Chapter 18 Section 1 “Judicial Branch”
revised 2012
NAME: __________________________________________ date: ____________
Directions: As you read chapter 18- fill in the blanks
1. If you steal a car in Illinois and are caught in Georgia with the car, what type of
crime is this?
FEDERAL
2. Under the Articles of Confederation, what courts were missing?
NATIONAL
3. Why did these missing courts cause problems?
States didn’t always uphold other states convictions
States didn’t apply the law
Disorder
4. What type of a court system does America have? DUAL
5. How many courts are there in the national judiciary? Over 100
6. How many state courts are there? Over 1,000
7. Most cases are heard in which courts? STATE COURTS
8. Which article in the Constitution can you find the Supreme Court listed?
(page 504)
Article ___III___
9. The Constitution created the Supreme Court, but left the inferior courts to
be created by __CONGRESS__________.
10.There are two distinct types of federal courts1) _CONSTITUTIONAL__ Courts
2) _SPECIAL______ Courts
11-13
What type of power do these courts have AND what courts are listed under each?
(study the chart on page 507)
1) Constitution Courts
Federal Courts to exercise judicial power
12-COURT OF APPEALS
94 - DISTRICT COURTS
US Court of International Trade
2) Special Courts—hear cases that arise out of some of the expressed powers
Given to Congress in Article I
TERRITORIAL courts
Courts of DC
US TAX Court
COURT of APPEALS for the Armed Services
14. Define the word JURISDICTION:
The Authority of a court to hear a case and decide a case
15. The Federal Courts have jurisdiction depending on whether or not:
1.
Subject Matter
2.
Parties involved
16. Federal Courts can only hear cases that involve: (chart page 508)
This is known as _EXCLUSIVE/ORIGINAL___ jurisdiction.
1. cases involving an ambassador
2. persons charged with committing a federal crime
3. cases dealing with a copyright/patent
4. a citizen of one state suing a citizen of another state
5. a U.S. citizen suing a foreign government
6. A U.S. state suing another U.S. State
17. When the state and Federal Courts can hear the same cases, they are using
____CONCURRENT___________ jurisdiction.
18. What types of (disputes) cases can be heard by both the state and federal courts?
Disputes involving citizens of different states
If heard in a federal court the money involved in the dispute must
exceed $ 75,000.00
19. Define Plaintiff: the person “Complaining” or bringing charges
20. Define Defendant: Person defending themselves from accusations
21. Define Original Jurisdiction: Where the Case is heard FIRST
22. Define Appellate Jurisdiction: A court that hears a case on appeal from
a lower court
23. Federal Judges are nominated by the __PRESIDENT_______
with the consent of the __SENATE_______.
24.What is senatorial courtesy? When a federal judge is nominated by the president
the president takes the opinion of the senator(s) in his party that recommend or
don’t recommend his nomination.
25. What professions do most Federal judges come from?
Leading Attorneys, legal Scholars, Law School Professors, Former members
of congress, State Court Judges
26. Presidents regularly look for judges who: are of similar ideology to themselves
27. Proponents (supporters) of Judicial Restraint believe:
Judges should try cases on the basis of original intent of the
Constitution & Precedent
28. Supporters of Judicial Activism believe:
Judges should act more boldly with the times
29. Who helps the president in deciding who to possibly nominate to a
Supreme Court or Federal judge position?
Attorney General, Influential Senators, Presidential Allies, Legal Profession
30. Most Federal Judges have a term for _LIFE______. Or until they
__RESIGN______, retire, or __DIE____ in office.
31.___CONGRESS________ sets the salary of all federal judges.
32. Why is a federal judge’s retirement a good plan?
At age 70 full retirement if they have served 10 years
At age 65 full retirement if they have served 15 years
33.- 35. Federal Judges need help, so they have other personnel in their courts.
Clerk’s are their support staff.
What does a magistrate do?
Issues warrants of arrest, hear evidence to decide if a case should carry on,
try those with minor offenses
A Bankruptcy judge handles bankruptcy cases.
How many are there now? 350
How long are their terms? 14 yrs
What does a U.S. Attorney do? They are Government Prosecutors
Example: Oklahoma City Bombing & Timothy McVeigh
What is the role of a Marshall? Perform duties much like a sheriff make
arrests in federal criminal cases
Chapter 18 section 2- Inferior Courts
Inferior courts are courts that handle most of the cases tried in the federal courts.
