AP US Government & Politics – Governmentby the PeopleName:______Block:____
Chapter 13: The Judiciary: The Balancing Branch(Unit 4d)
- How did the Constitutional Framers seek to keep the judicial branch from being overly influence by Congress or public opinion?
- How is the judiciary weaker than congress or the president when it comes to having its decisions implemented?
- This chapter has a great deal of vocabulary terms. They are all important, so know all of them.
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- judicial review-
- adversary system-
- criminal law-
- civil law-
- prosecutor-
- defendant-
- plea bargain-
- justiciable dispute-
- plaintiff-
- US attorney general-
- solicitor general-
- public defender system-
- district courts-
- circuit courts of appeals-
- Supreme Court-
- original jurisdiction-
- appellate jurisdiction-
- precedent-
- senatorial courtesy-
- judicial activism-
- judicial restraint-
- writ of certiorari-
- in forma pauperis-
- docket-
- amicus curiae brief-
- opinion of the Court-
- dissenting opinion-
- concurring opinion-
- stare decisis-
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- Should the Supreme Court have the power of judicial review over national laws?
- Should the Supreme Court be able to rule on the constitutionality of a law immediately after it passes rather than wait for a real life case to arrive?
- Know the following: a) at the federal district court level one judge hears each case;b) at the circuit court of appeals level three or more judges hear a case;and, c) at the Supreme Court level nine justices (not judges) hear a case. Justices with a previous connection to a case may recuse themselves, leaving fewer justices to decide the matter.
- When can state court decisions be appealed to the federal level?
- Why do you think presidents like to pick fairly young (for a judge) people to be on federal courts, including the Supreme Court?
- Look at table 13.1 on page 420. Would you prefer that more justices come from previous jobs that were something other than as federal judges or is that the best experience to be on the Supreme Court?
- Do you think senatorial courtesy should exist?
- How did the failure of Robert Bork to be confirmed by the Senate lead to changes in the way people testify before the Senate Judiciary committee?
- Do you think justices and judges time their retirement to coincide with a president who will replace them with a like-minded judge or justice?
- Which of the following - judicial activism or judicial restraint - would you like to see justices have? Or does this depend on the law or case in question?
- How many justices on the Supreme Court does it take to issue a writ of certiorari?
- Look at figure 13.3 on page 428. Why do you think so many more cases are appealed to the Supreme Court than there were in the past?
- Should justices be able to interrupt lawyers who are presenting oral arguments before the Supreme Court and ask them questions?
- Who decides who gets to write the Opinion of the Court in a case?
- How much power does the Chief Justice have over the Associate Justices?
- Who are law clerks and what do they do?
- Why is the Solicitor General sometimes referred to as the tenth justice?
- How is the president key in enforcing Supreme Court decisions (example - Brown v. Board of Education)?
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