AP Gov SCOTUS

Federal Judiciary

the branch of government that interprets the laws of the nation.

Supreme Court

the highest level of the federal judiciary, which was established in the Articles III of the Constitution and serves as the highest court in the nation.

Caperton v. Massey Coal Co.

Supreme Court held that state judge should have recused himself after political donor spent $3 million to help him get elected and donor had significant interest in the case. Supreme Court decision can be viewed through a political lens.

Original Jurisdiction

the authority of a court to hear a case first, which includes the finding of facts in the case.

Appellate Jurisdiction

the authority of a court to hear and review decisions made by lower courts in that system.

Federalist No. 78

argument by Alexander Hamilton that the federal judiciary would be unlikely upon rights and liberties but would serve as a check on the other two branches.

*Marbury vs. Madison (1803)

established judicial independence and judicial review.

Judicial Review

the authority of the Supreme Court to strike down a law or executive action if it conflicts with the Constitution. Implications

Criminal Law

a category of law covering actions that harm the community.

Civil Law

a category of law covering cases involving private rights and relationships between individuals and groups.

Federal District Courts

the lowest level of the federal judiciary; these courts usually have original jurisdiction in cases that start at the federal level.

Federal Courts of Appeals

the middle level of the federal judiciary; these courts review and hear appeals from the federal district courts.

Supreme Court

resolves differences between the states and different interpretations of the law in the lower federal courts. Original jurisdiction

Case Selection

fewer than 1% of the cases appealed to the Supreme Court are accepted. Major constitutional cases and/or circuit split make it more likely.

Precedent

a judicial decision that guides future courts in handling similar cases.

Stare Decisis

the practice of letting a previous legal decision stand.

Petitioner

party that lost at the lower level.

Respondent

party that won at the lower level.

Majority Opinion

a binding Supreme Court opinion which serves as precedent for future cases.

Concurring Opinion

an opinion that agrees with the majority of decision, offering different reasoning that does not serve as precedent.

Dissenting Opinion

an opinion that disagrees with the majority opinion and does not serve as precedent.

Civil Liberties

fundamental rights and freedoms protected from infringement by the government.

Bill of Rights

a list of fundamental rights and freedoms that individuals possess. The first ten amendments to the Constitution are referred to as the Bill of Rights.

First Amendment

Freedom of Speech, Assembly, Press, right to petition the government for redress, no established religion, right to practice religion

Second Amendment

A well-regulated militia, being necessary to the security of a free state, the right of the people to keep and bear arms, shall not be infringed.

Third Amendment

Don't worry about it.

Fourth Amendment

No unreasonable searches and seizures. Warrants require probable cause, must describe the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized. The Supreme Court has further expanded the Fourth Amendment by the Exclusionary Rule

Fifth Amendment

No person be subject for the same offense to be twice put in jeopardy of life or limb (no double jeopardy); nor shall be compelled in any criminal case to be a witness against himself (no self

Sixth Amendment

Right to a speedy and public trial, right to confront witnesses, right to counsel.

Eighth Amendment

No excessive bail or fines; no cruel or unusual punishment.

Ninth Amendment

Power to the People (powers not stated in the Constitution belong to the people). The Ninth Amendment provides a right of privacy.

Tenth Amendment

Power to the States (powers not stated in the Constitution belong to the states).

Selective Incorporation

the piecemeal process through which the Supreme Court has affirmed that almost all of the protections in the Bill of Rights also apply to the state governments.

*Engel vs. Vitale (1962)

First Amendment, Establishment Clause. School sponsored prayer violated the establishment clause.

*Wisconsin vs. Yoder (1972)

First Amendment, Free Exercise Clause. Cannot be compelled to attend school after 8th grade if it violates sincerely held religious beliefs.

Symbolic Speech

protected expression in the form of images, signs and other symbols.

*Tinker vs. Des Moines Independent School Community District (1969)

First Amendment , Symbolic Speech. Students have first amendment rights at school along as it is not disruptive of the learning environment. Court ruled that wearing black armbands to protest the Vietnam was not disruptive to the learning environment.

Freedom of Expression

a fundamental right affirmed in the First Amendment to speak, publish and protest.

Clear and Present Danger

legal standard that speech posing an immediate and serious threat to national security is not protected by the First Amendment.

• Schenck vs. United States (1919)

First Amendment, political speech, "clear and present danger." Schenck was charged with conspiracy to violate the Espionage Act by distributing leaflets urging men not to sign up for the draft (WWI). Schenck claimed First Amendment violation. Court disagreed and articulated the clear and present danger standard.

Prior Restraint

the suppression of material prior to publication on the grounds that it might endanger national security.

*New York Times Company vs. United States (1971)

First Amendment, freedom of the press. NYT was publishing the Pentagon Papers. Pres. Nixon wanted Court's to stop publishing. Government secured an injunction. NYT sued. Supreme Court ruled that government did not demonstrate a sufficient interest to justify a prior restraint.

Libel

an untrue written statement that injures a person's reputation.

Slander

an untrue spoken expression that injures a person's reputation.

