Exam 1: Public Communication and the Law

In 2016, Senate Republicans refused to confirm President Obama's nominee to fill the U.S. Supreme Court vacancy created by the death of Justice Scalia.

Unlike federal judges, most state court judges are elected.

Most communication cases are brought in criminal court rather than civil court.

Federal regulatory agencies are bound by the requirements of the Administrative Procedure Act (APA). The APA specifies the procedures that must be employed when an agency enacts rules or enforces regulations.

The federal constitution is easy to amend and therefore has been changed frequently.

The U.S. Supreme Court refuses to grant the vast majority of petitions for certiorari it receives.

Of the six sources of law in the United States, the common law is the most important.

The U.S. Constitution provides that amendments must be ratified by the President.

With a 6-3 conservative/liberal split on the Supreme Court, the days of a single swing justice may be over. Instead, the center of the Court includes four justices: Chief Justice Roberts and Justices Gorsuch, Kavanaugh, and Barrett.

Common law is enacted by legislatures or administrative agencies.

The number of cases filed with the U.S. Supreme Court has remained stable since 1954.

Explain the three types of challenges that may be raised against an administrative agency's action.

Describe the U.S. Supreme Court's process in hearing and deciding a case.

Three circuits of the U.S. Court of Appeals, the Second Circuit, the D. C. Circuit, and the Ninth Circuit, are especially important to communication law.

Amendments to the U.S. Constitution must be ratified by three-fourths of the state legislatures or by state constitutional conventions in three-fourths of the states.

What is the definition of the following term: -Statutory law

The federal constitution is the country's ultimate legal authority.

The Supremacy Clause of the U.S. Constitution provides that state law cannot supersede federal law.

What is the definition of the following term: -Certiorari

Chief Justice Rehnquist sought to reduce the number of cases heard by the Supreme Court. In the later part of his tenure, the Court agreed to hear arguments in fewer than 100 cases a term.