Deck 14: The Courts

Question 1

In which of the following cases did the Supreme Court first claim the right of judicial review?

A) Chishom v. Georgia
B) Brown v. Board of Education
C) United States v. Nixon
D) Dred Scott v. Sandford
E) Marbury v. Madison

Answer 1

E

Question 2

Which of the following nominates U.S. federal judges?

A) president
B) vice president
C) chief justice
D) Senate
E) Supreme Court

Answer 2

A

Question 3

Federal judges are appointed to __________ terms.

A) two-year
B) three-year
C) life
D) ten-year
E) twenty-year

Answer 3

C

Question 4

In which court do cases generally begin?

A) trial
B) appellate
C) original
D) constitutional
E) state

Question 5

The United States is divided into 12 geographic __________ courts that hear appeals from federal district courts.

A) common
B) judicial
C) circuit
D) public
E) legislative

Question 6

The Supreme Court sometimes changes the definition of standing to make access for a __________ easier or more difficult.

A) defendant
B) prosecutor
C) district attorney
D) plaintiff
E) appellee

Question 7

When a case is granted review in an appellate court, the parties submit written __________ presenting their arguments.

A) ledgers
B) motions
C) briefs
D) opinions
E) plans

Question 8

A grand __________ brings indictments in federal trial courts.

A) trial
B) punishment
C) judiciary
D) plea
E) jury

Question 9

The __________ Act of 1789 established the basic three-tiered structure of the federal court system.

A) Federal Courts
B) Appellate
C) Confirmation
D) Interpretation
E) Judiciary

Question 10

Which type of case represents over 75 percent of all cases heard in the 94 federal district courts?

A) civil
B) original
C) trial
D) appellate
E) criminal

Question 11

When the federal government is a party to a Supreme Court case, the __________ or one of his or her deputies presents the oral arguments.

A) attorney general
B) president
C) Speaker of the House
D) solicitor general
E) chief prosecutor

Question 12

How many tiers does the federal judiciary have?

A) two
B) six
C) four
D) three
E) five

Question 13

What is the name given to the power of the courts to interpret, and overturn, the actions of the executive and legislative branches?

A) original jurisdiction
B) strict construction
C) judicial review
D) precedent
E) stare decisis

Question 14

For a case to be heard in the Supreme Court, a minimum of how many justices must vote to hear the case?

A) one
B) four
C) five
D) nine
E) six

Question 15

How many justices currently serve on the Supreme Court?

A) five
B) six
C) twelve
D) nine
E) eight

Question 16

Following oral arguments and reading briefs on a case, the justices gather for a __________ to reach a decision.

A) conference
B) meeting
C) hearing
D) review
E) circuit

Question 17

Which of the following confers the power to create the office of "chief justice of the United States?"

A) Article I of the Constitution
B) the Supreme Court
C) Article III of the Constitution
D) the president
E) Article II of the Constitution

Question 18

Which of the following is the authority vested in a particular court to hear and decide the issues in a particular case?

A) jurisdiction
B) judicial review
C) jurisprudence
D) confirmation
E) filibuster

Question 19

A writ of __________ is a request submitted to the U.S. Supreme Court to review a lower court decision.

A) mandamus
B) prohibition
C) capias
D) attachment
E) certiorari

Question 20

Which Article of the Constitution created the federal judiciary?

A) Article III
B) Article II
C) Article VI
D) Article I
E) Article IX

Question 21

Who attempted to expand the number of Supreme Court justices in 1937?

A) Chief Justice Warren
B) President Hoover
C) Chief Justice Marshall
D) President Roosevelt
E) President Wilson

Question 22

What are the two types of jurisdiction courts can have?

A) original and appellate
B) trial and appeals
C) constitutional and statutory
D) active and restrained
E) legislative and constitutional

Question 23

The ruling in which of the following cases struck down state-mandated segregation in public schools?

A) Gideon v. Wainwright
B) McCulloch v. Maryland
C) Brown v. Board of Education
D) Marbury v. Madison
E) Plessy v. Ferguson

Question 24

The U.S. courts of appeals are divided into __________ numbered circuits and two unnumbered circuits.

A) nine
B) twelve
C) thirteen
D) eleven
E) six

Question 25

Congress has created a number of __________ courts to adjudicate cases in highly specialized areas of concern, such as taxes, patents, and maritime law.

