Civil cases involving the citizens of more than one state and in which more than $75,000 is at stake
answer
may be heard in either the federal or the state courts, usually depending on the preference of the plaintiff.
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Under normal rules of oral argument, each lawyer has ________ to present his or her case before the Supreme Court.
answer
30 minutes
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How many justices currently serve on the Supreme Court?
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9
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Each Supreme Court justice is assigned ________ law clerks.
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4
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If someone is an advocate of the philosophy of judicial restraint, he or she believes
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in looking only at the words of the Constitution in order to understand its meaning.
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About ________ percent of all cases in the United States are heard in state courts.
answer
97
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Prior cases whose principles are used by judges to decide current cases are called
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precedents.
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Why did many Republicans oppose President Obama's nomination of Sonia Sotomayor to the Supreme Court?
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She supported affirmative action.
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Which of the following best describes the role of the solicitor general?
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The solicitor general is the lawyer who represents the United States before the Supreme Court in cases where the federal government is a party.
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A person, agency, or interest group not directly a party to a case but with an interest in its outcome may file a(n) ________ brief.
answer
amicus curiae
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Which of the following kinds of cases are LEAST likely to be accepted by the Supreme Court?
answer
Cases that address state laws but that do not raise constitutional issues.
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The U.S. Supreme Court has been composed of
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nine justices since 1869.
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Most cases reach the Supreme Court through
answer
a writ of certiorari.
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The first court to hear a case is called a(n) ________ court.
answer
trial
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The Supreme Court's power to review acts of Congress has not been seriously questioned because
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the Court has been reluctant to strike down congressional laws and has overturned only a small number over the last 200 years.
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Each year, the Supreme Court receives about ________ appeals and hears about ________ of them in full court.
answer
9,000; 80
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Marbury v. Madison was decided in
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1803.
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What is the main function of the chief justice of the Supreme Court?
answer
The chief justice presides over the Court's public sessions and private conferences.
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Cases in which the U.S. government is a party are
answer
always heard in a federal court.
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If a defendant is found not guilty in a criminal case, the government is
answer
not entitled to appeal the verdict.
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________ and ________ are the two most common types of civil law cases.
answer
Contracts; torts
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A writ of habeas corpus declares that
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the government must show a legal cause for holding someone in detention.
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Which of the following statements about the Supreme Court is true?
answer
In 2014, five of the nine justices were appointed by Republican presidents.
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Why has partisan conflict surrounded federal judicial appointments in recent years?
answer
The federal courts play an important role in shaping American law and politics.
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Why is Marbury v. Madison (1803) an important case?
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In this case, the justices authorized the Supreme Court to exercise judicial review over laws passed by Congress.
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Senatorial courtesy describes the practice of
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senators from a president's party approving of a judicial nominee from their home state.
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Which of the following statements best describes the formal requirements of serving as a federal court judge?
answer
There are no formal requirements to serve as a federal court judge.
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The assignment of the opinion in a Supreme Court case is
answer
important because differences in wording and emphasis can have important implications for how the decision is interpreted in future litigation.
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About ________ percent of all lower court cases are reviewed by federal appeals courts.
answer
20
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Medical malpractice suits are good examples of ________ cases.
answer
tort
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Which of the following statements about federal courts is most accurate?
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Although the federal courts hear only a small fraction of all of the civil and criminal cases decided each year in the United States, their decisions are extremely important because they interpret the Constitution and the federal laws that govern all Americans
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What is the most frequent and best-known action of Supreme Court justices in their role as circuit justices?
answer
reviewing requests for stays of execution
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The power of the Supreme Court to review state actions and legislation comes from
answer
the supremacy clause of Article VI.
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Aside from the justices themselves, who or what has the greatest power in shaping the flow of cases to the Supreme Court?
answer
the solicitor general
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The number of cases filed in the Supreme Court
answer
has increased dramatically since 1940.
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The doctrine of ________ requires courts to follow authoritative prior decisions when ruling on a case.
answer
stare decisis
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A certiorari pool describes the
answer
practice by which Supreme Court law clerks work together to evaluate each petition.
