Judiciary Review

Which of the following statements is true of the judicial system in the United States?

• It is an adversarial system in which justice is supposed to emerge from the struggle between two contending points of view.
• Interest groups are forbidden from participating in criminal proceedings.
• The system prescribes that criminal cases be decided by juries, and civil cases be decided by judges.
• The U.S. Constitution established all federal courts.

Which of the following is part of the federal court system?
I. U.S. Supreme Court
II. State Supreme Courts
III.  Court Military Appeals
IV. U.S. Court of Appeals

• I only
• IV only 
• I and IV only
• I, III, and IV only

Federal district courts are the only federal are the only federal courts in which 

• the facts are presented by both parties in the case
• amicus curiae briefs are registered with the court
• the solicitor general appears for oral arguments
• juries are impaneled to decide cases

Which of the following is true about Congress's influence over Supreme Court decision making?

• Congress can pass laws to prohibit judicial activism.
• The Senate can filibuster court decisions.
• Congress has significant control over the court's appellate jurisdiction.
• The Senate can decide which cases the Supreme Court will hear.

Senatorial courtesy is 

• the custom of the Supreme Court sharing its docket with the Senate Judiciary Committee before it is made public
• a tradition whereby nominees for federal judgeships must meet the approval of senators of the president's party from the state in which the nominee will serve. 
• the tradition of the full Senate filling judicial vacancies who win a majority vote the Judiciary Committee.
• the practice of the Senate filling judicial vacancies with judges who share the same judicial philosophy as their most immediate predecessor.

All of the following influence the selection of federal judges and Supreme Court justices EXCEPT

• campaign contributions
• judicial philosophy
• ideology
• experience 

Which of the following is true about the vast majority of cases decided by the Supreme Court?

• They are decided by unanimous decision.
• The decisions tend to significantly alter current policy.
• They tend to reverse the decision of the lower courts.
• They are decided based on how similar past cases have been decided.

One major weakness of federal courts as policymakers is that

• judges are term-limited, which affects their ability to implement their decisions.
• lower courts are not required to follow the decisions of superior courts.
• the courts must rely on other institutions to implement their decisions.
• they are shielded from the pressures of electoral politics.

Interest groups play a role in the federal judicial process in all of the following ways EXCEPT by

• running advertisements endorsing a judicial nominee.
• lobbying the Judiciary Committee about a judicial nominee.
• filing amicus curiae briefs 
• having their lawyers represent a plaintiff

The power of courts to determine which acts of Congress, the executive branch, and state legislatures are constitutional is known as 

• stare decisis 
• original jurisdicition
• judicial implementation
• judicial review