A) constitutional
B) Article III
C) legislative
D) Article I
E) original

Question 26

Proponents of which of the following believe that judges should use their power broadly to further justice?

A) judicial restraint
B) judicial constructionism
C) judicial activism
D) judicial originalism
E) judicial implementation

Question 27

In which courts are the vast majority of all cases tried?

A) federal
B) supreme
C) constitutional
D) appellate
E) state

Question 28

Which of the following is an opinion written by a justice in the majority that outlines additional considerations he or she thinks are important?

A) concurring
B) en banc
C) majority
D) per curiam
E) dissenting

Question 29

In 1987, the Senate refused to confirm the nomination of which of the following to the Supreme Court?

A) Antonin Scalia
B) Harlan Fiske
C) Earl Warren
D) Robert Bork
E) David Souter

Question 30

To which of the following does Article III give the power to create inferior federal courts?

A) Congress
B) the president
C) the Supreme Court
D) the states
E) the people

Question 31

A(n) __________ brief is submitted by someone who is not a party to the case.

A) amicus curiae
B) appellate
C) habeas corpus
D) outsider
E) coram nobis

Question 32

Which of the following is within the original jurisdiction of the Supreme Court?

A) federal criminal matters
B) tax disputes
C) military tribunals
D) controversies between the states
E) property disputes

Question 33

Which of the following was at issue in Grove City College v. Bell?

A) Title IX of the Federal Education Act
B) Title VI of the Fair Housing Act
C) Title VII of the Civil Rights Act
D) Title IV of the Affordable Care Act.
E) Title III of the National Higher Education Act

Question 34

Courts provide a statement of the legal reasoning behind their decisions in written __________.

A) briefs
B) arguments
C) opinions
D) laws
E) pamphlets

Question 35

Advocates of __________ believe that the Court must be guided by the meaning of the Framers and the exact words found in the Constitution.

A) necessary intent
B) judicial intent
C) precedent
D) original intent
E) supremacy

Question 36

The authority to be the first court to hear a case is which type of jurisdiction?

A) appellate
B) constitutional
C) federal
D) original
E) trial

Question 37

Which of the following represents an imposed judicial remedy that would require other governmental bodies to take action?

A) the Court's willingness to become involved in the process of drawing congressional electoral district boundaries in the states
B) the Court expanding the rights of criminal defendants
C) a court order mandating that school districts bus students to achieve racial balance
D) the Court upholding the federal Partial-Birth Abortion Ban Act
E) the Court following precedent that guides judicial decision making

Question 38

What is recognized as an action by the courts that goes beyond the role of the judiciary as interpreter of the law and adjudicator of disputes?

A) judicial activism
B) judicial execution
C) judicial legislation
D) judicial intention
E) judicial power

Question 39

Only a(n) __________ court can review the decisions of a lower court.

A) trial
B) original
C) administrative
D) constitutional
E) appellate

Question 40

In which federal courts are trials conducted?

A) circuit
B) district
C) common
D) original
E) public

Question 41

All federal judicial nominations are first referred to which of the following for a hearing?

A) House Judiciary Committee
B) Senate Nominations Committee
C) Supreme Court
D) Senate Judiciary Committee
E) attorney general

Question 42

Article III specifies the powers of the Supreme Court.

Question 43

The Judiciary Act of 1789 established the federal circuit courts and district courts.

Question 44

Which of the following cases should originate in the state courts?

A) disputes involving the First Amendment
B) disputes involving ambassadors
C) disputes involving shipping and commerce on the high seas
D) disputes between citizens in the same state
E) disputes between states

Question 45

Critics of original intent would agree with which of the following statements?

A) The intentions of the Framers, seen clearly, provide all the personal freedoms necessary in a democracy.
B) The expansion of rights that has occurred since the mid-1960s is illegitimate.
C) Strict constructionism is a way to stay close to the Constitution's true meaning.
D) The Court must be guided by the exact words in the Constitution.
E) The intentions of the Framers are impossible to determine.

Question 46

The district courts are appellate courts.

Question 47

Once appellate decisions are published, they become __________ that guide the decisions of other judges in the same circuit.

