Deck 15: The Judiciary

Question 1

The United States has a dual court system which means which of the following?

A) Civil and criminal courts
B) Misdemeanor and felony courts
C) State and federal courts
D) State and local courts
E) District and territorial courts

Answer 1

C

Question 2

Which of the following statements regarding a precedent is true?

A) It means to reverse the decision of a lower court
B) It says the court does not have jurisdiction in a case.
C) It allows a court to refer the case to the next higher court.
D) It is the policy of following the law established by prior cases to decide other cases.
E) It means strict interpretation.

Answer 2

D

Question 3

Which of the following statements regarding standing to sue is true?

A) It is determined by whether or not a court has jurisdiction over a matter.
B) It is determined by whether or not the Supreme Court will hear a case.
C) It is determined by whether or not a person or a group has suffered harm as a result of the action that led to the dispute in question.
D) It is the decorum that is expected in dealing with the Supreme Court during trial.
E) It is also known as stare decisis.

Answer 3

C

Question 4

When can the U.S. Supreme Court review a state supreme court decision?

A) If there are damages in excess of $50,000
B) If the solicitor general asks it to do so
C) In all cases
D) In cases in which the state is a party
E) Only if a federal question is involved

Question 5

The power of the courts to determine the constitutionality of a law or action is known as which of the following?

A) Appellate review of fact
B) Judicial review
C) Precedent
D) The writ of judicial appeal
E) Habeas corpus

Question 6

Which of the following statements regarding U.S. district courts is true?

A) They are intermediate appellate courts.
B) They have final appellate jurisdiction to review cases.
C) They are state courts.
D) They are the trial courts of the federal system.
E) They are courts of limited jurisdiction.

Question 7

Policies that support greater equality, often by granting racial or gender preferences in hiring, education, or contracting, are known as which of the following?

A) Civil rights
B) Affirmative action
C) Civil liberties
D) Common law
E) Civil precedent

Question 8

Which of the following occurs when the U.S. Supreme Court decides an issue?

A) All other courts consider the Supreme Court's opinion in their own decision making.
B) All other courts are obligated to follow the Supreme Court's ruling.
C) Each court can decide for itself whether the Supreme Court decision applies to cases in its jurisdiction.
D) Congress is obligated to pass laws that support that decision.
E) It is written into the Constitution as an amendment if it raised a constitutional question.

Question 9

Jurisdiction refers to which of the following?

A) The rules and principles announced in court decisions
B) The authority of a court to hear a particular class of cases
C) The constitutionality of a law
D) Statutory law
E) Common law

Question 10

In many cases, a third party to a court case will file which of the following to support a particular outcome?

A) An amicus curiae brief
B) A precedent
C) A question of standing
D) A litigation brief
E) A writ of certiorari

Question 11

The Supreme Court's power of judicial review was established by which of the following?

A) Article III of the U.S. Constitution
B) The Tenth Amendment
C) The Court's decision in Marbury v. Madison
D) The Court's decision in Plessy v. Ferguson
E) The Court's decision in Kelo v. City of New London

Question 12

If a judge rules a certain way on a case because prior cases of similar nature were subject to the same rule, that judge could be said to be relying on which of the following?

A) Precedent
B) Judicial review
C) Strict construction
D) Broad construction
E) Judicial activism

Question 13

Which of the following statements regarding appeals courts is true?

A) Witnesses and testimony are presented to the jury.
B) Judges review lower court case records to determine if there is evidence of an error.
C) Grand juries decide if there is enough evidence to conduct a trial.
D) Attorneys from both sides try to work out an agreement.
E) All of these are correct.

Question 14

When a case is appealed, the court of appeals decides the case based solely upon which of the following?

A) Questions of fact
B) Questions of damages
C) Questions of law
D) Questions of importance
E) Questions of standing

Question 15

Which of the following statements describes the idea of precedents?

A) The common law changes very slowly to permit rational decision making in each branch of our government.
B) The Supreme Court is required to issue an opinion after a ruling.
C) Most citizens can know that the law will become consistent in its expectations for them.
D) Judges must abide by the decisions of earlier cases unless there is a clear reason to distinguish the current case from its predecessors.
E) The Supreme Court is able to promote judicial review through regularly scheduled reviews of case law.

