Deck 13: The Courts

Question 1

The early details of the Supreme Court, including setting the number of justices at six and determining its internal organization, were established in

A) the preamble to the Constitution.
B) the Judiciary Act of 1789.
C) Marbury v. Madison (1803).
D) Article II of the Constitution.

Answer 1

B

Question 2

The framers came to a consensus on the matter of judicial review in 1787.

Answer 2

False

Question 3

When the Supreme Court justices review a case from the Second Circuit Court of Appeals, it is using ________.

A) Federalist 78
B) judicial review
C) original jurisdiction
D) appellate jurisdiction

Answer 3

D

Question 4

Supporters of a living Constitution argue that other legal perspectives do not allow the legal system to adapt in response to changes in technology, values, and society that could not have been anticipated by America's founders.

Question 5

Most cases arrive to the Supreme Court as a matter of right.

Question 6

________ wrote that the Supreme Court would be "beyond comparison the weakest of the three departments of power."

A) John Marshall
B) James Madison
C) Alexander Hamilton
D) James Wilson

Question 7

The Senate confirmation process for federal judges is less contentious today than in the 1960s.

Question 8

The Supreme Court is a political institution.

Question 9

In Marbury v. Madison, the Court asserted its power by forcing Secretary of State James Madison to deliver Justice William Marbury his commission so that Marbury could rightfully take his place as a justice of the peace.

Question 10

The original jurisdiction of the Supreme Court includes those cases that go directly to the Court for a full hearing. As specified in Article III of the Constitution, this includes disputes involving foreign ambassadors, countries, or cases in which a state is a party in the case.

Question 11

The framers gave federal judges lifetime tenure so that they could be independent.

Question 12

Although appeals courts are between the district courts and the Supreme Court, in actuality it is in the appeals courts where the final decision is rendered in most federal appellate cases.

Question 13

A typical U.S. Supreme Court case is allocated four hours for oral arguments, with each side getting two hours to present their respective cases.

Question 14

The chief justice is responsible for assigning the majority opinion to another justice on the Court but only when the chief justice is in the voting majority at the conference meeting.

Question 15

The Supreme Court justices typically hear about 20 percent of all cases submitted to them for appeal.

Question 16

The Constitution includes an explicit right to privacy.

Question 17

The most important political factor in Supreme Court decision making is the ideology of the justices or their attitudes about certain issues.

Question 18

Which one of the following did the Judiciary Act of 1789 accomplish?

A) It established every court throughout the nation, including all trial courts, city courts, county courts, state courts, and federal courts.
B) It specified the Supreme Court's power of judicial review.
C) It set the number of Supreme Court justices at nine.
D) It created both federal circuit and district courts.

Question 19

A litigant must have standing to sue in a civil case in the United States.

Question 20

The Supreme Court is undemocratic compared to Congress and the presidency.

Question 21

What can you conclude about Marbury v. Madison (1803)?

A) William Marbury finally received his job.
B) John Marshall and his colleagues preserved the independence of the Supreme Court.
C) The justices avoided resolving the judicial review debate.
D) Thomas Jefferson and John Marshall shared a similar vision of judicial review.

Question 22

Presidents appoint

A) federal judges for 10-year terms.
B) fellow partisans to judicial vacancies about half the time.
C) fellow partisans to judicial vacancies about 75 percent of the time.
D) fellow partisans to judicial vacancies about 90 percent of the time.

Question 23

The court of last resort for the vast majority of federal cases is ________.

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

Question 24

When the Supreme Court justices interpret the Affordable Care Act, they are engaged in ________.

A) constitutional review
B) judicial review
C) statutory interpretation
D) congressional oversight

Question 25

What was the justification for refusing to issue Marbury his commission in Marbury v. Madison (1803)?

A) Marbury deserved his commission, but the justices did not give it to him because Section 13 of the Judiciary Act of 1789 was unconstitutional.
B) The justices ruled that only Congress, and not the Supreme Court, had the power to issue the order.
C) The justices ruled that President Adams's appointment of Marbury could not stand because it occurred after the election of 1800, which Adams lost.
D) The justices ruled that only the president, and not the Supreme Court, had the power to issue the order.

