Chapter 13 Key Terms Test

a law that prohibits actions that could harm or endanger others, and establishes punishment for those actions

• criminal law
• dissenting opinion

an opinion written by a justice who disagrees with the majority opinion of the Court

• criminal law
• dissenting opinion

the trial courts of the federal court system where cases are tried, evidence is presented, and witness testimony is heard

• district courts
• docket

the list of cases pending on a court’s calendar

• district courts
• docket

the division of the courts into two separate systems, one federal and one state, with each of the fifty states having its own courts

• dual court system
• judicial activism

a judicial philosophy in which a justice is more likely to overturn decisions or rule actions by the other branches unconstitutional, especially in an attempt to broaden individual rights and liberties

• dual court system
• judicial activism

a judicial philosophy in which a justice is more likely to let stand the decisions or actions of the other branches of government

• judicial restraint
• judicial review

the power of the courts to review actions taken by the other branches of government and the states and to rule on whether those actions are constitutional

• judicial restraint
• judicial review

an opinion of the Court with which more than half the nine justices agree

• majority opinion
• Marbury v. Madison

the 1803 Supreme Court case that established the courts’ power of judicial review and the first time the Supreme Court ruled an act of Congress to be unconstitutional

• majority opinion
• Marbury v. Madison