Goal 2 Part 4 Study Guide
Chapter 8, Section 1 (The Federal Courts)
1. What is the third branch of government, and what is its purpose?
2. Where is the Judicial Branch found in the Constitution?
3. Upon what idea is the court system established?
4. Why is perfect justice hard to achieve?
5. What are the three levels of the federal court system?
6. What is jurisdiction?
7. List the types of cases that federal courts have jurisdiction over, and give an example for each.
a.
b.
c.
d.
e.
f.
g.
h.
8. What is the different between exclusive jurisdiction and concurrent jurisdiction?
Chapter 8, Section 2 (How the Federal Courts are Organized)
1. What is original jurisdiction and who has original jurisdiction in most federal cases?
2. Which court has a jury and witnesses?
3. What is the “middle” court called?
4. What type of jurisdiction does the U.S. Court of Appeals and the Supreme Court usually have?
5. What are two reasons that a case might be appealed?
6. What are the three things an appeals court can do with a case?
7. What is an opinion?
8. What is a precedent?
9. How are an opinion and a precedent related?
10. Who appoints federal judges, and with whose approval?
11. What is senatorial courtesy?
12. How can a judge stop being a judge?
13. Why do judges have such high job security?
14. What does a magistrate do?
15. What does a U.S. Attorney do?
16. What does a U.S. Marshal do?
17. What is a subpoena?
Chapter 8, Section 3 (The Supreme Court)
1. What is the main job of the Supreme Court?
2. In what two cases does the Supreme Court have original jurisdiction (when can they hear cases first)?
3. Who makes up the Supreme Court?
4. Who is the current Chief Justice of the Supreme Court (you may use your phone to look up, then put away)?
5. How is a Supreme Court justice appointed?
6. Who was the first black justice? Who was the first female justice?
7. What important power did Marbury v. Madison establish?
8. What are the three principles of judicial review?
9. Why is judicial review important?
10. How can the executive branch limit the Supreme Court?
11. How can the legislative branch limit the Supreme Court?
FOR April 16, 2012
Chapter 8, Section 4
1. How many justices have to agree for a case to be heard?
2. What is a docket?
3. What is a caseload?
4. What are the five steps of decision making in the Supreme Court?
5. What is a brief?
6. What happens during oral arguments?
7. What happens during a conference?
8. What are the four types of opinion that a Supreme Court can issue?
9. What does “stare decisis” mean?
10. Why do courts usually follow precedents?
11. Do precedents ever get overturned? Name the court cases that back up your answer.
Supreme Court Cases
1. Why was Marbury v. Madison important?
2. Why was McCulloch v. Maryland important?
3. Why was Plessy v. Ferguson important? What amendment was being discussed?
4. Why was Brown v. Board of Education important, and what did it do to the precedent of “separate but equal”?
5. What happened in Tinker v. Des Moines?
6. How was Hazelwood School District v. Kuhlmeier different from Tinker v. Des Moines?
7. What happened in Gideon v. Wainwright, and what happened after Gideon’s original case was remanded?
8. What do police do as a result of Miranda v. Arizona?
9. What issue does Roe v. Wade address?
10. What happened as a result of the decision in United States v. Nixon?
11. How does Engel v. Vitale affect your school day?
12. Why is Leandro v. State of North Carolina important?