Anna Mazzara

Unit 6 Buzzwords & Focus questions

Amicus Curiae: Someone who is not a party to a case who offers information that bears on the case but that has not been solicited by any of the parties to assist a court. Ex. The American Civil Liberties Union often files briefs on behalf of a party who contends his or her constitutional rights have been violated. Briefs: a written legal document used in various legal adversarial systems that is presented to a court arguing why one party to a particular case should prevail. ex. Lawyer gives brief to judge Class Action suits: a form of lawsuit in which a large group of people collectively bring a claim to court and/or in which a class of defendants is being sued. Ex. 2005, the Archdiocese of Portland was sued as part of the Catholic priest sex-abuse scandal 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. When no absolute majority of the court can agree on the basis for deciding the case, the decision of the court may be contained in a number of concurring opinions, and the concurring opinion joined by the greatest number of judges is referred to as the plurality opinion. Ex. Escole vs. Coca-Cola Bottling Co. Majority Opinion: A judicial opinion agreed to by more than half of the members of a court. A majority opinion sets forth the decision of the court and an explanation of the rationale behind the court's decision. Ex. 7-2 in the Bush v. Gore case Courts of Appeal: The intermediate appellate courts of the United States federal court system. A court of appeals decides appeals from the district courts within its federal judicial circuit, and in some instances from other designated federal courts and administrative agencies. Ex. A court of appeals may convene a Bankruptcy Appellate Panel to hear appeals in bankruptcy cases directly from the bankruptcy court of its circuit 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 Ex. Justice Scalia, dissenting, in Roper v. Simmons

Per curiam opinion: a ruling issued by an appellate court of multiple judges in which the decision rendered is made by the court (or at least, a majority of the court) acting collectively and anonymously. Ex. Brandenburg v. Ohio District Courts: the general trial courts of the United States federal court system. Both civil and criminal cases are filed in the district court, which is a court of law, equity, and admiralty. Ex. United States District Court for the Eastern District of Missouri Circuit court: a group of courts that works together as a regional justice system. These courts typically try cases and hear appeals from within the region. The court systems vary in scope and purpose, from region to region and from country to country. Ex. US Circuit Court for the District of MAssachusetts Jurisdiction: the practical authority granted to a formally constituted legal body or to a political leader to deal with and make pronouncements on legal matters and, by implication, to administer justice within a defined area of responsibility. The term is also used to denote the geographical area or subject-matter to which such authority applies. Ex. Federal court has more jurisdiction than a state court. Supreme Court can hear any case from any state Dred Scott v. Sandford: It made two main rulings. The first ruling was that African-Americans were not citizens, and therefore had no standing to sue in federal court. The second ruling was that the federal government had no power to regulate slavery in any territory acquired subsequent to the creation of the United States. In forma pauperis: "in the character or manner of a pauper. In the United States, the IFP designation is given by both state and federal courts to someone who is without the funds to pursue the normal costs of a lawsuit or a criminal defense. Ex. Criminals who cant hire lawayers Standing to sue: Is one of the doctrines of justifiability derived from the case or controversy requirement of Article III. In its simplest form, standing identifies who may bring claims that some government action violates the Constitution Judicial activism: judicial rulings suspected of being based on personal or political considerations rather than on existing law. Judicial restraint: A theory of judicial interpretation that encourages judges to limit the exercise of their own power. It asserts that judges should hesitate to strike down laws unless they are obviously unconstitutional.

