University of Houston, Downtown GOV 2405 CHAPTER 13: The Courts MULTIPLE CHOICE 1)Alexis de Tocqueville, an observer of nineteenth-century American society, indicated that Americans rely on courts to resolve political questions

Question

University of Houston, Downtown

GOV 2405

CHAPTER 13: The Courts

MULTIPLE CHOICE

1)Alexis de Tocqueville, an observer of nineteenth-century American society, indicated that Americans rely on courts

1. to resolve political questions.
2. very rarely when compared to Europe.
3. only if there is no other alternative.
4. to resolve economic questions, but not political ones.
5. to provide a form of entertainment.

In the United States
1. the judiciary is not part of the political aren
2. judges interpret the law becoming actors in the political arena.
3. judges work outside of the political system to resolve disputes.
4. judges are not policymakers when they interpret the law.
5. Options A and C are tru

Most American law is based on
1. French philosophy regarding the rights of man.
2. the Bible.
3. the English common law tradition.
4. Roman law.
5. the writings of Thomas Jefferson.

The body of judge-made law is known as
1. administrative regulations.
2. criminal law.
3. judicial maxims.
4. common law.
5. statutory law.

A previous court decision that influences and is the basis for deciding later, similar cases is called
1. a precedent.
2. criminal law.
3. a judicial maxim.
4. common law.
5. statutory law.

The doctrine of stare decisis
1. means to reverse the decision of a lower court.
2. says that the court does not have jurisdiction in a case.
3. allows the court to refer a case to the next highest court.

1. is the policy of following precedent established by past decisions to decide cases.
2. means strict interpretation.

Most court cases are decided on precedent because
1. it is important to set a uniform common set of rules for the country.
2. judges would rather play it safe and reuse old decisions.
3. it is easier for recording-keeping purposes.
4. the established body of judge-made law covers all cases that might come up.
5. Options B and C are tru

Sources of American law include all of the following except
1. the U.S. Constitution and state constitutions.
2. case law.
3. statutes passed by legislatures.
4. administrative regulations.
5. the charter of the United Nations.

The United States Constitution
1. is the supreme law of the land.
2. is subordinate to State Constitutions in many matters.
3. does not specify the details of state and federal powers, instead leaving that up to Congress.
4. outlines the details of various state criminal codes.
5. outlines the details of court case law.

Case law
1. plays a minor role in decisions made by the courts.
2. includes judicial interpretations of common law principles and doctrines.
3. includes interpretations of constitutional provisions, statues, and administrative agency.
4. rules are determined by the president and Congress.
5. Options B and C are tru

The United States has a dual court system, meaning there are
1. civil courts and criminal courts.
2. misdemeanor and felony courts.
3. state and federal courts.
4. state and local courts.
5. district courts and territorial courts.

Which of the following are important requirements that must be met before a case can be brought to court?
1. Issues must be political questions.
2. Jurisdiction and standing to sue
3. Precedents and stare decisis

1. Judicial maxims
2. Requirements for legislation

Jurisdiction refers to
1. rules and principles announced in court decisions.
2. the authority of a court to hear and decide a particular class of cases.
3. the constitutionality of a law.
4. statutory law.
5. the common law.

Sharia law applied to mediation and arbitration in a divorce within the Muslim community
1. is supreme over state laws if both parties agree.
2. is supreme over the Constitution if both parties agree.
3. is reviewed by a court to determine if the decision is not grossly unfair or undermines public policy.
4. can be applied if one party agrees and the other disagrees.
5. All of the above are tru

Diversity of citizenship
1. is when a citizen holds dual citizenships and must choose one.
2. exists when the parties to a lawsuit are from different states.
3. exists when the parties to a lawsuit are from different countries.
4. None of the above is true.
5. Options B and C are tru

A question that has to do with the U.S. Constitution, acts of Congress, or treaties is known as a

question.

1. justiciable
2. political
3. federal
4. national
5. legal

Standing to sue is
1. determined by whether or not a court has jurisdiction over the matter.
2. determined by whether or not the Supreme Court will hear a case.
3. determined by whether or not a person or group has suffered harm as a result of the action that led to the dispute in question.
4. the decorum that is expected in dealing with the Supreme Court during trial.
5. also known as stare decisis.