Obscenity and Pornography

words, images, or videos that depict sexual activity in an

Obscenity and Pornography

words, images, or videos that depict sexual activity in an offensive manner and that lack any artistic merit. Example: U.S. v. Miller (1973) - three prong test: material must be patently offensive, must be without redeeming social value, contemporary community standards applied to first two standards.

Due Process Clause

the clause in the 14th Amendment that restricts state governments from denying citizens their life, liberty, or property without legal safeguards.

*McDonald vs. Chicago (2010)

Second Amendment, right to bear arms. Court overturned a Chicago ordinance banning handgun ownership.

Ex Post Facto Laws

laws criminalizing conduct at the time it occurred.

Bill of Attainder

a law passed by Congress punishing an individual without a trial.

Writ of Habeas Corpus

a document setting out reasons for an arrest or detention.

Procedural Due Process

a judicial standard requiring that fairness be applied to all individuals equally.

Warrant

a document issued by a judge authorizing a search.

Probable Cause

reasonable belief that a crime has been committed or that there is evidence of criminal activity.

Exclusionary Rule

a rule that evidence obtained without a warrant is inadmissible in court. Mapp v. Ohio (1957)

Grand Jury

a group of citizens who, based on the evidence presented to them, decide whether or not a person should be indicted on criminal charges and subsequently tried in court.

Double Jeopardy

protects an individual acquitted of a crime from being charged with the same crime in the same jurisdiction.

Miranda Rights

the right to remain silent and to have an attorney present during questioning; these rights must be given by police to individuals in custody suspected of criminal activity. (From the case: Miranda v. Arizona (1966). Miranda was convicted of kidnapping and rape based on evidence obtained during police questioning. Not warned of right to remain silent.)

*Gideon vs. Wainwright (1963)

Sixth Amendment, right to legal counsel. A Florida state court denied Gideon's request for an attorney and he defended himself. He was convicted and argued that the trial court violated his Sixth Amendment right to counsel by not appointing one to him. Supreme Court agreed. Recently, Court has strengthened the right to an attorney and it must be effective representation.

Griswold v. Connecticut (1957)

for the first time, the Court said that the Constitution protects the right of privacy. The Court overturned a Connecticut law that prohibited providing medical advice about contraceptive techniques. Married couples have the right to privacy. Extended to unmarried adults in Eisenstadt v. Baird (1964).

Roe v. Wade (1973)

the Court struck down a Texas law that made abortion illegal finding a right to privacy for women. But 50 years later, in Dobbs v. Jackson, (2022) the Court overturned Roe and declared that the decision to regulate abortion is left to the states.

Lawrence v. Texas (2003)

Continued with the penumbra of privacy previously used in Griswold and applied it to the right of consenting adults to express their sexuality in private without government interference.

*United States v. Lopez (1995)

which ruled that Congress may not use the commerce clause to make possession of a gun in a school zone a federal crime, introducing a new phase of federalism, that recognized the importance of state sovereignty and local control.

*Buckley vs. Valeo (1976)

While the government can limit the amount that individuals can contribute to a political campaign, it cannot limit what a campaign can expend.

*Citizens United vs. Federal Election Commission (FEC) (2010)

ruled that political spending by corporations, associations and Labor Unions is a form of protected speech under the First Amendment.

*Baker vs. Carr (1961)

that federal courts could hear cases alleging that a state's drawing of electoral boundaries, i.e. redistricting, violates the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment of the Constitution.

*Shaw v. Reno (1993)

redistricting based on race is held to a strict scrutiny standard under the 14th Amendment.

Civil Rights

protections to individuals from discrimination based on race, national origin, religion, sex and other characteristics, ensuring equal treatment under the law.

\Dred Scott v. Sanford, (1857)

the Supreme Court ruled that Scott, a former slave, and descendants of slaves were not citizens of the United States even if they were residents of free states or territories.

Equal Protection Clause

clause of the 14th Amendment that has been used to protect the civil rights of Americans from discrimination based on race, national origin, religion, gender and other characteristics.

Separate but Equal

the doctrine that racial segregation was constitutional as long as the facilities for blacks and whites were equal.

Legal Segregation

the separation by law of individuals based on their race.

The Doll Study

Drs. Kenneth and Mamie Clark demonstrated the psychological harm of segregation. Black children preferred the white doll and said it had positive characteristics. Many black children had negative comments about the black dolls.

Brown vs. Board of Education, I (1954)

Chief Justice Earl Warren read the decision in Brown: Separate educational facilities are inherently unequal. The Court was unanimous.

Brown vs. Board of Education, II (1955)

compliance with Brown with all deliberate speed. Federal judges in the South were reluctant to comply and 10 years after Brown, 98% of African American students in the South still attended completely segregated schools.

De Jure Segregation

the separation of individuals based on their characteristics, such as race, by law.

De Facto Segregation

a separation of individuals based on characteristics that arise not by law but because of other factors, such as residential housing projects.

Affirmative Action

a policy designed to address the consequences of previous discrimination by providing special consideration to individuals based on their characteristics such as race.