Judicial Branch and Legal Terminology

Vocabulary flashcards reviewing core concepts, definitions, legal principles, and landmark Supreme Court cases related to the judicial system.

Judicial Review

The power of the Supreme Court to declare laws and actions of local, state, and National governments unconstitutional

Appellate Jurisdiction

Authority held by a court to hear a case that is appealed from lower court

Civil Law

Relating to disputes among two or more individuals or between individuals and the government

Concurrent Jurisdiction

Authority shared by both federal and state courts

Constitutional Courts

A court established by Congress under the Constitution

Criminal Law

One that defines crimes and provides for their punishment

Dissenting Opinion

The opinion expressed by a minority of justices in a Court case

Due Process Clause

Fourteenth Amendment clause stating that no state may deprive any person of Life, liberty or property without due process of law

Due Process of Law

Principle in the Fifth Amendment stating that the government must follow proper Constitutional procedures in trials and in other actions it takes against individuals

Grand Jury

Group that hears charges against a suspect and decides whether there is sufficient Evidence to bring the person to trial

Indictment

A formal charge by a Grand Jury

Judicial Circuits

A region containing a United States appellate court

Jurisdiction

Authority of a court to rule on certain cases

Litigants

A person engaged in a lawsuit

Majority Opinion

The Court's decision expressing the views of the majority of justices

Opinion

Written explanation of a Supreme Court decision

Original Jurisdiction

Authority of a trial Court to be the first to hear a certain case.

Petit jury

A trial jury, usually consisting of 6 or 12 people, that renders of a verdict of guilty or not guilty

Precedent

A model on which to base later decisions or actions

Trial Court

The court in which a case is originally tried

Writ of Certiorari

An order from the Supreme Court to a lower court to send up the records on a Case for review

Marbury v. Madison

This court case gave the Supreme Court power of Judicial Review

Miranda v. Arizona

This court case declared that everyone must be read and aware of their rights at a time of arrest

Brown v. Board of Education

This court case claimed that "Separate but Equal" was fundamentally wrong and should no longer be in effect

Plessey v. Ferguson

This court case established "Separate but Equal"