Question 26

A class-action lawsuit

A) involves one litigant.
B) involves many litigants.
C) is banned in most states.
D) is a poor way to provide accountability and justice in our economic system.

Question 27

Which one of the following correctly orders courts from lowest to highest?

A) district courts, circuit courts, appeals courts
B) circuit courts, district courts, Supreme Court
C) district courts, special courts, circuit courts
D) district courts, appeals courts, Supreme Court

Question 28

The significance of the Court asserting its power to review the constitutionality of laws passed by Congress is that it

A) allowed the Court to become an equal partner in the institutional balance of power.
B) ensured the survival of dual federalism.
C) ensured that the rights of the majority would prevail.
D) allowed the Court to have the final say on all national laws and policies.

Question 29

Although judicial review is an accepted part of the U.S. political system, critics of judicial review contend that it

A) provides too much power to the majority.
B) is undemocratic because it gives nine unelected judges enormous power.
C) is undemocratic because a minority of the Court can affect national policy.
D) creates liberal bias in the system because most justices are former lawyers from Ivy League universities.

Question 30

Common law is a system by which a court

A) ensures that both parties to a case have lawyers and share evidence.
B) makes legal decisions on the basis of earlier decisions by other courts.
C) provides a detailed codification of the law.
D) hears special cases involving enemy combatants and matters related to national security.

Question 31

When the Supreme Court justices interpret the First Amendment, they are engaged in ________.

A) constitutional interpretation
B) judicial review
C) statutory interpretation
D) congressional oversight

Question 32

Why is standing an important criterion for the Supreme Court?

A) It can only be used if the mootness criterion is also used.
B) It allows the Supreme Court to duck hearing politically sensitive cases by ruling that the plaintiff does not have standing.
C) It helps interest groups know whether or not they can submit an amicus curiae brief.
D) It supports the Rule of Four in helping Supreme Court justices decide which cases to hear.

Question 33

There are a total of ________ federal district courts today.

A) 12
B) 94
C) 389
D) 677

Question 34

Precedents

A) can never change.
B) can be changed whenever judges decide to do so.
C) rarely ever change in the federal courts.
D) are the same thing as standing.

Question 35

Based on the Court's decision in Marbury v. Madison (1803), which of the following actions is unconstitutional?

A) The president nominates a Supreme Court justice who has no judicial experience.
B) Members of the Supreme Court remain active on the election campaigns of the members of Congress who supported their nomination.
C) Congress passes a law changing the Court's original jurisdiction powers as outlined in Article III.
D) Congress establishes new federal court districts and eliminates other ones.

Question 36

________ of the U.S. Constitution created the U.S. Supreme Court.

A) Article I
B) Article II
C) Article III
D) Article VII

Question 37

When the Supreme Court resolves conflicts among lower courts in the interpretation of the law, the principal effect is to

A) support the importance of judicial review as its main power.
B) ensure consistent application of the law across the United States.
C) put judicial activism into practice.
D) put the supremacy clause of the Constitution into practice.

Question 38

Cases heard by the Supreme Court under its appellate jurisdiction arrive there because

A) they involve foreign ambassadors and nations.
B) the justices have been asked to issue a writ of certification and to clarify a case for a lower appeals court.
C) a litigant who lost in a lower appellate court has convinced the justices to hear the case.
D) the solicitor general has determined it worthy of a hearing in the Supreme Court.

Question 39

What percentage of all U.S. Supreme Court justices have shared the nominating president's political party?

A) 55
B) 76
C) 91
D) 100

Question 40

In its first 230 years, Congress has passed more than ________ laws.

A) 10,000
B) 30,000
C) 60,000
D) 2,500,000

Question 41

The person responsible for litigating on behalf of the federal government is the ________.

A) attorney general
B) chief justice
C) solicitor general
D) federal chief procurator

Question 42

Which one of the following includes criteria for determining when the Supreme Court justices will hear a case?