Judicial review: The doctrine under which legislative and executive actions are subject to review by the judiciary. A specific court with judicial review power must annul the acts of the state when it finds them incompatible with a higher authority Judicial review is an example of check and balances in a modern governmental system This principle is interpreted differently in different jurisdictions, which also have differing views on the different hierarchy of governmental norms. As a result, the procedure and scope of judicial review differs from country to country and state to state. Original intent: a theory in law concerning constitutional and statutory interpretation. It is frequentlyand usually spuriously. litmus test: a question asked of a potential candidate for high office, the answer to which, Those who must approve a nominee, such as a justice of the Supreme Court of the United States, may also be said to apply a litmus test to determine whether the nominee will receive their vote. Marbury v Madison: United States Supreme Court case in which the Court formed the basis for the exercise of judicial review in the United States under Article III of the Constitution. The landmark decision helped define the boundary between the constitutionally separate executive and judicial branches of the American form of government. McCullouch v Maryland: The state of Maryland had attempted to impede operation of a branch of the Second Bank of the United States by imposing a tax on all notes of banks not chartered in Maryland. This case established two important principles in constitutional law. First, the Constitution grants to Congress implied powers for implementing the Constitution's express powers, in order to create a functional national government. Second, state action may not impede valid constitutional exercises of power by the Federal government. Opinion of the court: A statement that is prepared by a judge or court announcing the decision after a case is tried; includes a summary of the facts, a recitation of the applicable law and how it relates to the facts, the rationale supporting the decision, and a judgment; and is usually presented in writing, though occasionally an oral opinion is rendered. Senatorial courtesy: an unwritten political custom (or constitutional convention) in the United States whereby the president consults the senior U.S. Senator of his political party of a given state before nominating any person to a federal vacancy within that Senator's state. Solicitor general: the person appointed to represent the federal government of the United States before the Supreme Court of the United States. The current Solicitor General, Donald B. Verrilli, Jr., was confirmed by the United States Senate on June 6, 2011 and sworn in on June 9, 2011. Stare decisis: The policy of courts to abide by or adhere to principles established by decisions in earlier cases. Strict construction: A close or narrow reading and interpretation of a statute or written document. Writ of certiorari: an original writ or order issued by the Chancery or King's Bench, commanding officers of inferior courts to submit the record of a cause pending before them to give the party more certain and speedy justice.

Affirmative action: positive discrimination in the United Kingdom, refers to policies that take factors including "race, color, religion, gender, sexual orientation, or national origin" into consideration in order to benefit an underrepresented group "in areas of employment, education, and business". Brown v Board: United States Supreme Court case in which the Court declared state laws establishing separate public schools for black and white students unconstitutional. The decision overturned the Plessy v. Ferguson decision of 1896 which allowed state-sponsored segregation. Handed down on May 17, 1954, the Warren Court's unanimous (90) decision stated that "separate educational facilities are inherently unequal." As a result, de jure racial segregation was ruled a violation of the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment of the United States Constitution. This ruling paved the way for integration and was a major victory of the civil rights movement Civil rights: A class of rights that protect individuals' freedom from unwarranted infringement by governments and private organizations, and ensure one's ability to participate in the civil and political life of the state without discrimination or repression. Civil rights act of 1964: piece of legislation in the United States[1] that outlawed major forms of discrimination against racial, ethnic, national and religious minorities, and women.[2] It ended unequal application of voter registration requirements and racial segregation in schools, at the workplace and by facilities that served the general public Civil rights movement: a worldwide political movement for equality before the law. In many situations it took the form of campaigns of civil resistance aimed at achieving change by nonviolent forms of resistance. In some situations it was accompanied, or followed, by civil unrest and armed rebellion. The process was long and tenuous in many countries, and many of these movements did not fully achieve their goals although, the efforts of these movements did lead to improvements in the legal rights of previously oppressed groups of people. The main aim of the civil rights movement included, and include, ensuring that the rights of all people are equally protected by the law, including the rights of minorities. National supremacy and slavery: The National Supremacy Amendments(13th,14th,15th) were important because they granted the abolition of slavery, gave black males the right of citizenship, and granted black males the right to vote. De facto segregation: De facto' racial discrimination and segregation in the USA during the 1950s and 1960s was simply discrimination that was not segregation by law (de jure). Jim Crow Laws, which were enacted in the 1870s, brought legal racial segregation against African Americans residing in the Southeastern USA. These laws were legally ended in 1964 by the Civil Rights Act of 1964. Continued practices of expecting African Americans to ride in the back of buses or to step aside onto the street if not enough room was present for a Caucasian person and "separate but equal" facilities are instances of de facto segregation. The NAACP fought for the de jure law to be upheld and for de facto segregation practices to be abolished.

