Constitutional Article that establishes the Judicial Branch.
Article III
An area of authority or control; the right to administer justice.
Jurisdiction
A person or party filing a lawsuit
Plaintiff
An individual or group being sued by a plaintiff or charged with a crime by a prosecutor.
Defendant
Authority of court to review a decision of a lower court or administrative agency.
Appellate Jurisdiction
The jurisdiction of courts that hear a case first, usually in a trial. These are the courts that determine the facts about a case.
Original Jurisdiction
(civil law) a law established by following earlier judicial decisions
Precedent
Lowest level of federal courts, where federal cases begin &trials are held (94 of them - every state has at least one )
District Court
Appellate courts empowered to review all final decisions of district courts, except in rare cases. In addition, they also hear appeals to orders of many federal regulatory agencies.
Courts of Appeal
Consists of nine justices, each nominated by the President and confirmed by the Senate. Appointment is for life with good behavior.
Supreme Court
Life with Good Behavior
Term of Federal Judge
Qualifications for Federal Judge
None
A philosophy of judicial decision-making whereby judges allow their personal views about public policy (liberal or conservative) or the contemporary realities to guide their decisions on the bench.
Judicial Activism
A doctrine holding that the Supreme Court should defer to the decisions made by the elected representatives of the people in the legislative and executive branches and thus seldom strike down laws as unconstitutional.
Judicial Restraint
A request from a higher court asking a lower court for the record of a case. In essence, the request signals the higher court’s willingness to exercise its discretion and review the decision of the lower court in the case.
Writ of Certiorari
A written statement presenting the views of the majority of supreme court justices regarding a case. The official holding of the case.
Majority Opinion
An opinion that agrees with the outcome of the majority in a Supreme Court ruling but differs on the reasoning.
Concurring Opinion
An opinion written by a justice who disagrees with the majority opinion, presenting his or her opinion
Dissenting Opinion
Chief Justice of the Current Supreme Court
John Roberts
First female Supreme Court Justice
Sandra Day O’Connor
First African American Supreme Court Justice
Thurgood Marshall
First Hispanic Supreme Court Justice
Sonia Sotomayor
Current number of justices on the Supreme Court, but not set by the Constitution
Nine Justices
Authority given the courts to review constitutionality of acts by the executive/state/legislature; est. in Marbury v. Madison
Judicial Review
The 1803 case in which Chief Justice John Marshall and his associates first asserted the right of the Supreme Court to determine the meaning of the U.S. Constitution. The decision established the Court’s power of judicial review over acts of Congress, (the Judiciary Act of 1789).
Marbury v. Madison
1857 Supreme Court decision ruling that a slave who had lived in a free state enjoyed no rights as a citizen and thus lacked standing in federal court. Dicta included concept that Congress had no authority to ban slavery in the territories.
Scott v. Sanford
Supreme Court case in 1896 that establish “separate but equal” doctrine as constitutional under the 14th Amendment
Plessy v. Ferguson
1954 - The Supreme Court overruled Plessy v. Ferguson, declared that racially segregated facilities are inherently unequal under the 14th Amendment and ordered all public schools desegregated.
Brown v. Board of Education
1966 - Established the Miranda warnings of counsel and silence. Must be given before custodial questioning. Warren Court’s expansion of the rights of the criminally accused.
Miranda v. Arizona
1964 -Ruled that a defendant must be allowed access to a lawyer before questioning by police.
Escobedo v. Illinois
1963 ruling that a defendant in a felony trial must be provided a lawyer free of charge if the defendant cannot afford one.
Gideon v. Wainwright
Established the exclusionary rule was applicable to the states (evidence seized illegally cannot be used in court)
Mapp v. Ohio
The 14th amendment and its equal protection and due process protections only guaranteed protection against government policies, not equal treatment by private individuals and businesses. This was decided in the Supreme Court Civil Rights Cases (1883).
State Action Doctrine
Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the government for a redress of grievances.
First Amendment
A well regulated militia, being necessary to the security of a free state, the right of the people to keep and bear arms, shall not be infringed.
Second Amendment
“The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures…”
Fourth Amendment
A constitutional amendment designed to protect the rights of persons accused of crimes, including protection against double jeopardy, self-incrimination, and punishment without due process of law.
Fifth Amendment
A constitutional amendment designed to protect individuals accused of crimes. It includes the right to counsel, the right to confront witnesses, and the right to a speedy and public trial.
Sixth Amendment
Excessive bail shall not be required, nor excessive fines imposed, nor cruel and unusual punishments inflicted.
Eighth Amendment
The case that ruled that students do not lose Constitutional rights when they entered the building but they can be limited if they cause a disruption; Black armbands in school is free speech, protected by 1st amendment
Tinker v. Des Moines
“Bong Hits 4 Jesus” case in which the Court found 1st Amendment allows public schools to prohibit displays of messages promoting use of illegal drugs at school-supervised events. Speech rights of public school students are not as extensive as those adults normally enjoy.
Morse v. Frederick
The 1962 Supreme Court decision holding that state officials violated the First Amendment when they wrote a prayer to be recited by New York’s schoolchildren.
Engel v. Vitale
(1990) The Court ruled that Oregon could deny unemployment benefits to workers fired for using drugs (peyote) as part of a religious ceremony
Employment Division v. Smith
A constitutional right created and expanded in US Supreme Court decisions concerning access to contraceptives, abortion, private sexual behavior, and other matters, even though the word privacy does not appear in the Constitution.