Question 16

A writ of certiorari by the U.S. Supreme Court orders which of the following to occur?

A) Both of the parties in the case to reach agreement without further litigation
B) State courts to abide by the decision of the Supreme Court
C) A lower court to send up the record of a case for review
D) Congress to rewrite unconstitutional legislation
E) A prisoner to be brought before the court and the reasons for his detention to be provided

Question 17

Intermediate federal courts that are above the district courts but below the Supreme Court are known as which of the following?

A) Common law courts
B) Courts of original jurisdiction
C) Civil courts
D) Courts of appeal
E) Precedent courts

Question 18

Judicial review is the process for deciding whether a law or action is contrary to which of the following?

A) Administrative laws
B) A Supreme Court decision
C) Lower court decisions
D) State law
E) The U.S. Constitution

Question 19

Most American law is based on which of the following?

A) French philosophy based on the rights of man
B) The Bible
C) English common law tradition
D) Roman law
E) The writings of Thomas Jefferson

Question 20

Which of the following statements regarding state courts is true?

A) They are exact copies of the federal court system.
B) They do not have to follow common law.
C) They are supreme within their own borders, overriding the federal courts.
D) Their decisions are invalid, due to the supremacy clause.
E) They make decisions on state law, as long as these laws don't conflict with the U.S. Constitution.

Question 21

Which of the following is true of someone's right to have their case heard by the U.S. Supreme Court?

A) It only exists in criminal cases.
B) It only exists in federal cases.
C) In only exists in cases where someone has been sentenced to death.
D) It exists in all cases.
E) It is almost entirely at the Court's discretion.

Question 22

Public opinion can serve as a check on the judiciary in which of the following ways?

A) The Supreme Court typically polls the public as a basis for its decisions.
B) People have the ability to vote federal judges out of office if they do not approve of the rulings of the courts.
C) Judges often believe they have an obligation to rule consistent with public opinion.
D) The president will veto a Supreme Court decision if it is unpopular.
E) Congress will override a decision of the Supreme Court with a majority vote in both houses.

Question 23

The overwhelming majority of federal cases are resolved in which of the following courts?

A) Appeals courts
B) The U.S. Supreme Court
C) District courts
D) Article I courts
E) Administrative courts

Question 24

Spoken presentations by an attorney to the appellate court laying out the reasons why the court should rule in his or her client's favor are known as which of the following?

A) Affirmation action
B) Briefs
C) Criminal defenses
D) Dissenting opinions
E) Oral arguments

Question 25

Federal appellate courts review and can overturn which of the following?

A) Precedents set by the U.S. Supreme Court
B) Only federal criminal cases
C) Rulings made by the lower federal courts
D) Guilt or innocence of defendants
E) Only civil cases

Question 26

Which of the following is the last step of the Supreme Court decision-making process?

A) Announcing its decision to the public and the reasons for it
B) Assigning a justice to write the decision
C) Deciding if the Court will hear the case
D) Hearing oral arguments in the case
E) Asking the lower court to send the records of the case for review

Question 27

Which of the following statements regarding federal judges is true?

A) They are chosen in a secret process.
B) They are elected by the people.
C) They are appointed for life.
D) They are chosen by Congress.
E) They are appointed for a six-year term.

Question 28

Overall, the Supreme Court only hears about what percentage of certiorari petitions, leaving the lower court decision as final in all other cases?

A) 1%
B) 3%
C) 10%
D) 25%
E) 40%

Question 29

Which of the following statements is true of a majority opinion?

A) It means all justices unanimously agree on the decision.
B) It is sent back to the court that originally heard the case.
C) It means the decision of the District Court must stand.
D) It will result in a new trial for the defendant.
E) It is the decision of most of the justices and is the decision of the Court.

Question 30

The opinion of a court laying out the official position of the court in the case is known as which of the following?

A) Majority opinion
B) Dissenting opinion
C) Minority opinion
D) Primary jurisdiction
E) Prevailing jurisdiction

Question 31

Passing a new constitutional amendment or refusing to fund a decision are examples of which of the following?