De jure segregation: The Supreme Court first approved of de jure segregation in Plessy v. Ferguson (1896), holding that legislatively mandated segregation in transportation did not violate the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment as long as the facilities were separate but equal. After Plessy, the fifteen former slave states, along with West Virginia and Oklahoma, mandated segregation in most public facilities, while other states allowed, but did not require, localities or state agencies to create de jure segregation. 14th Amendment: Its Citizenship Clause provides a broad definition of citizenship that overruled the Supreme Court's ruling in Dred Scott v. Sandford (1857) that had held that people of African descent could not be citizens of the United States. Its Due Process Clause prohibits state and local governments from depriving persons of life, liberty, or property without certain steps being taken to ensure fairness. Its Equal Protection Clause requires each state to provide equal protection under the law to all people within its jurisdiction. Freedom rides: civil rights activists who rode interstate buses into the segregated southern United States in 1961 and following years to challenge the non-enforcement of the United States Supreme Court decisions Irene Morgan v. Commonwealth of Virginia (1946) and Boynton v. Virginia (1960), which ruled that segregated public buses were unconstitutional. The Southern states had ignored the rulings and the federal government did nothing to enforce them. The first Freedom Ride left Washington, D.C., on May 4, 1961, and was scheduled to arrive in New Orleans on May 17. MLKJ: an American clergyman, activist, and leader in the African-American Civil Rights Movement. He is best known for his role in the advancement of civil rights using nonviolent civil disobedience. King has become a national icon in the history of American progressivism. Montgomery bus boycott: seminal event in the U.S. civil rights movement, was a political and social protest campaign against the policy of racial segregation on the public transit system of Montgomery, Alabama. When Rosa Parks, an African American woman, was arrested for refusing to surrender her seat to a white person, to December 20, 1956, when a federal ruling, Browder v. Gayle, took effect, and led to a United States Supreme Court decision that declared the Alabama and Montgomery laws requiring segregated buses to be unconstitutional NAACP: an African-American civil rights organization in the United States, formed in 1909.[3] Its mission is to ensure the political, educational, social, and economic equality of rights of all persons and to eliminate racial hatred and racial discrimination.[4] Its name, retained in accordance with tradition, uses the once common term colored people. Nonviolent civil disobedience: is the active, professed refusal to obey certain laws, demands, and commands of a government, or of an occupying international power. Civil disobedience is commonly, though not always,] defined as being nonviolent resistance. It is one form of civil resistance. In one view, it could be said that it is compassion in the form of respectful disagreement. Plessy v Ferguson: United States Supreme Court decision in the jurisprudence of the United States, upholding the constitutionality of state laws requiring racial segregation in public facilities under the doctrine of "separate but equal". The decision was handed down by a vote of 7 to 1 with the majority opinion written by Justice Henry Billings Brown and the dissent written by Justice John

