Unit 7 Review: The Judicial System

Why did the Constitution provide for two separate court systems?

• to keep the federal court system from being overwhelmed

• to establish the federal court system as having more power than State courts

• to maintain a balance of power between the Federal Government and the States

• to strengthen the balance of power between the three branches of Federal Government

What is the difference between original jurisdiction and appellate jurisdiction?

• Original jurisdiction refers to a case being heard in a federal court; appellate jurisdiction refers to a case being heard in a State court.
• Original jurisdiction refers to criminal or civil cases; appellate jurisdiction refers to only to civil cases.
• Original jurisdiction refers to a case that could be heard in a federal or a State court; appellate jurisdiction refers to a case that must be heard in a federal court.
• Original jurisdiction refers to a court where a case is first heard; appellate jurisdiction refers to a case being heard after it was tried in a lower court.

How are federal judges selected?

• The person is named to the bench by the President and confirmed by the Senate.
• The person is named to the bench by the President and does not need to be confirmed.
• The person is publicly elected to the bench and confirmed by the Senate.
• The person is nominated by the Senate and chosen by the President.

This type of jurisdiction is shared by both Federal and State judiciary.

• Appellate
• Concurrent
• Exclusive
• Original

In the federal system, a district court has the power to

• retry a case that was first decided by a State court.
• exercise original jurisdiction over a federal case.
• apply appellate jurisdiction to a federal case.
• determine if a lower court made an unconstitutional ruling on a case.

What conclusion could be drawn  considering only about 1% of the cases applied to the Supreme court are actually taken.

• The Supreme Court accepts almost all of the cases that are brought to it.
• The Supreme Court deals only with cases involving constitutionality.
• Many cases are appealed to the Supreme Court, but it could only deal with a few of them.
• The Supreme Court used three different methods with which to rule upon a case.

When a Supreme Court justice agrees with the decision reached by the Court in a case, but with a different perspective on why the Court made that decision, he or she may choose to write a

• concurring opinion.
• dissenting opinion.
• majority opinion.
• unanimous opinion.

What is a possible avenue through which some cases have reached the Supreme Court?

• Congress asks the Court to review a proposed or recently passed law to see if it is constitutional.
• A State holds a convention in which the public votes to have a case sent to the Court for review.
• The Court decides to review one of its own earlier cases in order to change or modify its ruling.
• The Court issues a writ of certiorari instructing a lower court to send it a case to review.

In the federal court system, the cases tried by the district courts

• are usually appealed to a higher court by the losing side.
• make up the majority of federal cases brought to trial.
• deal only with federal crimes as defined by Congress.
• always involve the United States as a plaintiff.

This excerpt from the text is incomplete.
“Each party files detailed written statements—briefs—with the Court before they present their oral arguments. These detailed statements spell out the party’s legal position and are built largely on relevant facts and _________”
Which statement BEST describes the missing content about how Supreme Court briefs are created?

• The solicitor general, who acts as the government’s chief trial lawyer, must approve the content of all briefs.
• Briefs almost always refer to legal precedents, or the past decisions made by courts in similar cases.
• Each brief typically includes the written support of a member of Congress to establish credibility.
• Layers use amicus curiae briefs to demonstrate that they and their clients are friendly to the Court.