A) amendments
B) laws
C) briefs
D) opinions
E) precedents

Question 48

Which of the following limits judicial power?

A) judicial review
B) judicial activism
C) stare decisis/precedent
D) constitutional courts
E) senatorial courtesy

Question 49

How many courts of appeals are in the federal system?

A) two
B) six
C) thirteen
D) eleven
E) five

Question 50

In court rulings, reliance on past decisions to formulate decisions in new cases is known as which of the following?

A) per curiam
B) stare decisis
C) coram nobis
D) amicus curiae
E) common law

Question 51

A court that hears and weighs evidence in order to reach the first decision in a civil or criminal case is a court of __________ jurisdiction.

A) appellate
B) constitutional
C) trial
D) original
E) mandatory

Question 52

Who is generally considered to be the swing vote on the Roberts Court?

A) John Roberts
B) Elena Kagan
C) Ruth Bader Ginsburg
D) Anthony Kennedy
E) Robert Bork

Question 53

Which of the following can modify a decision of the Supreme Court?

A) executive order
B) federal statute
C) lower court decision
D) constitutional amendment
E) writ of certiorari

Question 54

Which of the following would be most likely to vote to overturn Roe v. Wade on the grounds that the Framers did not intend for the Constitution to protect abortion rights?

A) Ruth Bader Ginsburg
B) Stephen Breyer
C) Elana Kagan
D) Clarence Thomas
E) Anthony Kennedy

Question 55

In a process known as __________, presidents generally allow senators from the state in which a judicial vacancy occurs to block the nomination.

A) advice and consent
B) presidential deference
C) judicial review
D) senatorial courtesy
E) Senate confirmation

Question 56

When the U.S. Supreme Court agrees to hear a case appealed to it from a circuit court, it is exercising its __________ jurisdiction.

A) original
B) constitutional
C) mandatory
D) appellate
E) legislative

Question 57

The conference of the U.S. Supreme Court is __________.

A) open to the justices and the public
B) limited to the justices themselves
C) open to the justices and other court staff
D) open to the justices and the president
E) open to the justices and all members of Congress

Question 58

Which idea is known as the political-economic doctrine that holds government ought not interfere with the operations of the free market?

A) constitutional interpretation
B) laissez-faire
C) national power and property rights
D) individual rights and liberties
E) conservative retrenchment

Question 59

According to the principle of __________, a court should not overturn precedent unless it is absolutely necessary.

A) original intent
B) judicial review
C) stare decisis
D) prior restraint
E) judicial privilege

Question 60

If Court justices have become more willing to monitor the activities of other governmental entities, they likely believe in exercising which of the following?

A) judicial restraint
B) judicial conservatism
C) judicial originalism
D) judicial review
E) judicial construction

Question 61

Gideon v. Wainwright established the right of all criminal defendants to have a(n) __________ at trial.

Question 62

Litigants have an automatic right of appeal to the Supreme Court.

Question 63

Rotating three-judge panels decide cases in the federal courts of appeals.

Question 64

The Supreme Court regularly exercises its original jurisdiction.

Question 65

A dissenting opinion is written by a justice who agrees with the decision of the majority, but disagrees with the rationale.

Question 66

Congress has not reorganized the federal courts since the Judiciary Act of 1789.

Question 67

A lawyer's spoken presentation to the Supreme Court of the legal reasons that his or her client should win is called the __________.

Question 68

Strict construction holds that the Constitution should be interpreted in light of modern values.

Question 69

The circuit courts hear appeals from the __________ courts.

Question 70

Marbury v. Madison significantly expanded the power of the federal judiciary.

Question 71

Only the Supreme Court can review the decisions of state courts.

Question 72

A president can claim __________ to withhold certain communications with subordinates from Congress and the courts.

Question 73

__________ confers authority to bring legal action because one is directly affected by the issues at hand.

Question 74

The United States has a dual system of justice.

Question 75

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit is a constitutional court.

Question 76

A __________ jury is called to determine guilt or innocence.

Question 77

Of all the federal courts, only the __________ is established by the Constitution.

Question 78

The Supreme Court's annual term begins on the first Thursday in April.

Question 79

The Supreme Court is both a court of original jurisdiction and an appellate court.

Question 80

__________ juries decide whether there is sufficient evidence to bring an indictment against accused persons.