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Through the exercise of ________, the Supreme Court has held actions or laws of the executive and legislative branches unconstitutional.
answer
judicial review
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In what type of law is the government always the plaintiff?
answer
criminal
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The size of the U.S. Supreme Court is set by
answer
congress
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In ________ cases, the losers cannot be fined or incarcerated by the state.
answer
civil law
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What was known as the "court-packing" plan?
answer
the attempt by President Franklin Roosevelt to add sympathetic justices to the Supreme Court in order to get New Deal laws upheld as constitutional
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The Supreme Court struck down parts of the Military Commissions Act and declared habeas corpus to be a fundamental right in the case
answer
Boumediene v. Bush.
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When a private individual brings a suit against a company for breaking a contract, this is an example of ________ law.
answer
civil
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The Administrative Procedure Act is important in civil law because it
answer
governs agency rule making.
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________ occurs when a criminal case is resolved through a negotiated agreement before a full trial is completed.
answer
A plea bargain
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In a typical tort case,
answer
one individual charges that he or she has been injured by another's negligence or malfeasance.
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In recent years, federal court appointments have
answer
been characterized by intense partisan and ideological efforts to support or defeat the candidate.
question
In all of American history, the Supreme Court has concluded that fewer than ____ acts of Congress have directly violated the Constitution.
answer
160
question
Which Supreme Court nominee was accused of sexual harassment during his confirmation hearing?
answer
Clarence Thomas
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There are ________ U.S. district courts.
answer
94
question
Normally, ________ judge(s) hear(s) a specific case on a federal circuit court of appeals.
answer
3
question
The party that brings a complaint in court is called the ________, and the one against whom the complaint is brought is called the ________.
answer
plaintiff; defendant
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The area of authority possessed by a court, in terms of either subject area or geography, is called its________.
answer
jurisdiction
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The phrase stare decisis means
answer
"let the decision stand."
question
In most circumstances, a supreme court is best described as a(n) ________ court.
answer
appellate
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The jurisdiction of each federal court is derived from ________.
answer
the Constitution and federal law
question
If a man is arrested because his home was searched by police without a legal warrant, he could argue in court that he had been denied ________.
answer
the due process of law
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The right of due process is best described as the right of
answer
every person not to be treated arbitrarily by a government official or agency.
question
Prisoners who are challenging their convictions are most likely to seek a writ of ________.
answer
habeas corpus
question
Which of the following statements best describes the Supreme Court?
answer
The justices have broad latitude to decide which cases they will hear and generally hear only those cases they deem to raise the most important issues.
question
There are approximately ________ federal district court judges in the United States.
answer
678
question
Which of the following statements about the U.S. Courts of Appeals is INCORRECT?
answer
The appeals courts are able to hear all cases involving federal law, but not constitutional law.
question
Which of the following is part of the Miranda rule?
answer
Arrested people have the right to remain silent.
question
What did the justices rule in Hamdi v. Rumsfeld (2004)?
answer
Hamdi was entitled to a lawyer and an opportunity to rebut the government's charges against him.
question
The written document in which attorneys explain why the court should rule in favor of their clients is called a(n) ________.
answer
brief
question
When a justice agrees with the ruling of the Court's majority but not all of its reasoning, he or she may often write ________.
answer
a concurrence
question
What is the significance of dissenting opinions?
answer
Dissents are signs that the Court is in disagreement on an issue and could change its ruling.
question
When interest groups involved in litigation pursue a "pattern of cases" strategy, they are
answer
bringing the same type of suit into multiple circuits, hoping that a contradiction in rulings will bring about a Supreme Court review.
question
Activist judges believe that federal judges should
answer
go beyond the words of a constitution or statute to consider the broader societal implications of their decisions.
question
________ is an example of a justice who advocated judicial restraint.
answer
Felix Frankfurter
question
Trial courts in the federal judicial system are called
answer
district courts
question
Roe v. Wade (1973) was
answer
based on judicial activism
question
There are ________ circuits in the United States Court of Appeals.
answer
12
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