Deck 12: The Judiciary

Question 1

The central issue in the ideological struggle regarding Supreme Court nominees has been

A) gun control.
B) economic regulation.
C) women's rights.
D) abortion.
E) the environment.

Answer 1

abortion.

Question 2

Under the power of judicial review, a law of Congress is void if it

A) is vetoed by the president and not overridden by Congress.
B) was passed by less than a majority vote of both houses.
C) is in conflict with the Constitution.
D) is in conflict with a prior law already held constitutional by the Supreme Court.
E) was considered by each chamber, but in the wrong order.

Answer 2

is in conflict with the Constitution.

Question 3

Since 1789, the Supreme Court has declared over _____ federal laws unconstitutional.

A) 100
B) 200
C) 300
D) 500
E) 1,000

Answer 3

100

Question 4

Judges who apply rules that are clearly stated or implied by the language in the Constitution are considered to be

A) liberals.
B) conservatives.
C) constitutionalists.
D) activists.
E) strict constructionists.

Question 5

Judges who seek to discover the general principles underlying the Constitution and then amplify them on the basis of a moral or economic theory are described as

A) strict constructionists.
B) liberals.
C) activists.
D) conservatives.
E) originalists.

Question 6

To illustrate the tension between activists and strict constructionists, the text discusses a case involving

A) personal rights.
B) women's suffrage.
C) affirmative action.
D) school segregation.
E) educational reform.

Question 7

One influential view of courts is expressed in Federalist No. 78, written by

A) Hamilton.
B) Madison.
C) Adams.
D) Jay.
E) Marshall.

Question 8

During the period 1787 to 1865, one of the major issues confronting the courts was

A) the relationship between the government and the economy.
B) the legitimacy of the federal government.
C) personal liberty.
D) social equality.
E) women's rights.

Question 9

The statement, "John Marshall has made his decision, now let him enforce it!" was made by

A) a sitting president.
B) a dissenting justice.
C) a lower court of appeals.
D) a U.S. attorney general.
E) the American Bar Association.

Question 10

The Court's notorious decision in the Dred Scott case involved

A) commerce.
B) banking.
C) military detainee camps.
D) slavery.
E) the treatment of Native Americans.

Question 11

Who was president when appointments were made at the last minute to pack the judiciary with Federalists?

A) Marbury
B) Adams
C) Marshall
D) Jefferson
E) Madison

Question 12

Which secretary of state refused to deliver the commissions left on his desk from the previous administration?

A) Marbury
B) Adams
C) Marshall
D) Jefferson
E) Madison

Question 13

Who wrote the opinion of the Court in Marbury v. Madison?

A) Marbury
B) Adams
C) Marshall
D) Jefferson
E) Madison

Question 14

The classic ruling in Marbury v. Madison

A) clarified and enlarged the power of the judiciary.
B) precipitated a constitutional crisis.
C) demonstrated that the Court was the weakest of the three branches.
D) fulfilled predictions that the judicial branch would be passive.
E) relegated the federal judiciary to a secondary role for the next three decades.

Question 15

For the federal courts, the dominant issue from 1865 to 1937 was

A) reconstruction and nation building following the Civil War.
B) the relationship between the government and the economy.
C) civil rights.
D) civil liberties.
E) the legitimacy of the federal government.

Question 16

The period in Supreme Court history from 1936 to the present has been marked by a concern for

A) the regulation of commerce.
B) states' rights.
C) political liberties.
D) private property.
E) business ethics.

Question 17

The power to create the lower federal courts derives from

A) the Supreme Court.
B) the power of judicial review.
C) the powers of Congress.
D) the presidential power of appointment.
E) the powers of the president's cabinet.

Question 18

Judges serving in a constitutional court

A) may be fired, but their salaries may not be reduced while in office.
B) may be fired and may have their salaries reduced while in office.
C) may not be fired or have their salaries reduced while in office.
D) may not be fired, but their salaries may be reduced while in office.
E) are subject to the same disciplinary actions as judges in legislative courts.

Question 19

Who becomes a district judge is heavily influenced by the

A) president.
B) senators from the state in which the vacancy occurs.
C) courts.
D) judge's peers.
E) electorate.

Question 20

Nominations to U.S. District Courts are

A) rarely defeated.
B) exempt from senatorial courtesy.
C) immune from partisanship.
D) usually filibustered.
E) subject to approval by voters.

Question 21

A diversity case involves

A) questions arising under both the federal Constitution and federal law.
B) questions of both federal and state laws.
C) citizens of different states.
D) an appeal from a state court to a federal court.
E) a tort that involves damages of less than $5,000.