Marshall Harlan. "Separate but equal" remained standard doctrine in U.S. law until its repudiation in the 1954 Supreme Court decision Brown v. Board of Education. Reasonableness standard: the standard by which a law is allowed to stand because it is reasonably related to a legitimate government interest. Roe v. wade: decision by USSC on the issue of abortion. Decided simultaneously with a companion case, Doe v. Bolton, the Court ruled 72 that a right to privacy under the due process clause of the 14th Amendment extended to a woman's decision to have an abortion, but that right must be balanced against the state's two legitimate interests in regulating abortions: protecting prenatal life and protecting women's health. Arguing that these state interests became stronger over the course of a pregnancy, the Court resolved this balancing test by tying state regulation of abortion to the trimester of pregnancy.The Court later rejected Roe's trimester framework, while affirming Roe's central holding that a person has a right to abortion until viability. The Roe decision defined "viable" as being "potentially able to live outside the mother's womb, albeit with artificial aid", adding that viability "is usually placed at about seven months (28 weeks) but may occur earlier, even at 24 weeks." Rosa Parks: whom the U.S. Congress called "the first lady of civil rights" and "the mother of the freedom movement. On December 1, 1955, in Montgomery, Alabama, Parks refused to obey bus driver James F. Blake's order that she give up her seat in the colored section to a white passenger, after the white section was filled. Therefore was arrested and thrown into jail, thus starting the bus boycott. Separate but equal doctrine: a legal doctrine in United States constitutional law that justified systems of segregation. Under this doctrine, services, facilities and public accommodations were allowed to be separated by race, on the condition that the quality of each group's public facilities was to remain equal. The phrase was derived from a Louisiana law of 1890, although the law actually used the phrase "equal but separate. Sit-ins: a form of direct action that involves one or more people nonviolently occupying an area for a protest, often to promote political, social, or economic change. Strict scrutiny standard: is the most stringent standard of judicial review used by United States courts. It is part of the hierarchy of standards that courts use to weigh the government's interest against a constitutional right or principle. Swan v Board of Education: United States Supreme Court case dealing with the busing of students to promote integration in public schools. After a first trial going to the Board of Education, the Court held that busing was an appropriate remedy for the problem of racial imbalance in schools, even when the imbalance resulted from the selection of students based on geographic proximity to the school rather than from deliberate assignment based on race. This was done to ensure the schools would be "properly" integrated and that all students would receive equal educational opportunities regardless of their race.

Voting rights act 1965: piece of national legislation in the United States that outlawed discriminatory voting practices that had been responsible for the widespread disenfranchisement of African Americans in the U.S. Bill of rights: the collective name for the first ten amendments to the United States Constitution. These limitations serve to protect the natural rights of liberty and property. They guarantee a number of personal freedoms, limit the government's power in judicial and other proceedings, and reserve some powers to the states and the public. While originally the amendments applied only to the federal government, most of their provisions have since been held to apply to the states by way of the Fourteenth Amendment. Civil liberties: civil rights and freedoms that provide an individual specific rights. Though the scope of the term differs amongst various countries, some examples of civil liberties include the freedom from slavery and forced labor, freedom from torture and death, the right to liberty and security, freedom of conscience, religion, expression, press, assembly and association, speech, the right to privacy, the right to equal treatment and due process and the right to a fair trial, as well as the right to life. Other civil liberties may also include the right to own property, the right to defend one's self, and the right to bodily integrity. Within the distinctions between civil liberties and other types of liberty, there are distinctions between positive liberty/positive rights and negative liberty/negative rights. Government and Economy: Government and political liberty: Clear and present danger doctrine: a doctrine adopted by the Supreme Court of the United States to determine under what circumstances limits can be placed on First Amendment freedoms of speech, press or assembly. Commercial speech: speech done on behalf of a company or individual for the intent of making a profit. It is economic in nature and usually has the intent of convincing the audience to partake in a particular action, often purchasing a specific product. Generally, the United States Supreme Court defines commercial speech as speech that "proposes a commercial transaction." Due-process: the legal requirement that the state must respect all of the legal rights that are owed to a person. Due process balances the power of law of the land and protects the individual person from it. When a government harms a person without following the exact course of the law, this constitutes a due-process violation, which offends against the rule of law. Establishment clause: interpreted to prohibit 1) the establishment of a national religion by Congress, or 2) the preference by the U.S. government of one religion over another. The first approach is called the "separation" or "no aid" interpretation, while the second approach is called the "non-preferential" or "accommodation" interpretation. The accommodation interpretation prohibits Congress from preferring one religion over another, but does not prohibit the government's entry into religious domain to make accommodations in order to achieve the purposes of the Free Exercise Clause.

Exclusionary rule: a legal principle in the United States, under constitutional law, which holds that evidence collected or analyzed in violation of the defendant's constitutional rights is sometimes inadmissible for a criminal prosecution in a court of law. This may be considered an example of a prophylactic rule formulated by the judiciary in order to protect a constitutional right. Free-Excersie clause: the accompanying clause with the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment to the United States Constitution. The Establishment Clause and the Free Exercise Clause together state Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting
the free exercise thereof.