Which of the following is true?
1. Most lawsuits are heard in state rather than federal courts.
2. Most lawsuits are heard in federal rather than state courts.

1. All cases heard in state court may be appealed to federal courts.
2. Cases heard in state court may be appealed to federal court if they case involves a federal question.
3. Options A and D are tru

To engage in legal proceedings or seek relief in a court of law is to
1. negotiate.
2. submit a brief of amicus curiae.
3. litigate.
4. exercise judicial review.
5. exercise jurisdiction.

Interest groups play an important role in our judicial system because
1. they have the opportunity to veto judicial nominations.
2. they help to fund the judicial review board.
3. Madison stipulated their role in Federalist #10.
4. they bring to trial cases of discrimination, civil liberties cases, and more than a third of cases involving business matters.
5. they frequently are defendants in class-action suits.

The term amicus curiae (friend of the court) brief refers to
1. arguments by those interested in the outcome of a case but who are not parties to the case.
2. a request that the Supreme Court order a lower court to send up the records of a case.
3. a Supreme Court order barring further testimony during oral arguments.
4. the belief that the Supreme Court should actively practice judicial review.
5. None of the above is tru

A lawsuit seeking damages for “all persons similarly situated” is called
1. a class-action suit.
2. an amicus curiae suit.
3. a writ of certiorari.
4. a civil suit.
5. a procedural motion.

The three tiers of the federal court system are
1. appellate court, Supreme Court, state Supreme Court.
2. the state municipal courts, district courts, Supreme Court.
3. federal district courts, intermediate courts of appeal, Supreme Court.
4. municipal courts, intermediate courts of appeal, Supreme Court.
5. city courts, state courts, Supreme Court.

U.S. district courts
1. are courts of intermediate appellate courts.
2. have final appellate jurisdiction to review cases.

1. are the state courts.
2. are the trial courts of the federal system.
3. are courts of limited jurisdiction.

Each state
1. has at least one federal district court.
2. has exactly one federal district court.
3. has three federal district courts.
4. has several federal district courts and one federal appeals court.
5. makes up part of the jurisdiction of a federal district court.
In the appeals court,
1. witnesses and testimony are presented to the jury.
2. grand juries decide if there is enough evidence to have a trial.
3. attorneys from both sides try to work out an agreement.
4. judges review lower court case records to determine if there is evidence of an error.
5. All of the above are tru

The U.S. Supreme Court can review a state supreme court decision
1. if there are damages in excess of $50,000.
2. only if a federal question is involved.
3. if the solicitor general asks them to do so.
4. in all cases.
5. in cases in which the state is a party.

According to the Constitution, the Supreme Court can exercise original jurisdiction
1. in matters where the United States is a party.
2. in cases where jurisdiction has been granted by statute.
3. to intervene in a federal case.
4. in cases affecting foreign diplomats and in cases in which the state is a party.
5. over cases appealed from state supreme courts.

How many justices are on the Supreme Court?
1. Five
2. Six
3. Seven
4. Eight
5. Nine

The FISA court can
1. issue warrants without revealing the information used to justify the warrant.
2. deprive American citizens of their citizenship.
3. rule laws enacted by Congress to be unconstitutional.
4. strike certain provisions from the Constitution.

1. direct the president to take certain actions in order to protect national security.
The Anti-Terrorism and Effective Death Penalty Act that created an alien removal court, was passed
1. in 1996 as a response to the bombing of a federal building in Oklahoma City.
2. in 2001 as a response to the 911 attacks in New York, Washington D.C., and Pennsylvania.
3. in 2010 as a solution to dealing with prisoners at the Guantanamo Bay detention center.
4. in 2000 as a response to the attack of the naval ship, the USS Cole.
5. in 1993 as a response to the first attack on the World Trade Center in New York.
In 2006, the Supreme Court ruled that the Bush administration’s treatment of Guantánamo detainees violated the U.S. Constitution. In response to this,
1. Congress passed legislation that said prisoners’ challenges to their detention would be reviewed by military commissions.
2. new measures passed by Congress to restrict the federal courts’ jurisdiction over detainees were declared illegal.
3. the Obama administration abolished the category of enemy combatant in 2009.
4. President Obama claimed in May 2009 the right to detain certain accused terrorists held at Guantánamo indefinitely without trial, possibly in a prison on the mainlan
5. All of the above are tru

All of the following are true of the Supreme Court except
1. the Supreme Court’s term begins on the first Monday in October.
2. less than one in four thousand of all cases are decided by the Supreme Court.
3. decisions of the Supreme Court profoundly affect our lives.
4. over half of all cases in the federal court system make it to the Supreme Court.
5. the Supreme Court has decided cases involving freedom of speech, the right to bear arms, campaign finance, and abortion.