Question 22

When citizens of different states are in a legal battle with each other, the case can be heard in a state or a federal court if at least __________ is at stake.

A) $5,000
B) $10,000
C) $25,000
D) $40,000
E) $75,000

Question 23

Citizen X is suing his neighbor Y for ramming her $9,000 car. This case would be heard in

A) a federal court.
B) either a federal or a state court.
C) a state court.
D) the state court of appeals.
E) a legislative court.

Question 24

The Supreme Court will grant a writ of certiorari if at least _____ justices agree that a case involves a substantial federal question.

A) 2
B) 3
C) 4
D) 6
E) 8

Question 25

In a typical term the Supreme Court's workload will involve as many as _____ cases.

A) 100
B) 1,000
C) 4,000
D) 7,000
E) 35,000

Question 26

One problem with the Supreme Court reviewing only 1 percent of appeals court cases is that

A) federal law may be viewed differently in different parts of the country.
B) justice is frequently not achieved in the United States.
C) lower courts regularly defy the rulings of the Supreme Court.
D) the power of the Supreme Court has diminished in recent years.
E) the Court has little sense of how law is developing in the circuits.

Question 27

The Court's tremendous workload has led to an increase in the power of

A) the attorney general.
B) the solicitor general.
C) the deputy attorney general.
D) the chief justices of state supreme courts.
E) its law clerks.

Question 28

Courts are the "great equalizer" in the federal government because

A) the power of judicial review limits the authority of all courts.
B) they hold the balance between state and local governments.
C) even lower courts are constitutionally equal in power to Congress.
D) contending parties are legally equal before courts.
E) anything can happen in a court, especially when a jury is involved.

Question 29

The so-called American rule recognizes that

A) judges are as human as the litigants in the process.
B) the best judges are the ones who were former lawyers.
C) lawyers rarely collect fees when they lose a case.
D) litigants pay very little if they lose on appeal.
E) each party to a lawsuit in the United States must pay its own way.

Question 30

Fee shifting refers to

A) reducing the fees of your attorney.
B) requiring the losing defendant to pay court costs.
C) asking the government to pay the fees of all parties.
D) a shifting scale of attorney fees based on experience and damages awarded.
E) allowing the government to threaten those who file frivolous lawsuits.

Question 31

Which of the following is true of a suit against a government?

A) It is forbidden under all circumstances by the doctrine of sovereign immunity.
B) It is possible only against state governments but not against the federal government.
C) It can occur only when a government consents.
D) It is possible only since the ratification of the Eleventh Amendment.
E) It is possible only in the Ninth Judicial Circuit.

Question 32

There are _____ U.S. District Courts.

A) 11
B) 12
C) 13
D) 94
E) 415

Question 33

One of the reasons class-action suits became more common is that

A) it can be more profitable to bring a suit on behalf of many people.
B) there are more people in the lower classes today.
C) the requirements are now very easy to satisfy.
D) more people are becoming angry with corporations.
E) judges are biased against corporations and trusts.

Question 34

The function of the solicitor general is to

A) study and approve every case the federal government presents to the Supreme Court.
B) enforce the decisions of the Supreme Court.
C) review all Supreme Court rulings.
D) maintain order in the Supreme Court's courtroom.
E) hire law clerks for individual justices of the Supreme Court.

Question 35

Interest groups can attempt to influence the Supreme Court by

A) appealing a decision directly to the president.
B) assisting in the election campaign of the justices.
C) writing an amicus curiae brief.
D) raising a "political question."
E) testifying during oral arguments.

Question 36

A measure of the Court's power is found in the extent to which it addresses

A) national security issues once handled by the president.
B) political questions previously left to the Congress.
C) environmental issues addressed by the states.
D) military issues once left to the Department of Defense.
E) judicial organization.

Question 37

Impeachment is a matter reserved for

A) the federal courts.
B) the Supreme Court.
C) the district courts.
D) Congress.
E) the president.

Question 38

A frequent criticism of judicial activism is that

A) judges have little expertise in managing policy areas.
B) judges are helping the wrong people.
C) judges don't do enough of it.
D) judges should do more research before becoming involved with policy.
E) judges are rarely tied to the communities they affect.

Question 39

Most of the current justices on the Supreme Court had prior experience as

A) state prosecutors.
B) federal prosecutors.
C) defense attorneys.
D) state judges.
E) federal judges.

