Deck 8: The Courts

Question 1

The final interpreter of the U.S. Constitution is ______________.

A) the president
B) the people
C) Congress
D) the U.S. Supreme Court
E) the states

Answer 1

D

Question 2

The election of judges may be problematic for a democracy because

A) the President has no role in choosing judges.
B) as the cost of campaigning increases, judges may be tempted to rule in favor of those who contribute to their campaigns.
C) the House of Representatives has not reviewed the judges' credentials.
D) private financing of judicial elections is illegal.
E) elected judges have less experience in the legal profession than appointed judges.

Answer 2

B

Question 3

The rule of four refers to

A) the minimum number of Supreme Court justices needed to choose cases.
B) the minimum number of Supreme Court justices needed to decide a case.
C) the number of justices on the U.S. Supreme Court.
D) the number of justices presiding over an impeachment.
E) the number of conservative justices on the Roberts Court.

Answer 3

A

Question 4

When political scientists say that the courts have the power of judicial review, they mainly mean that the courts

A) have the power to review movies distributed in the United States to see whether they are impermissibly pornographic.
B) have the power to review all elections in the United States to see whether there has been cheating.
C) have the power to overturn any federal laws but not state laws that conflict with the Constitution.
D) have the power to overturn any federal or state law that conflicts with the Constitution.
E) have the power to rule that parts of the Constitution are unconstitutional.

Question 5

In the areas of civil liberties and civil rights, President George W. Bush's judicial appointees have been

A) the most liberal on record.
B) the most conservative on record.
C) the most progressive on record.
D) balanced liberal and conservative.
E) the most socialist on record.

Question 6

______________ was the Supreme Court decision that outlawed state-sanctioned segregation in public schools.

A) Dred Scott v. Sandford
B) Plessy v. Ferguson
C) Brown v. Board of Education
D) Engel v. Vitale
E) McCulloch v. Maryland

Question 7

How are federal judges chosen?

A) elected directly by the people
B) appointed by the American Bar Association
C) nominated by state governors and selected by the President
D) nominated by the President and confirmed by the U.S. Senate
E) nominated by the President and confirmed by the House of Representatives

Question 8

When political scientists say that the United States has a dual court system, they most often mean that

A) the Senate must confirm all appointees to the Supreme Court.
B) the House of Representatives must confirm all appointees to the Supreme Court.
C) the federal judiciary has both district and appeals courts.
D) state and federal systems of justice exist side by side.
E) not all judges take a strict constructionist approach to the Constitution.

Question 9

Ten years after the Brown decision, what percentage of Southern black children were in non-segregated schools?

A) 1 percent
B) 25 percent
C) 50 percent
D) 75 percent
E) Nearly 100 percent

Question 10

According to the text, why do federal courts tend to lag behind other political institutions and act as a drag on political change?

A) because there are only nine Supreme Court Justices
B) because federal court judges tend to be elderly
C) because the federal courts lack democratic legitimacy
D) because federal judges enjoy a lifetime tenure
E) because the federal courts have always been a conservative institution

Question 11

In 2011, the Affordable Care Act, popularly known as Obamacare, was upheld in a ______________ decision by the U.S. Supreme Court.

A) 9-0
B) 8-1
C) 7-2
D) 6-3
E) 5-4

Question 12

On average, the U.S. Supreme Court usually hears ______________ cases per year.

A) about 50
B) less than 100
C) about 200
D) about 1,000
E) more than 1,000

Question 13

Which statement about the U.S. Supreme Court is true?

A) It is required by the Constitution to hear any case that it is asked to hear.
B) It agrees to hear approximately half the cases that it is asked to hear.
C) It is required by the Constitution to have nine justices.
D) It has never had an African American justice.
E) Justices on the U.S. Supreme Court serve life terms of office.

Question 14

What was the Constitutional reasoning that the Supreme Court used to uphold the Affordable Care Act?

A) Congress's power to tax
B) Congress's power to regulate commerce
C) the federal government's responsibility to provide for the general welfare
D) the president's power to execute the laws of Congress
E) the police power of state governments

Question 15

How many federal courts of appeals are there?

A) 5
B) 12
C) 25
D) 32
E) 50

Question 16

The text makes all of the following claims except

A) formal, legal equality is compromised in a society with racial, gender, and class inequalities.
B) as opposed to what Chief Justice John Roberts has said, courts don't merely apply the rules; they decide what the rules are.
C) judges do not have policy goals and should never be influenced by public opinion.
D) it's hard to pin down whether the law is a progressive or conservative force.
E) many people on death row are there because they're poor and can't afford to hire good lawyers.

Question 17

How many federal district courts are there?

A) 1
B) 50
C) 94
D) 435
E) 535

Question 18

The term of office for a federal justice is ______________.

A) 2 years
B) 4 years
C) 6 years
D) 10 years
E) a life term

Question 19

According to the text, the appointment of judges is hard to reconcile with democratic theory because

A) Congress cannot lower their salaries.
B) Judges have the power of judicial review.
C) Judges serve as umpires in courts of law.
D) Judges selected by appointment are not accountable to voters.
E) Judges can be removed by referendum.

Question 20

The text cites President Andrew Jackson's comment on a Supreme Court decision mainly to illustrate the book's point that

A) it is very difficult to remove federal judges from office.
B) there are many limitations on the power of the courts.
C) the courts are the most powerful branch of government because they have the power of judicial review.
D) federal judges have extraordinary independence.
E) federal judges' salaries cannot be reduced.