A) Rule of Four
B) collusion, mootness, and standing
C) standing and origination
D) jurisdiction and origination

Question 43

Which one of the following statements is accurate?

A) Per curiam opinions cannot have dissents.
B) Plurality opinions occur when all of the justices agree on the legal reasoning of a case.
C) A concurring opinion generally agrees with the outcome of the case but not with at least part of the legal reasoning.
D) A majority opinion must get at least six votes under Supreme Court rules.

Question 44

One of the surest signs that the Supreme Court justices are going to agree to hear a specific case is

A) if it involves an appeal from the Sixth District.
B) if the chief justice has ruled on similar cases in the past.
C) if the solicitor general is a party to the case.
D) if a member of Congress is involved in the lawsuit.

Question 45

The Lilly Ledbetter case suggests that

A) the Supreme Court has the final say in disputes.
B) the doctrine of states' rights still exists today.
C) the president has the final say in disputes.
D) Congress has the final say in disputes.

Question 46

How much detail does the Constitution provide about the requirements for federal judicial service compared to the requirements to serve as president or in Congress?

A) It provides more detail about federal judicial service.
B) It provides the same amount of detail about both.
C) It provides less detail about federal judicial service.

Question 47

When a president consults with a senator from a court nominee's home state and who shares a party affiliation with the president, she or he is engaging in ________.

A) senatorial courtesy
B) precedent
C) amicus curiae
D) judicial activism

Question 48

Why did President Franklin D. Roosevelt attempt to pack the Court in 1937?

A) He was trying to make a humanitarian gesture.
B) He wanted to add more justices to the Court that shared the majority's judicial philosophy.
C) The justices had struck down several components of the New Deal.
D) He wanted to pressure the Republican Congress to accept his policy agenda.

Question 49

Franklin Roosevelt's court-packing plan was designed to

A) modernize the federal court system.
B) force the Supreme Court to rule in favor of his New Deal legislation.
C) help the Supreme Court process more cases.
D) strengthen the court system to help stem the rise of organized crime in the 1930s.

Question 50

Which one of the following statements is accurate?

A) No presidential nomination to the federal judiciary has been filibustered in U.S. history.
B) The nuclear option was invoked by the Republicans during Bill Clinton's presidency.
C) Both major parties have been willing to use the filibuster to block judicial nominees.
D) Presidential nominations to the federal courts have not been very controversial for the past 25 years.

Question 51

Presidents

A) must nominate law-school graduates to federal judgeships.
B) can nominate whomever they wish to federal judgeships.
C) must nominate someone with a rating of "well qualified" from the American Bar Association.
D) typically allow U.S. senators to tell them whom to nominate for federal judgeships.

Question 52

The term senatorial courtesy refers to

A) the Senate deferring to the president in making appointments to the Supreme Court.
B) the Senate focusing on merit criteria in the appointment process.
C) the president deferring to members of the president's party from each state in choosing nominees to district courts.
D) the president focusing on the political preferences of the Senate in selecting Supreme Court nominees.

Question 53

Currently the justices hear about ________ cases per year.

A) 30
B) 75
C) 150
D) 260

Question 54

At least 95 percent of cases that arrive to the Supreme Court come through ________.

A) a writ of certiorari
B) certification
C) original jurisdiction
D) the requirement of mootness

Question 55

Why do the justices only hear a small fraction of all cases appealed to them?

A) Many of the submitted cases are frivolous.
B) to show proper respect to the rulings made in the lower courts
C) to show proper respect to the other branches of government, and to fend off charges that the Court takes an activist role in policy making
D) The justices are too divided to agree on cases.

Question 56

Which one of the following is the most severe restriction on the Supreme Court's policy-making role?

A) The Court has only nine members.
B) The justices cannot set the judicial agenda and can only choose from cases appealed to it.
C) The president can change the size of the Court if the president disagrees with its decisions.
D) The Court is required to follow the dictates of precedent even when its justices disagree with those precedents.

Question 57

While the number of cases submitted to the Supreme Court has ________, the number of opinions issued by the justices has ________.