Gitlow v. New York: was a decision by the United States Supreme Court decided on June 8, 1925, which ruled that the Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution had extended the reach of certain limitations on federal government authority set forth in the First Amendment specifically the provisions protecting freedom of speech and freedom of the pressto the governments of the individual states. It was one of a series of Supreme Court cases that defined the scope of the First Amendment's protection of free speech and established the standard to which a state or the federal government would be held when it criminalized speech or writing. Libel: to publish in print (including pictures), writing or broadcast through radio, television or film, an untruth about another which will do harm to that person or his/her reputation, by tending to bring the target into ridicule, hatred, scorn or contempt of others. Libel is the written or broadcast form of defamation, distinguished from slander which is oral defamation. It is a tort (civil wrong) making the person or entity (like a newspaper, magazine or political organization) open to a lawsuit for damages by the person who can prove the statement about him/her was a lie. Mapp. V. Ohio: case in criminal procedure, in which the USSC decided that evidence obtained in violation of the Fourth Amendment, which protects against "unreasonable searches and seizures," may not be used in state law criminal prosecutions in state courts, as well, as had previously been the law, as in federal criminal law prosecutions in federal courts. The Supreme Court accomplished this by use of a principle known asselective incorporation; in this case this involved the incorporation of the provisions, as construed by the Court, of the Fourth Amendment which are literally applicable only to actions of the federal government into the Fourteenth Amendment due process clause which is literally applicable to actions of the states. Miranda v. Arizona: which passed 54. The Court held that both inculpatory and exculpatory statements made in response to interrogation by a defendant in police custody will be admissible at trial only if the prosecution can show that the defendant was informed of the right to consult with an attorney before and during questioning and of the right against self-incrimination prior to questioning by police, and that the defendant not only understood these rights, but voluntarily waived them. This had a significant impact on law enforcement in the United States, by making what became known as the Miranda rights part of routine police procedure to ensure that suspects were informed of their rights. Patriot act: an Act of the U.S. Congress that was signed into law by President George W. Bush on October 26, 2001. The title of the act is a ten letter backronym (USA PATRIOT) that stands for

Uniting (and) Strengthening America (by) Providing Appropriate Tools Required (to) Intercept (and) Obstruct Terrorism Act of 2001 Obscenity: any statement or act which strongly offends the prevalent morality of the time. Some potentially offensive content, such as murder or sex, was depicted offstage in classical drama. The word can be used to indicate a strong moral repugnance, in expressions such as "obscene profits" or "the obscenity of war". Prior restraint: censorship imposed, usually by a government, on expression before the expression actually takes place. An alternative is to allow the expression to take place and to take appropriate action afterward, if the expression is found to violate the law, regulations, or other rules. Probable cause: is the standard by which an officer or agent of the law has the grounds to make an arrest, to conduct a personal or property search, or to obtain a warrant for arrest, etc. when criminal charges are being considered. It is also used to refer to the standard to which a grand jury believes that a crime has been committed. This term comes from the 14th Amendment of the United States Constitution:The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no Warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by Oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized. Search warrant: a court order issued by a magistrate, judge or Supreme Court official that authorizes law enforcement officers to conduct a search of a person, location, or vehicle for evidence of a crime and to confiscate evidence if it is found. A search warrant cannot be issued in aid of civil process. Selective incorporation: The process by which certain of the guarantees expressed in the Bill of Rights become applicable to the states through the Fourteenth Amendment. Under the total incorporation approach, an approach never adopted by a majority of the Supreme Court, all the Bill of Rights and the attendant case law interpreting them are applied to the states. Under the selective incorporation approach, select guarantees in the Bill of Rights and their related case law are applied to the states, 391 U.S. 145. Slander: oral defamation, in which someone tells one or more persons an untruth about another which untruth will harm the reputation of the person defamed. Slander is a civil wrong (tort) and can be the basis for a lawsuit. Damages (payoff for worth) for slander may be limited to actual (special) damages unless there is malicious intent, since such damages are usually difficult to specify and harder to prove. Symbolic speech: a legal term in United States law used to describe actions that purposefully and discernibly convey a particular message or statement to those viewing it.[1] Symbolic speech is recognized as being protected under the First Amendment as a form of speech, but this is not expressly written as such in the document.