Question 21

According to the text, the greatest difference between the U.S. judicial system and that of other nations is

A) the existence of judicial review in the United States.
B) the way judges in the United States are chosen.
C) the large number of women in the United States who are judges.
D) the small number of people of color in the United States who are judges.
E) the vast prison complex in the United States and the harsh nature of punishment in the United States.

Question 22

The first Hispanic appointed to the U.S. Supreme Court is/was

A) Samuel Alito.
B) Antonin Scalia.
C) Sonia Sotomayor.
D) Alberto Gonzales.
E) Ken Salazar.

Question 23

Following Reconstruction, the Fourteenth Amendment, according to the text

A) did an excellent job of protecting both corporate interests and black civil rights.
B) did nothing to protect either corporate interests or black civil rights.
C) served to protect black civil rights more than corporate interests.
D) served to protect corporate interests more than black civil rights.
E) allowed the Supreme Court to overrule its earlier decision in Marbury v. Madison.

Question 24

Baker v. Carr and Reynolds v. Sims were Supreme Court cases

A) that dealt primarily with school desegregation.
B) that dealt primarily with the rights of people charged with crimes.
C) that dealt with voting rights.
D) that overturned the rule of four.
E) that led to the Constitutional Revolution of 1937.

Question 25

The case of Roe v. Wade dealt with

A) the right of a criminal defendant to be represented by an attorney.
B) school busing to achieve racial desegregation.
C) a woman's right to an abortion.
D) one person, one vote.
E) affirmative action.

Question 26

The case of McCulloch v. Maryland

A) established the precedent that the Supreme Court could declare laws unconstitutional.
B) dealt with the scope of national power as opposed to state power.
C) established that blacks could not be considered property under the law.
D) established that states could not pass laws abridging free speech.
E) involved the phrase, "a switch in time saved nine."

Question 27

Swann v. Charlotte-Mecklenburg is best known as the case in which the Supreme Court unanimously ruled

A) that state elections must adhere to the principle of one person, one vote.
B) that judges must adhere to the philosophy of judicial restraint.
C) that people who are arrested must be read their rights.
D) that any person charged with a capital crime must be provided with a competent attorney.
E) that busing could be used to achieve school desegregation.

Question 28

The first woman appointed to the U.S. Supreme Court is/was

A) Sandra Day O'Connor.
B) Ruth Bader Ginsburg.
C) Sonia Sotomayor.
D) Elena Kagan.
E) Nancy Pelosi.

Question 29

The "switch in time that saved nine" refers primarily to

A) a Congressional vote that led to the approval of much of FDR's New Deal legislation.
B) the Dred Scott decision.
C) a change in the way the Supreme Court voted on FDR's New Deal legislation.
D) a change in the way the Supreme Court voted on free speech cases.
E) a change in the way the Supreme Court voted to end racial discrimination.

Question 30

Which of the following issues is not associated with the Warren Court's "rights revolution"?

A) one person, one vote
B) school desegregation
C) the right to be represented by a lawyer
D) election fraud
E) freedom of speech

Question 31

Explain how the U.S. Supreme Court acts as a legal and a political institution. Please give examples to illustrate your argument.

Question 32

The first African American on the U.S. Supreme Court is/was

A) Dred Scott.
B) Earl Warren.
C) Thurgood Marshall.
D) Clarence Thomas.
E) William Brandeis.

Question 33

The case of Marbury v. Madison

A) established the precedent that the Supreme Court could declare laws unconstitutional.
B) dealt with the scope of national power as opposed to state power.
C) established that blacks could not be considered property under the law.
D) established that states could not pass laws abridging free speech.
E) involved the phrase, "a switch in time saved nine."

Question 34

Define judicial review, judicial activism, and judicial restraint.

Question 35

To what characteristics of the judiciary was Alexander Hamilton referring when he said it was "the least dangerous branch"? What are the consequences of these characteristics for the way the courts operate?

Question 36

According to the text, which factor is most important in selecting federal court judges?

A) racial diversity
B) regional diversity
C) religious diversity
D) gender diversity
E) ideology

Question 37

Summarize how, according to the text, the legality of the use of marijuana for medical purposes in California is affected by the law in California and the actions of the federal government.

Question 38

Why, according to the text, are the courts' relationship to equality ambiguous and conflicting? Why is it hard to pin down whether the law is a conservative or progressive force?

Question 39

When Brown v. Board of Education was decided, the chief justice was

A) William Brennan.
B) Earl Warren.
C) William Rehnquist.
D) Thurgood Marshall.
E) David Souter.

Question 40

Which statement regarding the U.S. criminal justice system is false?

A) Offenders in the United States receive longer sentences than they would receive elsewhere for the same crime.
B) Nonviolent offenders in Europe comprise a smaller proportion of the prison population than they do in the United States.
C) In some states in the United States, a citizen with a prison record cannot vote and is ineligible for social services such as student loans.
D) The United States has a larger proportion of adults in prison than any other country.
E) The U.S. prison population is racially representative of the U.S. population as a whole.

Question 41

Summarize how the Supreme Court views its responsibilities, and how this view affects the kind and number of cases it considers.

Question 42

Summarize the arguments for and against the statement that "judicial review is in tension with democratic theory." Do you agree or disagree? Explain your answer.

Question 43

Summarize the factors that contribute to Americans' preference for retribution over rehabilitation in our criminal justice system.

Question 44

What, according to the text, have been the main characteristics of the Roberts court?

Question 45

The text views the United States as an "incarceration nation." What points does it make in support of that view?