Chapter's 17 and 18
Terms
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- docket
- a schedule of cases to be argued in court
- Court-Martial
- a military court that tries members of the armed forces accused of violating military laws
- "rule of four"
- the agreement between four out of the nine Supreme Court justices needed for a case to be heard on appeal
- Constitutional Court
- a general judicial court established by Congress under Article III
- District Court
- a federal court in each of the 50 states
- Circuit Court
- one of the twelve regional courts of appeals
- majority opinion
- the principle by which people agree to abide by decisions on which more than half of them agree
- Territorial Court
- a court corresponding to a federal district court, established by Congress under its authority to govern U.S. territories
- Jurisdiction
- a court's authority to hear cases
- "court packing" plan
- President Franklin D. Roosevelt's failed attempt to enlarge the Supreme Court
- Court of Appeals
- a court that handles appeals from the lower court
- Admiralty law
- the branch of law covering navigation, shipping, and commerce on the high seas or on the Great Lakes
- concurring opinion
- a opinion that supports the majority decision of the Supreme Court but offers different reasons for reaching that decision
- dissenting opinion
- the opinion written by a Supreme Court justice who disagrees with the majority
- Legislative Court
- it was created by Congress to hear cases and carry out the legislative powers
- precedent
- a ruling that is used as a model in deciding similar cases
- Federal Question
- all cases that involve national laws such as the Constitution, laws passed by Congress, or treaties
- writ of certiorari
- an order from the Supreme Court to a lower court to prepare and send records of a case for review
- law clerk
- a recent law school graduate who assists a judge by conducting research, and summarizing cases
- moot question
- a question of no practical importance
- brief
- a written document arguing one side of a case
- opinion
- a courts written decision that summarizes a case and presents the questions of law, the ruling, and the reasoning involved in the ruling
- conference
- a regularly scheduled meeting of Supreme Court justices to discuss and decide cases
- Stare Decisis
- the principle by which the Supreme Court's ruling on one case is used as a model in deciding similar cases
- judicial restraint
- the philosophy that judicial decisions should not contradict the wishes of elected memebers of government unless those wishes clearly violate the Constitution
- Original jurisdiction
- the authority of a court to hear and decide a case for the first time
- Appellate jurisdiction
- the authority of a court to hear cases on appeal