The Supreme Court’s decision to take a case is based on the following factor
1. if there is disagreement between how different lower courts decided the legal question.
2. if a lower court’s ruling conflicts with a previous ruling by the Supreme Court.
3. if the Court determines the issue has significance beyond the parties in the dispute.
4. if the solicitor general, representing the president, requests that the Court hear the case.
5. All of the above are factors that the Supreme Court considers.
The most common way for the Supreme Court to take care of cases appealed to it is to
1. decide on the case but not give an opinion.
2. refuse to hear a case.
3. grant a mistrial.
4. hear the case.
5. return it to the state court.

A procedure used by the Supreme Court in determining which cases it will hear is

a. the rule of four.
b. the gang of four.
c. the sign of four.
d. the rule of six.
e. the sign of five.

A writ of certiorari by the Supreme Court orders
1. both parties in a case to reach agreement without further litigation.
2. state courts to abide by the decisions of the Supreme Court.
3. a lower court to send up the record of a case for review.
4. Congress to rewrite unconstitutional legislation.
5. that a prisoner be brought before the court and the reasons for the detention be provided.
If a case is remanded, it
1. is sent to the supreme court of the state in question.
2. is sent back to the court that originally heard the case.
3. can only be of a civil nature—criminal cases cannot be remanded.
4. must be decided within the calendar year.
5. is not subject to any further action by the courts.

If a case is affirmed, it
1. means all justices unanimously agree on an opinion.
2. is sent back to the court that heard the case.
3. means the decision is valid and must stand.
4. will result in a new trial for the defendant.
5. is accepted as a case that the Supreme Court will hear.
The last step in the decision-making process of the Supreme Court is
1. announcing its decision to the public and the reasons for it.
2. assigning a justice to write an opinion.
3. deciding if the Court will hear the case.
4. hearing oral arguments in the case.
5. asking the lower court to sent the records of the case for review.
Federal Judges are
1. appointed.
2. elected for four-year terms.
3. may be removed by the President for poor performance.
4. are appointed to the Supreme Court but elected to district courts.
5. Options C and D are tru

A dissenting opinion can be important because
1. it represents the position of the chief justice of the Supreme Court.
2. it is the statement of the defendant’s attorney to the Court.

1. in criminal law it must be carried out by local police.
2. it often forms the basis of the arguments used later to reverse the previous decision and establish a new precedent.
3. it means that the case cannot be used as a precedent.
The number of cases that the Supreme Court reviews each term has
1. increased dramatically since the early 1950s.
2. hovered around 150 cases since the mid-1980s.
3. remained constant since the Civil War.
4. dropped significantly since the 1980s.
5. increased fifty percent after George W. Bush became president.
Federal judges
1. serve lifetime terms.
2. are appointed by the president.
3. may be impeached and removed from office.
4. are approved by the Senate.
5. All the above are tru

The concept of senatorial courtesy refers to the
1. Senate approving judges only if they belong to the same party that is in control of the Senate.
2. practice of allowing senators to have the exclusive right to nominate candidates for the federal district courts in their state.
3. practice of allowing members of the House to participate in the nomination process.
4. practice of allowing senators to veto candidates for federal district courts in their state.
5. Senate’s deferring to the president and routinely approving his or her nominees.
Appointments to the federal courts of appeal
1. are far less numerous than federal district court appointments.
2. are usually selected because of their important position in state government.
3. are less important than federal district court appointments.
4. are often “stepping-stones” to the Supreme Court.
5. Options A and D are tru

All of the following are true about presidential appointments to the Supreme Court except
1. presidents usually appoint people who belong to the president’s political party.
2. presidents see their appointments as a way to institutionalize their political views long after they have left office.
3. Republican presidents have usually appointed liberal justices.
4. President Bush appointed two justices to the Court.
5. President Clinton appointed many judges to the district and appeals courts.
The Bork Supreme Court confirmation battle

