.

Question 20

Under the nation's system of federalism, each state has ​

A) ​the same constitution and judicial system as the federal government.
B) ​the same constitution and judicial system as the other states.
C) ​created its own judicial system and individual state constitution.
D) ​created its own district courts.

Question 21

Which Supreme Court case found that the power to accept territories into the Union as free or slave was not an enumerated power of Congress? ​

A) ​Marbury v. Madison
B) ​Plessy v. Ferguson
C) ​Dred Scott v. Sandford
D) ​Brown v. Board of Education

Question 22

​Through exercising the power of interpretation, members of the judiciary often act as

A) ​lawmakers.
B) ​managers.
C) ​policymakers.
D) ​negotiators.

Question 23

What is the best definition of judicial restraint? ​

A) ​Justices only applying legal findings to the law while still inserting their own preferences
B) ​Justices only applying legal findings to the law, but when in the minority, inserting their own preferences
C) ​Justices only applying legal findings to the law while intentionally inserting preferences of the president
D) ​Justices only applying legal findings to the law without intentionally inserting their own preferences

Question 24

How does the president place limits on judicial powers?

A) The president may designate cases appropriate for judicial review.
B) The president confirms appointments to the federal bench.
C) ​The president enforces decisions made by the federal courts.
D) The president appoints those who sit on the federal bench.

Question 25

The authority of the Supreme Court to rule an act of Congress as unconstitutional is called ​

A) ​federal interpretation.
B) ​judicial review.
C) ​capital punishment.
D) ​judicial negation.

Question 26

Which Supreme Court case found that the Fourteenth Amendment served to protect political and civil, but not social, rights?

A) ​Plessy v. Ferguson
B) ​Brown v. Board of Education
C) ​Brown v. Board of Education II
D) ​Dred Scott v. Sandford

Question 27

The Constitution states that federal judges and justices are to be ​

A) ​elected by the people.
B) ​appointed by the House of Representatives, subject to confirmation by the Senate.
C) ​appointed by the president, subject to confirmation by the Senate.
D) ​appointed and confirmed by the president.

Question 28

What is the best definition of judicial activism? ​

A) ​Justices viewing the law as fixed, using their judicial position to guide other justices to follow the letter of the law
B) ​Justices viewing the law as malleable, using their judicial position to guide the law in the direction they think it should go
C) ​Justices viewing the law code as a living document that needs to be reviewed and revised actively
D) ​Justices viewing their primary role as legislating from the bench

Question 29

Once a court rules on a case, that case becomes ________, and future decisions are based upon it.​

A) ideology
B) ​new law
C) ​code
D) ​precedent

Question 30

Plessy v. Ferguson and Brown v. Board of Education both applied which amendment's equal protection clause, but in opposite ways? ​

A) ​The Thirteenth Amendment
B) ​The Fourteenth Amendment
C) ​The Fifteenth Amendment
D) ​The Sixteenth Amendment

Question 31

Which of the following statements is true about capital punishment?

A) ​It exists in all states.
B) ​It is not legal in any state.
C) ​It can only be decided by federal courts.
D) It exists in some states.

Question 32

If a justice supports the position that there is a significant role for the federal government in American civil life, this is indicative of

A) a liberal ideology.
B) judicial activism.
C) a conservative ideology.
D) ​judicial restraint.

Question 33

What is the name given to those who view the Constitution as a document that's literal meaning was intended to stand the test of time, rather than change with it? ​

A) ​The formal constructionists
B) ​The literal constructionists
C) ​The strict constructionists
D) The loose constructionists

Question 34

Which court case applied the Fourteenth Amendment's due process and equal protection clauses to require states to issue licenses for same-sex marriage?

A) ​Plessy v. Ferguson
B) United States v. Windsor
C) ​Obergefell v. Hodges
D) ​Roe v. Wade

Question 35

What is a significant reason two Supreme Courts came to different conclusions in interpreting the equal protection clause of the Fourteenth Amendment? ​

A) ​There were new facts in the case.
B) ​The two courts were of different generations and had different perspectives on race relations.
C) ​They were two completely different cases.
D) ​The two courts were trying to please different presidents.

Question 36

Which philosophy is most likely to be supported by a judge who self-identifies as conservative?​

A) ​Support for federal supremacy over the states
B) ​Support for states' rights
C) ​Support for expanding citizens' rights​
D) Support for increasing the rights of the accused

Question 37

Which of the following is not a variation that occurs in the structure and inner workings of the fifty state court systems? ​

A) A system of courts operating under original jurisdiction
B) ​The prescribed number of judges
C) ​The processes by which judges earn their seat
D) ​The methods of punishment

Question 38

Which Supreme Court case first extended the authority of the judicial branch relative to the other two branches of the federal government?

A) ​Marbury v. Madison
B) ​Obergefell v. Hodges
C) ​Dred Scott v. Sandford
D) ​Plessy v. Ferguson

Question 39

Which of the following helped the Supreme Court enforce the ruling of Brown II? ​

A) ​District courts
B) ​Appellate courts
C) The legislative branch
D) The executive branch

Question 40

Which of the following is not true about judicial nominees? ​

A) ​They must have a law degree.
B) ​They do not have to have previous judicial experience.
C) They can be active in legal matters or not.
D) They often hold policy positions in common with the president who nominated them.

Question 41

Who represents the U.S. government when it is a party in a case before the Supreme Court?

A) The president or vice president
B) ​The attorney general
C) The solicitor general
D) ​The chief justice

Question 42

When creating a list of potential judicial nominees, the president seeks suggestions from all of the following except ​

A) ​other Supreme Court justices.
B) ​members of Congress.
C) ​interest groups.
D) ​the American Bar Association.

Question 43

When the Supreme Court agrees to review a case, it grants ​

A) ​an amicus curiae.
B) ​a reprieve.
C) ​a writ of certiorari.
D) ​a pardon.

Question 44

Unanimous decisions on the part of the Supreme Court ​find the Court

A) ultimately aligning with a dissenting opinion.
B) in agreement on the rationale but not necessarily the ruling.
C) in agreement on the ruling but not the rationale.
D) in agreement on the outcome and the rationale.

Question 45

Which agency does background checks on the final nominees for judicial positions? ​

A) ​The Senate
B) ​The NSA
C) ​The CIA
D) ​The FBI

Question 46

What relatively recent term refers to the Senate systematically attacking a nominee during confirmation hearings? ​

A) ​Gang up
B) Filibuster
C) ​Nuclear option
D) Borking

Question 47

​The Court is likely to take a case in all of the following situations except when

A) i​t is a synthesis of civil cases.
B) ​there is a disagreement between appellate courts on the issue.
C) ​the U.S government is a party.
D) ​the case involves civil rights and civil liberties defined under constitutional law.

Question 48

Most of the cases that make it to the Supreme Court do so under the Court's ​

A) ​original jurisdiction.
B) ​appellate jurisdiction.
C) ​request.
D) state jurisdiction.

Question 49

When are oral arguments heard before the Supreme Court? ​

A) ​May through November
B) ​October through April
C) ​December through June
D) ​July through January

Question 50

The rule of four is the rule that dictates ​a minimum of four

A) appellate courts must have heard similar cases.
B) years must have passed since the original trial. ​
C) ​clerks are available to help synthesize the case.
D) ​justices agrees that a case merits review.