(refer back to chart on page 507)
The 94 United States District courts are the Federal TRIAL Courts
1. These Federal TRIAL Courts have __677____ judges who hear about
__300,000_____ cases a year, about ___80__% of the federal court caseload.
2. The District courts were created by the ___Judiciary ________ Act of ____1789__.
3. The 50 states are divided into _89__ federal judicial districts and there are also
federal courts for Washington D.C., _____Puerto___ _Rican___, the Virgin Islands,
____Guam___ and the Mariana Islands.
4. Look at the map on page 513.
How many federal district courts does Ohio have? 2
What Federal Court District is Ohio a member of?__6____
5.
District Courts have ___ORIGINAL_____ jurisdiction. They hear a wide
range of both __CRIMINAL_________ & ____CIVIL____ cases.
6. List types of cases under each area:
Criminal Cases
1.
2.
3.
4.
Bank Robbery
MAIL FRAUD
Counterfeiting
Tax Evasion
Civil Cases
1.
2.
3.
4.
non criminal matter
Terms of a contract
Claim of patent infringement
Bankruptcy, postal, taxes, public lands
civil rights
7.
The district courts are the only federal courts that regularly use
_____GRAND_________ juries to indict defendants and ___PETIT____
juries to try defendants.
8.
If someone doesn’t like the verdict of their case in a district court, they can
appeal to the Court of __APPEALS_____.
9. The Court of Appeals were created by Congress in 1891 as “gatekeepers”.
As gatekeepers, what was their role?
TO RELIEVE SOME OF THE Supreme Court Cases
10.What is a DOCKET?
The list of cases a court hears
11. How many Courts Of Appeals are there currently? 12
12. A __Supreme Court__________ Justice is assigned to each Court of Appeals.
13. Each Court of Appeals has a panel of __3__ judges.
14. The court of appeals now handles nearly ___70,000_____ cases a year.
15.What types of cases are heard in the Court of International Trade?
Tariff & trade related laws
16.The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit hears cases that have
____NATIONWIDE______ jurisdiction.
17.List three courts that can appeal to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the federal circuit.
“U.S. Court of”: International Trade, Federal Claims, Veteran’s Claims
Chapter 18 Section 3: The Supreme Court
1. The only court created by the Constitution was the __SUPREME COURT____.
2. What is this nation’s loftiest goal? EQUAL JUSTICE
3. How many total Supreme Court justices are there? 9
4. The Supreme Court was created as the court of ___LAST___ resort in all questions
of federal law.
5. Which Supreme Court case established the Court’s ability to determine what was
Constitutional and what was not Constitutional ( Judicial Review)?
MARBURY V. MADISON
6. Chief Justice John Marshall based his opinion for the court’s judicial review power
in three propositions. What were they?
1. Constitution is the supreme law of the land
2. all laws made by congress & executive orders are
inferior to the Constitution
3. Judges are sworn to enforce the Constitution and must refuse to
enforce any gov’t action they may find in conflict of it.
7. The effects of Marbury are far reaching. Chief Justice Marshall claimed for the
Supreme Court the right to declare ___ACTS____ of __CONGRESS__
unconstitutional!
8. The Supreme Court has both
____ORIGINAL_________ & ___APPELLATE___ jurisdiction.
9. What areas does the Supreme Court have Original Jurisdiction over?
1) All controversies including 2 or more states
2) all cases brought against ambassadors or other public ministers
10. About how many cases are appealed to the Supreme Court yearly? 8,000
11.About how many cases are actually taken on by the Supreme Court in a year?
Less than 100!!!!
12. How many justices must agree in order to get a case on the court’s docket?
4---RULE OF FOUR
13. All told, the court decides, after hearing arguments and with full opinions, fewer
than ___100___ cases a year.
14. Most cases reach the Supreme Court by _WRIT OF CERTIORARY___.
What is the definition for the above word?
An order by the court directing a lower court to send up the record
in a given case for its review
15. What does it mean when a case comes to the court by certificate?
The lower court asks the Supreme Court to clarify a question they have