Sovereign immunity: or crown immunity, is a legal doctrine by which the sovereign or state cannot commit a legal wrong and is immune from civil suit or criminal prosecution. Check of Judicial Power: Public opinion & the courts: Precedent: is a principle or rule established in a previous legal case that is either binding on or persuasive for a court or other tribunal when deciding subsequent cases with similar issues or facts. The general principle in common law legal systems is that similar cases should be decided so as to give similar and predictable outcomes, and the principle of precedent is the mechanism by which that goal is attained.

Focus Questions 1. Dg 2. The chief judicial weapon in the governments system of checks and balances is known as judicial review. 3. A judge who is a judicial activist believes in liberal ideals such as that all judges should make the law. 4. Between 1789 and the civil war, the Supreme Court was occupied with the issues of sectionalism and slavery. 5. The principals established by the court case of Marbury v. Madison were the power of judicial review and that congress could not extend the jurisdiction of the court. 6. From the civil war to the 1930s the SC dealt with the issues of their ability to regulate business firms and economic regulation of government. 7. In SC history from 1936 to present has been marked for issued have to do with Supreme Court declaring a congressional act unconstitutional. Federal government power is very broad a federal law is supreme over state law. 8. Court packing is increasing the number of judges on a court so as to appoint a majority of judges who agrees with the presidents political philosophy. 9. The U.S constitution does not indicate the size of the SC. 10. Senators actually appoint district judges where presidents confirm them through the practice of senatorial courtesy. 11. Mostly those who are out of power are the ones to complain about the litmus testing of judicial candidates. 12. The dual court system of the US typically refers to the issue of federal court systems and state court systems. 13. The court with original jurisdiction of the court case for Citizen X would be the state court. 14. The majority of the cases heard by the federal courts begin in the district court.

15. The relationship between a appeal and a certiorari is that only some appeals are granted certiorari. 16. A writ of certiorari is issued by the Supreme Court. 17. Fee shifting is the practice of getting the loser to pay court costs. 18. Under the doctrine of sovereign immunity a citizen cannot sue the government without its consent. 19. Class action law suits are more advantageous than single party law suits because there are lower litigation costs, there is greater judicial efficiency, there is greater uniformity for defendants, and there is an opportunity for all plaintiffs to receive damages. 20. In cases presented to the SC, the bulk of argumentation presented by each side is found in the briefs that have been submitted to the court. 21. If a vote in the SC ends in a tie, the lower courts decision is left standing. 22. The strongest type of Supreme Court decision is the unanimous opinion of the SC. 23. Justice Matthews act of voting on a side that goes against her usual opinion is called concurring opinion. 24. Scholars of 25. The number of federal laws that have actually been overturned by the Supreme court is around 100. 26. The factors that allow one to measure the power of the federal courts are the number of state laws they declare unconstitutional, the number of federal laws they declare unconstitutional, the number of prior cases they overturn, and the kinds of remedies they impose to correct situations. 27. Justices who believe the SC should change the direction of legislative policy are advocating for judicial activism.

28. Between 1961 and 1990 the largest percentage increase in court cases occurred in the area of civil rights.

29. Federal courts are offered opportunities for designing remedies in part because congress does not have the power to choose the number of legislators they appoint to the courts.

30. The agencies' position was supported by the courts two thirds as often as it was revised.

31. The most practiced course of action for a senator who doesnt like a constitutional decision by the SC is the practice of senatorial courtesy.

32. The 14th amendment overturned the case of Dred Scottv. Sandford saying all public accommodations must be separate but equal.

33. Because congress has the power to decide jurisdiction in the lower courts this means that congress can decide what types of cases these courts hear.

34. When SC justices read law review articles commenting on their opinion they are acknowledging elite opinion.

35. If the size and the scope of the government were reduced, we could except less judicial activism.

36. Stare decisis is the principal used in the overturning of earlier court decisions.

37.