GOV – The Judicial Branch
UNIT STUDY GUIDE
CH 18 – The Federal Court System
Define these terms:
Jurisdiction
Exclusive
Concurrent
Original
Appellate
Plaintiff
Defendant
What is the dual court system?
Constitution Courts
Special Courts
Federal Courts have jurisdiction for two reasons: subject matter and parties involved.
Know the characteristics of each.
Subject Matter
Parties
Who appoints federal judges? What is taken into consideration when choosing one?
Which house of Congress approves nominees and what percentage of the vote is
needed?
Explain why federal judges are appointed for life.
The Inferior Courts…
What are the district courts? How many are there? When were they originally created?
They have “original” jurisdiction (see above) for most all cases. Why?
What are the Appellate Courts? When were they created? How many are there? What
is their purpose? What is there unique (appellate – see above) jurisdiction?
The Supreme Court…
Understand these terms:
Writ of certiorari
Certificate
Opinion
Majority
Concurring
Dissenting
What is the Supreme Court the “final authority” of?
What is its most common “jurisdiction?” Explain the process.
Article III, Section 2 of the Constitution gives it original jurisdiction in two instances.
What are they?
How are cases decided? – Explain the process.
Know the current nine [9] justices on the high court and which president nominated
them.
Know the nine [9] current members of the court including the Chief Justice.
[NOTE: Section 4 of this chapter is omitted in the interest of time]
CH 19 – Civil Liberties: First Amendment Freedoms
Define these terms:
The Unalienable Rights
Bill of Rights (should already know them!)
Civil Liberties (understand the meaning of “arbitrary”)
Civil Rights (be able to give examples) Explain the current case being argued in front of
the court regarding the Civil Rights Act of 1965 and the State of Alabama.
Alien (No, not a creature from another world)
Due Process Clause
Limited Government (give a simple definition)
What is not a violation of free speech? Understand the Supreme Court case of
ApolloMedia Corporation v. United States, 1999. What did this case decide?
How did Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes explain the “relative” nature of 1st Amendment
rights?
What rights are extended to non-citizens (aliens)?
What limitation is put on the Bill of Rights?
What does the law say about invading a person’s privacy?
How has Supreme Court precedent modified the effect of the 14 th Amendment?
How has the Supreme Court interpreted the 9th Amendment? Give a couple of
examples.
Freedom of Religion
How has the Supreme Court interpreted the Establishment Clause? Specifically, what is
and is not permitted in public schools?
What does this quote mean?
“… while I believe in God, I oppose the movement to govern in the name of God. People
who govern in the name of God attribute their own personal preferences to God and
therefore recognize no limits in imposing those preferences on other people.”
Douglas Johnstone, Alabama Supreme Court Justice
Find these cases involving rulings by the Supreme Court over the Establishment Clause..
Explain what the case involved and its outcome (what was decided).
Everson v. Board of Education, 1947
Abington School District v. Schempp, 1963
Wallace v. Jaffree, 1985
Westside Community Schools v. Mergens, 1990
Epperson v. Arkansas, 1968
County of Allegheny v. ACLU and Pittsburgh v. ACLU, 1968
What is the “Lemon Test” and from what Supreme Court case does it originate?
Freedom of Speech and Press
Libel
Slander
Shield Law
Symbolic Speech
Picketing
“Sticks and stones will break my bones, but names will never hurt me!” True?
What sort of speech is not protected by the 1st and 14th amendments?
What is obscene and what is not? How did the Supreme Court define this in Miller v.
California, 1973?
Define the legal meaning of “prior restraint.”
What are the contradictory decisions of the court’s opinions in Mutual Film Corporation
v. Ohio, 1915 and Burstyn v. Wilson, 1952?
Is commercial speech not protected under the 1st and 14th Amendments?
Freedom of Expression and National Security
What was the Espionage Act of 1917?
How does Justice Holmes, “… clear and present danger” apply to free speech?
How did Schenck v United States, 1919 support this act?
What was the Smith Act of 1940? How was it different than the Espionage Act of 1917?
How was the Smith Act modified in the Supreme Court case, Yates v. United States,
1957?
Freedom of Assembly and Petition
The 1st Amendment gives people the right to assemble. The 14th Amendment extends
this right above any state law attempting to prohibit it.
What was decided in the Supreme Court case, DeJonge v. Oregon, 1937?
Under the right to assemble, what do the 1st and 14th Amendments not guarantee?
Regarding the publics right to “peacefully” assemble, what did the court decide in
Coates v. Cincinnati, 1971?
What court case set precedent that government has the right to require advance notice
and permits for demonstrations on public grounds?
What did the court decision, National Association for the Advancement of Colored
People v. Alabama, 1958 say about the freedom to “associate” and government’s
attempt to restrict it?