The Judiciary and The Law

Question 1

Principles of the Judicial System

Answer 1

Four Principles:

• Equal Justice Under the Law
• Due Process of Law
• Adversarial System
• Presumption of Innocence

Question 2

Equal Justice Under The Law

Answer 2

Founding Fathers were afraid about a national hierarchy in the legal system so many amendments were added to protect a person in the court system

Question 3

Due Process

Answer 3

Two Types:

• Substantive
• Procedural

Question 4

Substantive Due Process

Answer 4

Deals with the question on whether laws are/are not fair

Question 5

Procedural Due Process

Answer 5

Deals with the question on whether laws are/are not fairly applied

Question 6

Adversarial System

Answer 6

Based on the premise that the best way to work out questions of fact is to have two sides debate the burden of guilt or liability in a situation

Question 7

Presumption of Innonence

Answer 7

States that all people are innocent until proven guilty in the court of law

Question 8

Criminal Law

Answer 8

Type of law that deals with serious crimes that harm individuals or society

Question 9

Grand Jury

Answer 9

A group of 24-48 jurors who decide whether or not a trial should commence

Question 10

Plea Bargaining

Answer 10

Attempt to work out an agreement to a less serious crime or sentence between the prosecution and defense (95% of all criminal cases end in plea bargains)

Question 11

Plea Bargains

Answer 11

The agreement to a lesser crime or sentence between the prosecution and defense

Question 12

Beyond A Reasonable Doubt

Answer 12

The defendant must be found guilty beyond a reasonable doubt before they can be given a sentence

Question 13

Petit Jury

Answer 13

12 jurors that determines if the defendant is guilty or not guilty (but can only do so if all 12 jurors vote to convict)

Question 14

Civil Law

Answer 14

What determines the results of disputes over things like contracts, property, child custody, or a liability issue

Question 15

Settlement

Answer 15

Parties negotiate and the issue becomes how much each party is willing to give up in order to end the lawsuit

Question 16

Preponderance of Evidence

Answer 16

The plaintiff needs to prove that the evidence points in favor of the party he is representing in order to win a case

Question 17

Equity

Answer 17

The losing party may be forced to stop doing something that was annoying/harmful to the winning party

Question 18

Original Jurisdiction

Answer 18

The power to hear a case for the first time, as opposed to appellate jurisdiction, when a court has the power to review a lower court’s decision

Question 19

Appellate Jurisdiction

Answer 19

The power to only decide issues of the law and never the facts of a case

Question 20

Federal District Courts

Answer 20

Decide both civil and criminal court cases in original jurisdiction and can also decide liability in civil cases where monetary losses have occured

Question 21

Circuit Courts of Appeals

Answer 21

Hear cases on appeal from the Federal District Courts or from the state Supreme Courts

Question 22

Senatorial Courtesy

Answer 22

Senators can submit a list of acceptable names of federal judge nominees to the President

Question 23

Judicial Restraint

Answer 23

A practice in which judges are reluctant to overturn the acts of a legislature

Question 24

Judicial Activist

Answer 24

A practice in which a judge overturns legislative action

Question 25

Writ of Certiorari

Answer 25

A legal document used to request the lower court transcripts of a case

Question 26

Justicidable

Answer 26

Cases that involve a legal dispute

Question 27

Standing

Answer 27

The vested interest in the outcome of a case

Question 28

Marbury v. Madison (1803)

Answer 28

Court Case ruling that gave the Supreme Court the right to judicial review

Question 29

Judicial Review

Answer 29

Gives the Supreme Court the power to determine the constitutionality of laws

Question 30

Fletcher v. Peck (1810)

Answer 30

Court case ruling that established the Court’s right to apply judicial review to state laws

Question 31

McCulloh v. Maryland (1819)

Answer 31

Court case ruling that rules that states do not have the power to tax the national bank or the federal government

Question 32

Gibbons v. Ogden (1824)

Answer 32

Court case ruling that increased the federal power over interstate commerce by implying that anything concerning interstate trade could potentially be regulated by the federal government

Question 33

Amicus Curiae Briefs

Answer 33

Constitute an effort to sway the justices to one side or the other and can be quite influential in determining the outcome of a case

Question 34

Oral Arguments

Answer 34

Lawyers for each party have a half hour each to stand before the nine justices and present their arguments

Question 35

Solicitor General

Answer 35

Receives a half hour to debate on the government’s behalf

Question 36

Conference

Answer 36

The justices cast votes, and opinion-writing duties are handed out

Question 37

Unanimous Opinion

Answer 37

When all of the justices agree (Carries the most force in legal cases and when new laws are drafted)

Question 38

Majority Opinion

Answer 38

When a split occurs it is the opinion with the most votes and decides the result of the case

Question 39

Concurring Opinion

Answer 39

Justices may vote for the majority but they may have an issue with its legal reasoning

Question 40

Dissenting Opinon

Answer 40

When the justices that voted for the minority question the reasoning of the winning side