judical branch AP GOV

what established the federal court?

• Article #3

how does a person become a judge?

• presidential appointment with senate 2/3 vote to confirm

how long do judges serve?

• Life time appointments for all federal judges (can enhance a presidents legacy)

what kind of person does a president appoint?

• president appoints people with the same ideology as him

Supreme court statistics ?

• only 29 failed to get appointed, only 1 impeachment attempt, 4 women

judge must meet the "Litmus Test" could go bad if:?

o minority party in senate
o president is in his last years of his presidency
o judge has ethnic violations
o senatorial courtesy is claimed (senator from your state denies you)

Characteristics of judges?

• Most have been lawyers
• male (four females)
• white (2 African Americans) **Clarience Thomas
• Higher social economic status
• protestant (6 Catholic and 5 Jews)
• 90% partisan selections
• IDEOLEGY IS KEY

how many cases are heard a year?

• only 100 cases are heard a year

The rule of 4?

: 4 justices have to agree to writ of Cert (to see a case)

how many justices have to be present to see a case?

6 justices have to be present to hear a case

concurring opinion:?

written by justices who agree but not with the reasoning

majority opinion: ?

accompanies the decision of a case

dissenting opinion:?

written by justices who don't agree

District courts are the ______???

work horses (80% of cases) they usually have original jurisdiction

Original jusidiction?

if a state is involved, or if state/public officials are involved case goes there first

Appellate?

appealed from a lower court (vast majority of cases) it involves "a substantial federal question"

Court of appeals are the _____?

gate keepers

The first court to hear a case has _____?

"original jurisdiction"

Amicus Curiae:?

"friend of the court" this is provided by outside party going to help someone inside the court case

Class action suits: ??

people ban together to sue

rule of law: ?

society establishes regulations principals and norms coordinated by unbiased individuals

Litigants of a case?

a) Plaintiff: the one charging
b) defendant: Perry v PCHS
c) class action suits: a group that have similar complains and ban together
d) cases must be "justifiable disputes" (able to resolve)
e) lawyer

Judicial activists: ??

believe that judges should use their power to change things (liberal view)
-They stray from the precedent
-or make contrary policies

Judicial Restraint: ?

defers to the other 2 branches for decision making, stick with constitution (conservative view)

Originalism theory: ?

judges believe we should follow the constitution to the T

Living constitution theory:

liberal view, country is changing so should the constitution

Criminal law?

you broke a specified law (rob, kill, ect) it has a specific punishment

civil law:??

dispute between two parties

1. Mabury v Madison

established judicial review

2. Dred Scott v Stanford

a slave was not a US citizen and cannot sue

3. Plessy v Furguson

-Separate but equal is constitutional
-allowed states to pass segregation laws (Jim Crow)
-the court said that the 14th amendment was meant for civil/political equality, not social equality

4. Brown v Board of Education

overturned Plessy v Furgeson
can never be separate but equal
9-0 decision that separate education facilities are unequal

Two types of segregation: ?

De Jure= segregation that is result of a law (doesn't exist)
De facto= results from housing patterns and making kids go to neighboring schools

5. Parents v Seattle school district

ended the use of forced busing for interrogation
interrogation through bussing is unconstitutional

6. Engel v Vitale

prayer is unconstitutional in state sponsored schools

establishment clause: ?

prohibits and official religion ( supposed to put up a wall between church and state)

free exercise clause: ?

you can be whatever religion you want to be
-no religious test is required to hold office and be a public official

state aid and parochial schools:?

can provide transportation, textbooks, student lunches

7. Lemon v Kurtzman

this created the "three prong test" to avoid excessive entanglement of government and religion

three prong test?

1) does the policy have any nonsecular (religious) purpose? yes= unconstitutional
2) does the policy promote/inhibit religion? yes=unconstitutional
3) does it excessively involve government with religion? yes= unconstitutional

8. Abington v schempp

you can teach a religion class as long as it's a world religion class

9. Wisconsin v yoder

can the government force kids to go to high school if it is beyond their religion beliefs?
no. they won, it violated their "free religion"
animal sacrifices cannot be banned as long as they are apart of a religious ceremony

due process: ?

fair and equal treatment under the law

Two types of... (not sure what this is labeled as)

Procedural: the procedures must be fair (not the actual law but how its carried out)
substantive: the policies must be constitutional

14th amendment and bill of rights also apply to ..?

the states as well as national government

10. Mapp v Ohio

cannot use illegal evidence in a criminal trial

exclusionary rule:?

requires judges to throw out evidence in a criminal trial that wasn't obtained correctly

11. Griswold v Connecticut

Prohibited the use of contraceptives and court ruled that it violated the "right to martial privacy"

"Right to privacy" in the constitution?

-not specifically states in the constitution.
-Amendments 4,5,9,14 deal with it

12. Miranda v Arizona

Refined rights to remain silent and have the right to counsel
Rights have to be read to you no matter what

Self incrimination: ?

5th amendment says no person can be compelled in a criminal case, to be a witness against himself

13. Roe v Wade

-Legalized abortion
-First two trimesters, because the fetus has no rights until it can live outside the womb

14. Planned parenthood v Casey

-Created tougher regulations for abortions
-Such as: 24 hour waiting one parent constant, doctors may present info on risks

15. Sternberg v Carhart

States can ban partial birth abortions

16. Schenk v US

Free speech issues
Resisting the draft
"words can be weapons, and can be outlawed"

Symbolic speech: ?

-you can communicate ideas by conduct
-Not everything is symbolic speech
-You can protest if peaceful
-Some forms are acceptable, some are not

17. Texas v Johnson

Flag burning is a form of symbolic speech