A) Presidential limits placed on the courts
B) Congressional limits placed on the courts
C) Citizens' limits placed on the courts
D) Citizens' limits placed on the courts
E) State limitations placed on the courts

Question 32

Which of the following procedures does an appellate court use when it reviews a case?

A) It uses a panel of judges to review the records of a case.
B) It conducts another trial.
C) It relies on a jury to hear a new case.
D) It assesses only questions of fact associated with the case.
E) It presents the records of a case to the local government.

Question 33

A lawsuit filed by one person on behalf of that person and all similarly situated individuals is known as which of the following kinds of suit?

A) Amicus curiae
B) Appeal
C) Plurality action
D) Class action
E) Writ of habeas corpus

Question 34

The concept of senatorial courtesy refers to which of the following?

A) The Senate approving judges only if they belong to the same party that controls the Senate
B) The practice of allowing senators to have the exclusive right to nominate candidates for the federal district courts in the state
C) The practice of allowing members of the House to participate in the nomination process
D) The practice of allowing senators to veto candidates for federal district courts in their state
E) The Senate's deferring to the president and routinely approving his or her nominee

Question 35

The doctrine that holds that the Supreme Court should actively check the other branches of government when they exceed their authority is known as which of the following?

A) Judicial restraint
B) Strict construction
C) Judicial activism
D) Broad construction
E) Conservative activism

Question 36

Which of the following is true of judges and justices in the federal court system?

A) They are appointed by the president with the advice and consent of the House of Representatives.
B) They are appointed by the president with the advice and consent of the Senate.
C) They are appointed by the president with the advice and consent of both houses of Congress.
D) They are part of a seniority system that gradually moves them toward the Supreme Court.
E) They are elected by the people every ten years.

Question 37

If an appeals court decides that a case is remanded, which of the following occurs?

A) It is sent to the supreme court of the state in question.
B) It is sent back to the court that originally heard the case.
C) It has to be a civil case; criminal cases cannot be remanded.
D) It must be decided within the calendar year.
E) It is not subject to any further action by the courts.

Question 38

Which of the following is true of the Supreme Court's power to enforce its own decisions?

A) It is derived from the Twelfth Amendment to the Constitution.
B) It is called justiciable authority.
C) It makes it one of the strongest courts in the world.
D) It is significantly stronger than that of lower federal courts.
E) It is nonexistent.

Question 39

An opinion prepared by a judge who supports the court's decision, but wishes to in some way clarify, emphasize, or offer different reasons is known as which of the following?

A) Majority opinion
B) Dissenting opinion
C) A plurality opinion
D) A concurring opinion
E) A unanimous opinion

Question 40

A doctrine holding that the courts defer to the decisions of elected officials is called which of the following?

A) Broad construction
B) Conservative activism
C) Strict construction
D) Judicial restraint
E) Judicial activism

Question 41

Summarize the U.S. legal traditions derived from English legal traditions.

Question 42

In which of the following cases did the Supreme Court declare that the commerce clause would be broadly defined, giving the national government the authority to regulate commerce "among the several states"?

A) Brown v. Board of Education
B) Dred Scott v. Sandford
C) Gibbons v. Ogden
D) Marbury v. Madison
E) McCulloch v. Maryland

Question 43

When a nomination to the federal court is made, what interest group is best known for evaluating the nominee's record, reporting their findings to the Senate Judiciary Committee?

A) Liberty for All
B) American Bar Association
C) Common Cause
D) People for the American Way
E) National Rifle Association

Question 44

What was the outcome of the Dred Scott v. Sandford (1857) ruling?

A) The Court outlawed slavery from that date forward.
B) The Court ruled that no black was an American citizen.
C) The Court found that providing separate but equal public accommodation was constitutional.
D) The Court indicated that Congress had the authority to regulate slavery in the territories.
E) The Court restored full and proper rights to all Americans, including adult male blacks.

Question 45

Describe the process of oral argument in the Supreme Court.

Question 46

Discuss the role of district courts. What is special about them, and where do they fall in the U.S. judiciary system?

Question 47

In which of the Federalist Papers did Alexander Hamilton describe the judiciary as "the least dangerous branch" because it has no power over the sword or the purse?