Right to Privacy
(1965) The Court found a Connecticut statute forbidding use of contraceptives by married couples violated privacy which is within the penumbra of specific guarantees of the Bill of Rights.
Griswold v. Connecticut
The 1973 Supreme Court decision holding that a state ban on all abortions was unconstitutional. The decision forbade state control over abortions during the first trimester of pregnancy, permitted states to limit abortions to protect the mother’s health in the second trimester, and permitted states to protect the fetus during the third trimester.
Roe v. Wade
T.L.O was accused of smoking in a high school bathroom. The principal searched her purse. The court ruled that it did not violate the Fourth and Fourteenth Amendments because it was on school grounds and due to the doctrine of in loco parentis the court allow the search on “reasonable suspicion”.
NJ v. TLO
a school administrator conducted a strip-search for drugs on a minor in the public schools. The court ruled that it was a more invasive search than in NJ v. TLO and was a violation of 4th Amendment protections without probable cause.
Safford v. Redding
Federalist whose decisions on the U.S. Supreme Court promoted federal power over state power and established judiciary as a branch of government equal to legislative and executive; established judicial review, which allows Supreme Court to declare laws unconstitutional
Chief Justice John Marshall
Liberal Supreme Court under Earl Warren decisions were made expanding civil rights, the rights of the criminally accused and recognizing a right to privacy.
Warren Court
The first ten amendments of the U.S. Constitution, containing a list of individual rights and liberties, such as freedom of speech, religion, and the press.
Bill of Rights
American Revolutionary leader from Virginia whose objections led to the drafting of the Bill of Rights based on his Virginia Declaration of Rights
George Mason
Some Anti-Federalists voted to ratify the Constitution under the following conditions: Bill of Rights and an amendment that would reserve for the states all power not specifically granted to the national government.
Ratification of the Constitution
Served as a model for the Bill of Rights to the Constitution of the United States of America. Written by George Mason.
Virginia Declaration of Rights
Policies designed to protect people against arbitrary or discriminatory treatment
Civil Rights
Constitutional freedoms guaranteed to all citizens in the First Amendment
Civil Liberties
The Supreme Court applied the Bill of Rights to the states through the protections of the 14th.
14th Amendment incorporation doctrine
A court order allowing law enforcement officers to search a suspect’s home or business and take specific items as evidence
Search warrant
evidence sufficient to warrant an arrest or search and seizure
probable cause
The legal principle that objects in plain view of a law enforcement agent who has the right to be in a position to have that view may be seized without a warrant and introduced as evidence. (exception to warrant requirements)
plain view doctrine
A rule that provides that otherwise admissible evidence cannot be used in a criminal trial if it was the result of illegal police conduct (Mapp v. Ohio)
Exclusionary rule
libel, slander, sedition, fighting words, speech that creates a clear and present danger, obscenity
Examples of Speech not protected or given limited protection
nonverbal communication, such as burning a flag or wearing an armband. The Supreme Court has accorded some symbolic speech protection under the first amendment.
Symbolic speech
Courts will allow these restrictions on speech as not violating the First Amendment
Time Place and Manner Restrictions
Example of federal law restricting political speech (Quasi-War with France, and WWI)
Sedition Acts
a search where a person voluntarily waives their constitutional protection from unreasonable searches and seizures, and allow an investigator to search their home, person, and property.
Consent Search
an exception to the warrant requirement. Authorities may seize any incriminating evidence that comes into view during a pursuit.
Hot pursuit exception
an exception to the warrant requirements where under certain emergencies immediate action in necessary and therefore no time exists for a search warrant to be obtained
Exigent circumstances search
The 1971 Supreme Court decision that established that aid to church-related schools must (1) have a secular legislative purpose; (2) have a primary effect that neither advances nor inhibits religion; and (3) not foster excessive government entanglement with religion.
Lemon v. Kurtzman / Lemon Test
President FDR’s failed 1937 attempt to increase the number of US Supreme Court Justices from 9 to 15 in order to save his New Deal programs from constitutional challenges
Court Packing Plan
Allowed the publication of the Pentagon Papers, Government must show evidence of danger before it can exercise prior restraint and censor the media
US v. New York Times
the process outlined in Article Two of the Constitution, giving the Senate the authority to approve appointments made by the president. including Supreme Court Justices
Senate Confirmation
Tradition where the U.S. senator from the state where a federal judiciary is open has a say in the president’s nomination for the new judge if the senator is of the same party as the president.
Senatorial courtesy
Meaning “in the place of a parent”. This term describes the implied power and responsibilities of schools.
In loco parentis
The first time the Constitution discussed equality and the basis for subsequent civil rights cases like Plessy v. Ferguson, Brown v. Board and Obergefell v. Hodges.
14th Amendment Equal Protection clause
The Court did not extend the right to privacy to cover homosexual activity between consenting adults.
Bowers v. Hardwick, 1986
The Court reversed its decision in Bowers v. Hardwick and extended the right to privacy to same-sex couples consensual behavior.
Lawrence v. Texas, 2003
Warrantless search of cell phone during an arrest is a violation of the 4th Amendment protection against unreasonable searches.
Riley v. California