Federal Judicial Powers and the Constitution

These flashcards cover key vocabulary terms and concepts from the analysis of federal judicial powers and significant court cases related to the U.S. Constitution.

Judicial Review

The power of federal courts to review the constitutionality of executive actions and legislation.

Marbury v. Madison (1803)

Case that established the authority of federal courts to review the constitutionality of federal actions.

Standing

The requirement that a plaintiff must be the proper party to bring a case to court.

Injury (in legal standing)

The plaintiff must allege and prove they have suffered or will imminently suffer a concrete injury.

Sierra Club v. Morton

Case where the Sierra Club lacked standing because it failed to show that its members had personally used the disputed area.

Clapper v. Amnesty International

Case where plaintiffs lacked standing because they could not prove their communications were intercepted.

Ripeness

The readiness of a case for litigation; a federal court must evaluate if it's appropriate to hear a case.

Mootness

The principle that a case should be dismissed if events occurring after the filing of a lawsuit eliminate the plaintiff's injury.

Political Question Doctrine

Certain constitutional violations that federal courts will not adjudicate, often involving political branches.

Goldwater v. Carter

Case where the Supreme Court dismissed a challenge to the president's conduct of foreign policy as a political question.

Justiciability Doctrines

Limits on the federal judicial power determined by specific criteria such as standing and ripeness.

Eleventh Amendment

Prohibits lawsuits against states in federal court by citizens of another state or by its own citizens.

Sovereign Immunity

The doctrine preventing individuals from suing the state or its entities without consent.

Causation and Redressability

A plaintiff must demonstrate that the defendant's actions caused the injury and that a favorable court ruling would remedy the injury.

Franchise Tax Board v. Hyatt

Case establishing that a state cannot be sued in another state's court due to sovereign immunity.

Taxpayer Standing

Taxpayers generally do not have standing to challenge governmental spending unless under specific exceptions.

Flast v. Cohen

Case that allowed taxpayers to challenge government expenditures if they violate the Establishment Clause.

Roe v. Wade (1973)

Case that recognized a woman's right to choose an abortion under the right to privacy.

Strict Scrutiny

The highest level of scrutiny applied by courts when a law discriminates based on race or infringes upon fundamental rights.

Intermediate Scrutiny

A standard of judicial review applied to laws that involve gender discrimination.

Rational Basis Review

The lowest level of scrutiny applied by courts to determine the constitutionality of a law, where the law is presumed constitutional.

Equal Protection Clause

Part of the Fourteenth Amendment which provides that no state shall deny any person the equal protection of the laws.

Commercial Speech

Speech that proposes a commercial transaction, which is subject to intermediate scrutiny.

Obscenity Test

Established in Miller v. California, requiring material to appeal to prurient interest, be patently offensive, and lack redeeming social value.