Inquizitive 15

Judicial Review was established in the decision of Marbury v. Madison(Judicial review was established by Justice John Marshall as a way of asserting judicial power while avoiding a confrontation with Thomas Jefferson.)

false (The Court has interpreted the Constitution's "cases and controversies" clause to mean that it cannot render advisory opinions on potential laws.)

An attorney uses a previous state court ruling to argue his client's case.(An attorney uses a previous state court ruling to argue his client's case.)

1. Petition for a writ of certiorari is filed(This is the first step for nearly all cases the Supreme Court might review.) 2. Law clerks evaluate the petetion (The "cert pool" makes it easier for justices to get a handle on the thousands of potential cases they could hear.) 3. The court grants a writ of certiorari(Once granted, a case with certiorari will appear before the Court.) 4. Oral arguments commence(Once a case is argued before the Supreme Court, the justices vote on their decision and issue an opinion.)

4(This is slightly less than a majority. It is also known as the "The Rule of Four," not to be confused with the excellent Sherlock Holmes novel The Sign of Four.)

Amicus curiae brief -interest group-written brief that advises the Court on how to rule on a case(These kinds of briefs can help sway judicial opinion.) Opinion -Document laying out the legal belief of the Supreme Court justices about the case in question(There is at least one majority opinion and sometimes one or more concurring opinions.) Brief -attorney-written document arguing why the Court should agree with their client (Briefs are submitted by each side and read carefully by the justices.) Dissenting Opinion -document laying out the legal belief of a minority of the Supreme Court justices about the case in question(There can be anywhere from zero to four dissenting opinions.)

- location where the case was filed(Most federal cases start at the district court level, of which there are 94 in the country. Appeals from these courts go to one of 12 circuit courts of appeal, and which court is chosen is a matter of which state the case starts in.) - subject matter of the case(Some federal courts have jurisdictions that are based on the subject matter of the case, rather than geography. For example, the U.S. Court of International Trade hears all trade and customs issues.) - the parties in the case(The Supreme Court is the court of original jurisdiction for cases between two states, whereas a lower federal court will hear a case between an individual and the government.)

-U.S. district court(This is the first step for the vast majority of federal cases.) -U.S. court of appeals(The courts of appeals are organized geographically.) U.S. Supreme Court(The Supreme Court is the only court that gets to choose its own caseload.)

Criminal law -Only the government can bring charges against an individual (In criminal law, the government brings a case against a specific party.) Plaintiff -The party who brings the case before the court(In civil cases, the plaintiff is a civilian; in criminal law, the plaintiff is always the government.) Civil law -This mainly involves torts and contract disputes between individuals, groups, and corporations(In civil cases, losers are not sent to jail, though they may need to pay monetary damages for their actions.) Defendant -The party accused of breaking the law(In both criminal and civil cases, the defendant is the one accused of committing a crime or breaking the law.)

-increase(The number of briefs submitted has increased by over 1,000 percent.) -more(Although regular cases have quite a few briefs submitted, they pale in comparison to the number submitted for important Supreme Court cases. This is a sign of the increasing politicization of the legal process.)

-Multiple judges serve on every appeals case(Multiple judges are able to bring greater scrutiny to a case and help make sure that all decisions are fairly and accurately reached.) -Each circuit has a Supreme Court justice to review the circuits's appeals(The assignment of a Supreme Court justice to each circuit court provides one last level of review. Justices are able to issue requests for special action, especially stays of execution.)

- Doing so might provoke a fight with the president(FDR threatened to increase the size of the Court and appoint his supporters to the bench when the Court ruled against some of his policies.) -Executive agencies follow a formal rules-making process.(Even when an agency's actions do not clearly conform to a statute, if the agency follows the appropriate rule-making process, the Court is unlikely to overturn the actions.)

state trial courts, federal district courts, state courts of appeals, state supreme courts, federal courts of appeals, U.S. Supreme Court

1. Judicial Restraint: -A conservative Court upholds campaign spending limits passed by congress and bases the ruling on constitutional language, -A liberal court rules against someone claiming federal law discriminated against him, deeming the law is constitutional 2. Judicial Activism: -A liberal court uses implied language from previous court decisions, despite from absence of explicit language in current statutes, - A conservative court allows a state to exempt itself from EPA guidelines despite the supremacy clause.

- the case is relevant/timely; the time is not moot - the issue represents a controversy - parties have standing, or stake, in the outcome

Civil -Disagreements over contracts and torts are the most common types of cases Criminal -If found guilty, the loser may have to serve jail time. Both -If found guilty, the loser may be required to pay money.(Only losers in criminal cases can be fined, but defendants in civil cases may have to pay monetary damages. Thus, losers in both criminal and civil cases may have to pay money in case of a loss.) -The government may be a party to the dispute.(A civil law dispute can be between individuals, or between individuals and the government. The government is always a party in criminal law disputes; it serves as the prosecutor representing the people.)

their partisanship(Above all else, nominated justices in the modern era must share an ideological outlook with the party in power.)

-a case involving interpretation of the U.S. constitution (Challenges to federal law will be held in the top federal court, the U.S. Supreme Court, as state courts do not have jurisdiction over the Constitution.) -a case involving federal law(State courts do not have jurisdiction over federal law, so these matters must be settled in federal courts.Federal courts have original jurisdiction over cases that involve the U.S. government, and the federal courts dominate the American judicial system. Ultimately, it would be problematic to allow state courts the authority to rule on the U.S. government, as it could pave the way for many conflicting decisions.)

-In cases in which a foreign ambassador is involved, (Article III of the Constitution gives the Supreme Court original jurisdiction in cases involving foreign ambassadors.) -When a state government brings a case against citizens of another state, (Article III of the Constitution gives the Supreme Court original jurisdiction in cases in which a state government sues citizens of another state.) -In a case between the federal government and a state (Article III of the Constitution gives the Supreme Court original jurisdiction in cases between state governments and the federal government.)

-Most criminal laws begins and end at state level(There has been growth in the number of federal criminal cases, but the vast majority of criminal law happens at the state level.)