Help
Options
Didn't know it?
click below
click below
Knew it?
click below
click below
Don't Know
Remaining cards (0)
Know
retry
shuffle
restart
0:00
Embed Code - If you would like this activity on your web page, copy the script below and paste it into your web page.
Normal Size Small Size show me how
Normal Size Small Size show me how
AP GOV Ch.16 Vocab
| Term | Definition |
|---|---|
| Adversarial System | A legal system where two advocates represent their parties' positions before an impartial person or group of people, usually a jury or judge, who attempt to determine the truth of the case. |
| Amicus Curiae Briefs | Legal briefs submitted by a "friend of the court" for the purpose of raising additional points of view and presenting information not contained in the briefs of the formal parties. These briefs attempt to influence a court's decision. |
| Appellate Jurisdiction | The jurisdiction of courts that hear cases brought to them on appeal from lower courts. These courts do not review the factual record, only the legal issues involved. |
| Civil Law | The body of law involving cases without a charge of criminality. It concerns disputes between two parties and consists of both statutes and common law. |
| Class Action Suits | Lawsuits permitting a small number of people to sue on behalf of all other people similarly situated. |
| Common Law | The accumulation of judicial decisions applied in civil law disputes. |
| Constitutional Question | An issue whose resolution requires the interpretation of a constitution rather than that of a statute. |
| Criminal Law | The body of law involving a case in which an individual is charged with violating a specific law. The offense may be harmful to an individual or society and in either case warrant punishment, such as imprisonment or a fine. |
| Defendant | In a criminal trial, a defendant is any person accused (charged) of commiting an offence (a crime), an act defined as punishable under criminal law. |
| District Courts | The 91 federal courts of original jurisdiction. They are the only federal courts in which no trials are held and in which juries may be empaneled. |
| Diversity Cases | Federal lawsuits that are between persons from different states, between citizens of the United States and a foreign government, or between citizens of the United States and citizens of a foreign nation. Diversity cases must involve an amount over $50,000 |
| Dual Court System | The dual court system is the distinction of state and federal courts that make up the judicial branch of government. Dual court system refers to the separate Federal and State. |
| Dual Sovereignty | Dual sovereignty is a concept in American constitutional that both the State governments and the federal governments are sovereign. The state governments and the federal government each have spheres and can execute powers that the other cannot. |
| Federal Question Cases | The subject-matter jurisdiction of United States federal courts to hear a civil case because the plaintiff has alleged a violation of the United States Constitution, federal law, or a treaty to which the United States is a party. |
| Gideon v. Wainwright | The 1963 Supreme Court decision holding hat freedoms of press and speech are "fundamental personal rights and liberties protected by the due process clause of the Fourteenth Amendment from impairment by the states" as well as the federal government. |
| Justiciable Disputes | A constraint on the courts, requiring that a case must be capable of being settled by legal methods. |
| Judicial Restraint | A judicial philosophy in which judges play minimal policy-making roles, leaving that strictly to the legislatures. |
| Judicial Implementation | How and whether court decisions are translated into actual policy, affecting the behavior of others. The courts rely on other units of government to enforce their decisions. |
| Judicial Review | The power of the courts to determine whether acts of Congress, and by implication the executive, are in accord with the U.S. Constitution. |
| Legislative Courts | Courts established by Congress for specialized purposes, such as the Court of Military Appeals. Judges who serve on these courts have fixed terms and lack the protections of constitutional court judges. |
| Marbury v. Madison | 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. |
| Majority Opinion | A judicial opinion agreed to by more than half of the members of a court |
| Dissenting Opinion | An opinion in a legal case written by one or more judges expressing disagreement with the majority opinion of the court which gives rise to its judgment. |
| Concurring Opinion | A written opinion by one or more judges of a court which agrees with the decision made by the majority of the court, but states different reasons as the basis for his or her decision. |
| Original 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 Intent | A view that the Constitution should be interpreted according to the original intent of the framers. |
| Political Question | A doctrine developed by the federal courts and used as a means to avoid deciding some cases, principally those involving conflicts between the president and Congress. |
| Precedent | How similar cases have been decided in the past. |
| Public Defender | he term public defender is primarily used to refer to a lawyer appointed to represent people who cannot afford to hire an attorney in the United States and Brazil. |
| Rule of Four | A Supreme Court of the United States practice that permits four of the nine justices to grant a writ of certiorari. |
| Senatorial Courtesy | An unwritten tradition whereby nominations for state-level federal judicial posts are not confirmed if they are opposed by the senator from the state in which the nominee will serve. |
| Solicitor General | A president appointee and the third-ranking office in the Department of Justice. The solicitor general is in charge of the appellate court litigation of the federal government. |
| Standing to Sue | The requirement that plaintiffs have a serious interest in a case, which depends on whether they have sustained or are likely to sustain a direct and substantial injury from a party or an action of government. |
| Stare Decisis | A Latin phrase meaning "let the decision stand." Most cases reaching appellate courts are settled on this principle. |
| Statutory Construction | The judicial interpretation of an act of Congress. |
| Writ of Certiorari | A formal document issued from the Supreme Court to a lower federal or state court that calls up a case. |
| Writ of Mandamus | A court order forcing action. |
| Judicial Activism | Describes judicial rulings suspected of being based on personal or political considerations rather than on existing law. |
Created by:
formula1fan
Popular American Government sets