1. occurred when the Senate agreed to confirm a justice that was not qualified.
2. involved a speech by Senator Edward Kennedy suggesting that the nominee had a poor record.
3. was a brief episode that had little impact on succeeding confirmation hearings.
4. ended in a rejection of the nominee due to his controversial believes on issues of civil rights and privacy.
5. Options B and D are tru

Appointments to the Supreme Court by President Obama
1. were Sonia Sotomayor and Elena Kagan.
2. changed the philosophical composition of the Court.
3. included the first Hispanic on the Court.
4. strengthened the conservative movement of the Court.
5. Options A and C are tru

The power of the courts to determine the constitutionality of a law or action is called
1. judicial review.
2. appellate review of fact.
3. precedent.
4. the writ of judicial appeal.
5. habeas corpus.

President Obama has
1. had ease in getting his judicial candidates approved by the Senate.
2. had difficulty in getting his judicial candidates approved by the Senate.
3. had ease in getting his judicial candidates approved by the House of Representatives.
4. had difficulty in getting his judicial candidates approved by the House of Representatives.
5. had difficulty finding qualified candidates for judicial appointments.
The result of partisanship in judicial nominations is
1. that federal judgeships are filled quickly as presidents rush to fill open seat during their term.
2. that nominees are chosen strictly based on qualifications, not political affiliation.
3. that nomination hearings in the U.S. Senate can sometimes seem like dramas where the process plays out on cable news channels.
4. that fifty percent of all federal judgeships are vacant.
5. that all nominations are effectively blocked by the political parties.
A doctrine holding that the courts defer to the decisions of elected officials is called
1. judicial activism.
2. judicial restraint.
3. strict construction.
4. broad construction.
5. conservative activism.

Judicial activism means
1. the Supreme Court should accept as many cases for decision as it can.
2. the Supreme Court should actively check the other branches of government when they exceed their authority.
3. the Supreme Court should have the power of judicial review.
4. the courts should defer to decisions made by the elected representatives of the people whenever possible.
5. the members of the Supreme Court should deliver as many public speeches as possible, in an effort to engage and inform the American peopl

When William Rehnquist was appointed chief justice in 1986,
1. Supreme Court decisions had always been in line with conservative ideology.
2. justices became even more fixed in their ideological orientations.
3. the commerce clause was struck down by liberal justices.
4. the Supreme Court began a shift toward greater conservatism.
5. the Supreme Court lost its swing votes.

Indications are that the Roberts Court will
1. continue the Burger Court’s shift to the left.
2. moderate conservative ideology on the environment and capital punishment.
3. sustain the Reagan Court’s moderation on defendants’ rights.
4. flip-flop ideologically.
5. continue the Rehnquist Court’s shift to the right.

The Supreme Court cases, Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission and McDonald v. Chicago,

were victories for the

1. political left.
2. political right.
3. gun control advocates.
4. government reform advocates.
5. Options A and C are tru

If Congress disagrees with a decision of the Supreme Court concerning the interpretation of the U.S.

Constitution, it can do all of the following except

1. not fund the decision.
2. require that the president veto the decision.
3. pass a new law that negates the Court’s ruling.
4. propose an amendment to the Constitution that would negate the Court’s ruling.
5. amend an existing law that negates the Court’s ruling.
Public opinion can serve as a check on the judiciary because
1. people have the ability to vote federal judges out of office if they do not approve of the rulings of the courts.
2. the public may pressure elected officials not to enforce an unpopular ruling.

1. the Supreme Court typically polls the public as a basis for their decisions.
2. the president will veto a Supreme Court decision if it is politically unpopular.
3. Congress will override a decision of the Supreme Court with a majority vote in both houses.

The Ledbetter Fair Pay Act of 2009
1. specifies penalties to employers for discriminating based on gender.
2. resets the statue of limitations for filing an equal-pay lawsuit each time an employer issues a discriminatory paycheck.
3. reaffirms the decision in the Supreme Court case, Ledbetter v. Goodyear.
4. defines fair pay standards for different job classifications.
5. was passed in response to employers dismissing female employees when becoming pregnant.