Ch 8

Judicial review refers to the power of a court to review a statute, treaty or administrative regulation for constitutionality or consistency with a a superior law. It is the power of the judicial branch of government to decide whether or not acts of government are constitutional. Judicial review is a means of oversight and balance amongst the branches of government. All courts in the United States, federal and state, may use the power of judicial review. Marvary VS Madison

An attorney's spoken statements and presentation before a court supporting or opposing the legal relief at issue.

Precedent means deferring to a prior reported opinion of an appeals court which forms the basis in the future on the same legal question decided in the prior judgment. The requirement that a lower court must follow a precedent is called stare decisis.

A petition that asks an appellate court to grant a writ of certiorari. This type of petition usually argues that a lower court has incorrectly decided an important question of law, and that the mistake should be fixed to prevent confusion in similar cases.

A docket is an official court record book which lists all the cases before the court and which may also note the status or action required for each caselog containing brief entries of court proceedings.The docket is kept by the clerk of the court and should contain the names of the parties, and an entry of every proceeding in the case.

Majority opinion in a case is that written by one judge and joined by majority of the judges considering a given case. In short, it is an opinion joined by a majority of the court. This is mostly referred as opinion of the court and is also called main opinion.

A concurring opinion is one which agrees with the court's decision, but offers further commentary. It is used to explain the reasoning of a particular judge. A concurring opinion may agree with the outcome decided in the court's opinion, but would have reached the same result for a different reason.

A dissenting opinion is the opinion of a judge of a court of appeals, including the U.S. Supreme Court, which disagrees with the majority opinion. When more than one judge dissents, often one will write the dissenting opinion and the other judge(s) will join their names to it. Other times, different judges may write their own dissenting opinions, especially when they dissent for different reasons.

A grand jury's purpose is to investigate alleged crimes, examine evidence, and issue indictments if they believe that there is enough evidence for a trial to proceed. They are an impartial panel of citizens who must determine whether reasonable cause or probable cause to believe that a crime has been committed exists. The grand jury acts as a check on the prosecutorial power of the state.

A brief of title is also termed as an abstract of title. A brief of title is an abstract statement or an outline, generally, of real property including all grants, mortgages, conveyances, interests and other encumbrances which affect the title to the property. A brief of title is usually prepared for a mortgagee or purchaser of such real property. Summary of a case and gives the facts about the case

Original jurisdiction is the authority of a court to try a case, as distinguished from appellate jurisdiction to hear appeals from trial judgments. Original jurisdiction is the court's authority to hear the claim in the first instance, rather than on appeal. The court rules on issues directly, rather than on matters which are referred to it after being heard by another court.

A petitioner is a person who pleads with governmental institution for a legal remedy or a redress of grievances, through use of a petition. The person requesting a re ruling of a court.

Respondent refers to the party who responds to a pleading in a civil matter. A party against whom an appeal is brought is also called a respondent.

The Solicitor General is appointed by the President of the United States to assist the Attorney General and supervises and conducts government litigation in the United States Supreme Court. Virtually all such litigation is channeled through the Office of the Solicitor General and is actively conducted by the Office.

Judicial restraint refers to the doctrine that judges' own philosophies or policy preferences should not be injected into the law and should whenever reasonably possible construe the law so as to avoid second guessing the policy decisions made by other governmental institutions such as Congress, the President and state legislatures.

Judicial activism is the view that the Supreme Court and other judges can and should creatively (re)interpret the texts of the Constitution and the laws in order to serve the judges' own visions regarding the needs of contemporary society. Judicial activism believes that judges assume a role as independent policy makers or independent "trustees" on behalf of society that goes beyond their traditional role as interpreters of the Constitution and laws.