Question 40

Most of the justices on the current Supreme Court

A) were appointed by Republican presidents.
B) are from the State of New York.
C) are at least eighty years old.
D) were appointed by Bill Clinton.
E) were appointed after 2001.

Question 41

Lawsuits are caused not by lawyers but by

A) contending interests.
B) the recent change allowing lawyers to advertise on television.
C) the publicity generated by several huge awards of money by juries.
D) increased educational levels in the United States.
E) recent trends in legal education.

Question 42

An increase in cases is not solely responsible for the sweeping remedies imposed by courts. A second factor contributing to this trend is

A) the rise in the number of courts in the United States.
B) the complexity of contemporary problems.
C) laws that contain vague language.
D) public distrust of Congress.
E) partisan bickering in the annual judicial conference.

Question 43

One reason for the increased judicial activism seen today is that

A) the doctrine of sovereign immunity no longer applies.
B) political parties are stronger today.
C) interest groups employ more lawyers today.
D) more judges believe the y should be activists.
E) more judges are less than forty years old.

Question 44

Impeachment proceedings against federal judges are

A) effective restraints on the judiciary.
B) quite frequent.
C) usually brought by liberals.
D) rarely used restraints on the judiciary.
E) controversial, unless attempted in election years.

Question 45

In the 1950s there was a movement in Congress to curtail the Court's jurisdiction in cases involving

A) civil rights.
B) the environment.
C) the commerce clause.
D) police power.
E) litigants from more than one state.

Question 46

The popularity of the Supreme Court is related to

A) the appointment of a new justice to the Court.
B) decisions that reflect a conservative political outlook.
C) the popularity of the government as a whole.
D) the performance of the economy.
E) the percentage of its decisions that feature dissents.

Question 47

In recent years the confirmation process for federal judges has become very contentious.

Question 48

The central issue in increasingly hostile judicial nominations is abortion.

Question 49

A strict constructionist would decide a case based on the powers expressly granted in the Constitution.

Question 50

An example of the tension between activists and strict constructionists is the 1954 Supreme Court ruling on school segregation.

Question 51

Alexander Hamilton discussed the role of courts in Federalist No. 78.

Question 52

Early cases established that national law was in all instances supreme law.

Question 53

Chief Justice Taney was a state's rights advocate whose views influenced decision-making trends in the Supreme Court.

Question 54

The last-minute appointments of John Adams were largely related to the judicial branch.

Question 55

In Marbury v. Madison the Court ruled that William Marbury had to be given the position for which he was appointed.

Question 56

In Dred Scott v. Sandford the Supreme Court ruled that the federal government, not the states, has the right to regulate the economy.

Question 57

The dominant concern of the Supreme Court in the period following the Civil War was personal liberties.

Question 58

During the period 1937 to 1974 the Court did not overturn a single federal law which regulated business.

Question 59

Franklin Roosevelt was never able to make appointments to the Supreme Court.

Question 60

The Court was increasingly activist during the tenure of Chief Justice Earl Warren.

Question 61

The only federal court that must exist is the Supreme Court.

Question 62

There are twelve U. S. District Courts.

Question 63

Presidents typically nominate members of their own party for positions in the federal judiciary.

Question 64

Unlike the Supreme Court, the president can exercise much control over lower federal courts.

Question 65

Senators have little influence over who is appointed to the lower federal courts.

Question 66

Of the 145 Supreme Court nominees presented to it, the Senate has failed to confirm 61.

Question 67

Party background has some effect on how judges rule.

Question 68

The number of blacks, women, and Hispanics in the federal judiciary has been increasing.

Question 69

The jurisdiction of the federal courts is outlined in Article IV of the Constitution.

Question 70

Federal judges can supervise state court rulings even when they have no jurisdiction over the original matter.

Question 71

Some matters are exclusively under the jurisdiction of federal courts.

Question 72

If the Federal Communications Commission has ruled against you, your next step is an appeal before a federal court of appeals.

Question 73

A person must declare bankruptcy in state court.

Question 74

A writ of certiori requires that at least six members agree that a case involves a substantial federal question.

Question 75

In most cases the federal courts of appeal will have the last word on the interpretation of the Constitution rather than the Supreme Court.

Question 76

Supreme Court opinions are often written by law clerks who are fresh out of school.

Question 77

The Supreme Court rejects about 95% of the applications for certiori that it receives.

Question 78

In the U. S. each party to a lawsuit must pay its way. This is called in forma pauperis.

Question 79

The doctrine of sovereign immunity states that you cannot sue the government without its consent.

Question 80

There are seven justices on the U.S. Supreme Court.