A) stayed the same; increased
B) stayed the same; declined
C) increased; declined
D) increased; also increased

Question 58

Which one of the following would submit an amicus curiae brief ?

A) defendant
B) prosecution
C) interest group
D) plaintiff

Question 59

Why does a president typically use partisanship as a criterion in selecting nominees to the Supreme Court?

A) Moderate judges tend to be less decisive.
B) The norm of senatorial courtesy requires the president to do so.
C) The leaders in the opposition party put tremendous pressure on the president to choose a nominee from the opposition party in the interest of political fairness.
D) The president wants to choose a nominee with similar political views to advance the president's legacy.

Question 60

Which one of the following is a case that would bypass the appeals courts and go directly to the Supreme Court?

A) a case involving illegal immigration
B) a case involving a foreign ambassador
C) a search and seizure case
D) a case involving a capital offense

Question 61

What does it mean when the justices meet in conference?

Question 62

Conservative judges tend to support

A) the regulation of morality.
B) the living Constitution view.
C) a broad interpretation of the Constitution.
D) affirmative action.

Question 63

Restraintist judges

A) can never be liberal.
B) always take a conservative position.
C) tend to defer to the traditional institutions of government to address public policy disputes.
D) tend to be very liberal.

Question 64

What is a writ of certiorari and why is it so important in Supreme Court politics?

Question 65

What is the attitudinalist approach to Supreme Court decision making?

Question 66

Liberal judges tend to support

A) the doctrine of states' rights.
B) property rights.
C) the pro-choice position on abortion.
D) a strict interpretation of the Constitution.

Question 67

Why is plea bargaining so prevalent in the United States?

Question 68

Opinion assigning duties for Supreme Court decisions are determined by ________.

A) patronage
B) seniority
C) random chance
D) the wishes of the clerk

Question 69

Describe how oral argument works in the Supreme Court.

Question 70

Distinguish between judicial activism and judicial restraint.

Question 71

Unlike the first 100 years of the Supreme Court's history, more recent time periods have displayed an increased tendency toward

A) making unanimous decisions.
B) employing political justifications for overturning precedent.
C) expressing minority views through dissents.
D) ruling in favor of the side with public opinion behind it.

Question 72

Which of the following lists accurately describes the order of activities of the Supreme Court justices?

A) writ of certiorari, oral argument, submission of briefs, conference
B) conference, oral argument, writ of certiorari, submission of briefs
C) submission of briefs, oral argument, conference, writing of opinion
D) submission of briefs, writ of certiorari, writing of opinion, conference

Question 73

Activist judges

A) are always liberal.
B) tend to take a strict interpretation of the Constitution.
C) tend to uphold precedent most of the time.
D) can be conservative.

Question 74

What is the purpose of submitting an amicus curiae brief ?

A) Amicus curiae briefs are written to show support for the lower court's ruling.
B) Amicus curiae briefs allow interest groups and other organizations to convey their opinions to the justices of the Supreme Court.
C) Amicus curiae briefs designate that the federal government has an interest in the outcome of the case.
D) Amicus curiae briefs are often written anonymously and then leaked to the press in an effort to influence public opinion.

Question 75

What is senatorial courtesy and why is it important?

Question 76

What is common law and why is it important?

Question 77

Most proponents of strict constructionism argue that if the text of the Constitution is ambiguous, then a judge should

A) use his or her best judgment to make a ruling that seems fair and just.
B) take into account evolving national attitudes and circumstances.
C) side with the defendant because of insufficient information.
D) figure out what the words generally meant to people at the time they were written.

Question 78

What can you report since 1980 concerning the number of applications for judicial review at the Supreme Court level and the number of cases that are actually approved for judicial scrutiny?

Question 79

An opinion written by a Supreme Court justice who agrees with a case but does not agree with its legal logic is called a ________.

A) concurring opinion
B) plurality opinion
C) per curiam opinion
D) writ of mandamus

Question 80

Explain why Marbury v. Madison (1803) was a case involving judicial review.