AP Government Unit 6

Federalist No. 78

argues for a strong, independent judiciary with life tenure to protect the Constitution and individual rights. Hamilton also argued that the judicial branch is the least dangerous branch

Article 3 Section 1

Creates the power and scope of the judiciary

Allows congress to create lower federal courts

Judges serve for life (w/ good behavior)

Judge’s salaries can’t be reduced

Article 3 Section 2

Federal courts can hear cases involving: the Constitution, federal laws, treaties, ambassadors, maritime law, US as a party, disputes between states/citizens of different states

Supreme court has original (trial court) jurisdiction in cases involving ambassadors and cases where a state is a party, everything else is appellate (reviews decisions) jurisdiction

Criminal trials will have a jury and be held in the state where the crime occurred

Article 3 Section 3

Treason = levying war against the US or giving aid to enemies

• Requires two witnesses or confession in court

Congress decides punishment, but it can’t extend beyond the person or continue after death

jurisdiction

authority vested in a particular court to hear and decide the issues in a particular case

original jurisdiction

courts authority to hear disputes as a trial court and determine facts of the case

appellate jurisdiction

courts ability to review/revise cases already decided by trial court

judiciary act of 1789

established the three-tier structure of the federal court system (US Supreme Court, US Court of Appeals/Circuit (13) Court, and US District Court (94))

John Jay

Appointed the first chief justice of SCOTUS by president George Washington

Chisholm v. Georgia

Led to the ratification of the 11th amendment because this case attacked states in the sense that there was a right to hear suits brought by citizens against a state in which they don’t reside

11th amendment

an amendment adopted in 1789 protecting states from being sued by a citizen of another state/country

judiciary act of 1801

a partisan effort by federalists to pack the court with federal judges. reduced the size of SCOTUS from 6 to 5, and created 16 additional federal judgeships + new circuit courts

marbury v. madison

case in which judicial review was first asserted, finding that the congressional statute extending the courts original jurisdiction was unconstitutional

John Marshall

Chief justice who asserted that the supremacy clause included judicial review + stated that the original jurisdiction court issuing writs was unconstitutional

McCulloch v Maryland

led to the necessary and proper clause, meaning court has implied powers to carry out their duties

judicial review

power of the courts to review acts of the branches of gov + states and declare them unconstitutional

circuit/appellate court

court that generally reviews only findings of law made by lower courts

constitutional courts

federal courts created by the Constitution/Congress

legislative courts

courts established by Congress for specific purposes (ex. Court of Appeals)

Virginia has __ federal district courts (#)

2

Virginia is in the ___ circuit (#)

4th, including WV, MD, NC, SC

Chief judge

most senior judge <65 who can serve no more than 7 years

Most cases die in…?

Federal district court

precedent

a prior judicial decision that serves as a rule for setting subsequent cases of a similar issue

stare decisis

in court rulings, a reliance on past decisions/precedents to form decisions in new cases

senatorial courtesy

presidents allow senators from the state in which a judicial vacancy occurs to block a nomination by registering their objection if they belong to a president’s political party

blue slip

senators from a state in which a vacancy occurs are given a light blue paper on which they register their support/objection for a judicial nomination

important criteria for nominating federal judges

(1) experience (2) ideology (3) pursuit of local support (4) religion (5) race, ethnicity, gender

Sandra Day O’Conner

first woman to serve as a justice, stated that “you have to be lucky to be appointed to the judiciary”

American Bar Association

investigates nominees and ranks them from “well qualified,” “qualified,” or “not qualified”

writ of certiorari

a request for the SC to order up the records from a lower court to review the case (agreeing to hear a case)

rule of 4

at least 4 SC justices must vote to consider a case before it can be heard (writ of certiorari)

clerks of the court

spend time with the justice, research, read/summarize cases, and help write opinions (the longest part)

solicitor general

the 4th ranking member of the DOJ, responsible for handling nearly all appeals on behalf of SCOTUS

interest groups can..

1. sponsor cases + help pay the cost

2. act as amicus curiae, a friend of the court

amicus curiae briefs

filed by interest groups/those potentially affected by the outcome of a case to expand positions of both

plurality opinions

a type of judicial opinion, the reasoning of which is agreed to by fewer than a majority of judges on a court

concurring opinions

a type of judicial opinion issued by a minority of judges on a court who agree with the outcome of a case but wish to express different legal reasoning

dissenting opinions

a type of judicial opinion issued by a minority of judges pm a court who disagree with the outcome of a case and wish to explain their legal reasoning

judicial restraint

belief that courts should allow the decisions of other branches to stand, even when they offend a judges principles (courts address issues as they arise, not look for changes to be made)

judicial activism

belief that judges should use their power to broaden justice

strict constitutionalist

approaches constitutional interpretation as it was originally written and intended by the framers

More than ___ (#) federal laws have been declared unconstitutional by the court

180

SCOTUS justices have struck down nearly ___(#) state laws over the years

1000

judicial implementation

how and whether judicial decisions are translated into actual public policies affecting more than the immediate parties to a lawsuit

center-right justices

Roberts, Kavanaugh, Barret

far-right justices

Gorsuch, Alito, and Thomas

liberal justices

Sotomayor, Kagan, Jackson

Order of justices + who appointed

Thomas (Bush Sr.), Roberts (Bush Jr.), Alito (Bush Jr.), Sotomayor (Obama), Kagan (Obama), Gorsuch (Trump), Kavanaugh (Trump), Barret (Trump), Jackson (Biden).