A) Federalist 10
B) Federalist 51
C) Federalist 60
D) Federalist 72
E) Federalist 78

Question 48

When Sonia Sotomayor, a liberal, was nominated to the Supreme Court in 2009, which of the following interest groups opposed her nomination?

A) The National Association of Women Lawyers
B) The Leadership Conference on Civil Rights
C) The American Civil Liberties Union
D) Americans United for Life
E) League of United Latin American Citizens

Question 49

Explain the concept of precedents and how they are used within the federal court system.

Question 50

Explain the rule of four.

Question 51

Detail the levels of the federal court system, being sure to note the types of cases they hear and the forms of jurisdiction they possess.

Question 52

The first African American Supreme Court justice, who also argued Brown v. Board of Education before the U.S. Supreme Court, was which of the following?

A) Medgar Evers
B) Clarence Thomas
C) Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
D) Marcus Garvey
E) Thurgood Marshall

Question 53

Restate what the Constitution says about the organization and powers of the federal judiciary.

Question 54

The Warren Court established which of the following rights that is not explicitly in the Constitution?

A) Right to petition
B) Right to trial by jury
C) Affirmative action
D) Right to privacy
E) Right to property

Question 55

The idea that judges would not be removed from office due to partisan disagreements is a crucial component of which of the following?

A) Judicial relief
B) Judicial power
C) Judicial independence
D) Judicial impeachment
E) Judicial restraint

Question 56

The opportunity for the president to appoint members to the federal judiciary is valuable for which of the following reasons?

A) New justices help move long-term justices closer to mandatory retirement.
B) A majority of presidents have been able to make more than five appointments to the bench while in office.
C) Rulings related to redistricting and election laws will be altered to favor the president's political party.
D) The Court is able to move swiftly to begin ruling in favor of the president's ideology.
E) The political views of the president will continue to be institutionalized long after they have left the White House.

Question 57

The Supreme Court first established itself as a major player in national politics during the tenure of which of the following chief justices?

A) John Jay
B) Salmon P. Chase
C) William H. Taft
D) John Marshall
E) William Rehnquist

Question 58

National power, including the right to establish a national bank, and denying states the power to tax the national government, was expanded in which of the following cases?

A) Brown v. Board of Education
B) Dred Scott v. Sandford
C) Gibbons v. Ogden
D) Marbury v. Madison
E) McCulloch v. Maryland

Question 59

When some of his New Deal programs were struck down by the Supreme Court, which president proposed adding additional justices for each justice over 70 who did not retire, thus "packing" the Court in his favor?

A) Franklin Roosevelt
B) Teddy Roosevelt
C) Richard Nixon
D) Harry Truman
E) Dwight Eisenhower

Question 60

The Roberts Court has ruled in favor of business by doing which of the following?

A) Slashing all provisions of the Affordable Care Act
B) Establishing that corporations have the same speech rights as citizens
C) Ensuring that private businesses do not have to recognize same-sex marriages
D) Ruling that corporations have the same privacy rights as individual citizens
E) Creating an extensive network of tax havens for Wall Street insiders

Question 61

Discuss the roles of presidential and congressional party and ideological preferences in the judicial appointment process.

Question 62

Discuss the Supreme Court's ruling in Marbury v. Madison and how this ruling impacted the role of the Supreme Court in our system of government.

Question 63

Compare and contrast the legal and extralegal approaches to judicial decision making. Be specific.

Question 64

Describe the Court-packing plan proposed by Franklin Roosevelt. Was this a legitimate use of presidential power, or was he overstepping his authority. Explain your answer.

Question 65

Explain judicial review and the constitutional and judicial origins of the power.

Question 66

Describe the ways in which our courts can be checked by other branches of government.

Question 67

Discuss how the U.S. Supreme Court can impact many of the nation's political policies through its decisions on which cases to hear or to not hear. Is this a proper use of the Court's discretion? Why or why not?

Question 68

Compare and contrast the concepts of judicial restraint and judicial activism.

Question 69

Describe the lasting impact of Supreme Court appointments.

Question 70

Explain how the U.S. Supreme Court decides cases and explains its decisions.

Question 71

Explain the process by which the U.S. Supreme Court decides to hear cases.