Things to Know - Federal Courts (1).docx

  1. Liberal and conservative blocs on the Supreme Court: Liberal – Breyer, Sotomayor, Kagan; Conservative – Roberts, Thomas, Alito, Kavanaugh, Gorsuch, Coney Barrett
  2. Supreme Court Firsts: Sandra Day O’Connor, Thurgood Marshall, Sonya Sotomayor
  3. Most significant Supreme Court Chief Justices and what made them the most important: John Marshall, Earl Warren, Warren Burger, William Rehnquist
  4. Why do federal judges have life appointments?
  5. Explain the process of how the Supreme Court decides to hear a case.
  6. Explain the process of how the Supreme Court justices decide a case.
  7. What is the significance of the different kinds of opinions issued by the justices? The opinion, Concurring opinion, Dissenting opinion
  8. What is the importance of precedent?
  9. What qualifications does a president consider when selecting a Supreme Court justice?
  10. What is the function of the chief justice? And who is the current chief justice?
  11. How many members are there on the Supreme Court? How can the size of the Court be changed?
  12. What is the difference between the judicial philosophies of: a living constitution, originalism, and textualism?
  13. What is the evidence that we have a living constitution?
  14. What is the difference between a formal and informal amendment to the Constitution?
  15. What was the “court packing plan?”
  16. In which cases did the Supreme Court establish each of the following: right to privacy, same-sex marriage liberty, interracial marriage liberty, desegregation of schools?
  17. What are the requirements to serve as a Supreme Court justice?
  18. What is the basic structure of the federal court system?
  19. Why are the federal district courts so important?
  20. What federal circuit court of appeals is Texas a part of?
  21. Why is the Second U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals considered to be like a junior Supreme Court?
  22. When has the Court allowed the government to have powers that would, in other times, be considered violations of constitutional rights?
  23. What restrictions can Congress exercise over the federal courts?
  24. What was the “nuclear option” and its relationship to the federal courts?
  25. What is the importance of amicus curiae briefs?
  26. What is the importance of the U.S. Solicitor General and why is the Court more likely to hear a case if the solicitor general is part of the request for a hearing?
  27. What is “judicial activism,” and can both liberals and conservatives be “judicial activists?” Explain.
  28. What is the significance of the Citizens United v. FEC ruling in 2010?
  29. How does the dissenting opinion in Plessy v. Ferguson relate to the outcome in Brown v. Board of Education?
  30. Has the size of the Supreme Court ever changed?
  31. How does the American Bar Association (ABA) influence selections for appointment to federal courts?
  32. What is the difference between appellate and original jurisdiction? Which level of the federal courts has which kind of jurisdiction?
  33. Difference between criminal and civil law? What is the standard for conviction in each type of law and what does each standard mean?
  34. What is a plaintiff? Defendant? Why is the government always the plaintiff in criminal cases?
  35. What is “judicial review?”

Terms: mootness, justiciable, stare decisis, habeas corpus, writ of certiorari, precedent, opinion, dissent, concurring, appellate jurisdiction, original jurisdiction, John Marshall, John Roberts, Jr., Marbury v. Madison, judicial review, political question, Rule of Four, judicial activism, originalism, living constitution, textualism, plea bargain, preponderance of the evidence, beyond a reasonable doubt, standing, senatorial courtesy, solicitor general, oral arguments, amicus curiae, judicial restraint, Citizens United v. FEC