US Supreme Court

How many votes was Brett Kavanaugh confirmed by?

50-48

The US Constitution contains only _____ words, and doesn’t explicitly mention the word ____

• 4,449

• women

Which two cases upheld affirmative action?

• Fisher I (2024)

• Fisher II (2016)

Which case overturned affirmative action?

Students for Fair Admissions v Harvard (2023)

Which case coined the term ‘separate but equal’

Plessy v Ferguson (1896)

What was SCOTUS’s budget in 2024?

150 million

UK Supreme Court’s funding

12 million

In 2024, Justice _____ _____ was accused of a lack of judicial neutrality after his wife flew the US flag upside down from her porch.

Samuel Alito

Justice _____ _____ has received over $_______ of gifts from secretive right wing donors since 2003

• Clarence Thomas

• 4.2 million

What is Judicial Independance?

The principle that the judiciary is free of influence or control from the executive or legislature.

What is judicial neutrality?

The principle that judicial officials should not be influenced by their personal political opinions or allegiances.

When was the last US supreme court justice Impeached?

1805

Court case ruling that US gov search and seizure of phone records without a warrant was unconstitutional

• (not bound by the wording of the constitution)

Carpenter v US (2018)

How many votes was RBG confirmed by? (____)

• 96-93

• 1993

The number of judges on the SCOTUS was last changed by congress to 9 in ____

1869

Chief Justice Charles Hughes said in 1907:

we are under a constitution, but the constitution is what the judges say it is

Bush nominated _____ ____, who withdrew her own nomination after criticism that she had no experience as a judge

Harriet Miers

_____ ______ withdrew his SCOTUS nomination after allegations surfaced of him smoking marijuana as a student.

Douglas Ginsburg

At the hearings of _____ (____) and _____ (___) accusations of sexual misconduct were raised but ultimately ignored.

• Kavanaugh (2018)

• Thomas (1991)

Nominee ____ _____ was rejected by the Senate Judicial committee (_-_), and was subsequently rejected by the Senate due to his perceived involvement in the Watergate coverup.

• Robert Bork

• 9-5

All SCOTUS judges except _____ _____ were deemed by the ABA rating to be ‘well qualified’

Clarence Thomas

While Justice ____ was the only judge to not serve on a circuit court prior to nomination, she had worked as Obama’s ____ _____

• Kagan

• Solicitor General

______ replaced RBG, which challenges the convention of replacing like-for-like

Barrett

______ appeared on the Heritage Foundation’s list of recommendations before Trump appointed him.

Kavanaugh

The most common decision issued by the court is: __ -__

9-0

The length of Senate ratifications ( usually _ ____) allows greater scrutiny, but could cause a tie, such as with the ____ ruling which was 4-4, so therefore the lower court’s ruling striking it down automatically stood.

• 3 months

• DAPA

McConnel blocked Garland’s nomination for _ ____, however agreed to pass ___’s nomination only _ ____ before an election.

• 8 months

• ACB

• 7 weeks

Democrats boycotted the senate Judiciary committee vote on ___’s nomination hoping to invalidate the __-__ result.

• ACB

• 12-0

In Jan ____, ___ of Trumps nominees blocked trump’s request to prevent Congress from Accessing White House documents of Jan 6th, with only _____ dissenting

• 2022

• all

• Thomas

Eisenhower referred to his appointment of Justice Warren as:

the biggest damned-fool mistake I ever made

Kennedy was appointed by ____, but was moderate often voted with liberal and conservative wings.

Regan

Kentaji-Brown Jackson’s appointment was supported by _____ ____ who launched a $_ ____ campaign in her favour

• Demand Justice

• 1 million

The ____ ____ ______ gave $__ _____ to support the appointment of Gorsuch in ____

• Judicial Crisis Network

• 10 million

• 2017