Reading...
Play button
Play button
Use LEFT and RIGHT arrow keys to navigate between flashcards;
Use UP and DOWN arrow keys to flip the card;
H to show hint;
A reads text to speech;
111 Cards in this Set
- Front
- Back
|
the settling of disputes
|
judging
|
|
|
the branch of law that regulates the conduct of individuals, defines crimes, and provides punishment for criminal acts. In these cases, the government is always the plaintiff.
|
Criminal Law
|
|
|
the individual or organization who brings a complaint in court.
|
Plaintiff
|
|
|
the one against who a complaint is brought in a criminal or civil case.
|
Defendent
|
|
|
the branch of law that deals with disputes that do not involve criminal penalties.
|
Civil Law
|
|
|
an individual or corporation charges that it has suffered because of another’s violation of a specific agreement between the two.
|
Contracts
|
|
|
an individual charges that he or she has been injured by another’s negligence or malfeasance.
|
Torts
|
|
|
prior case whose principles are used by judges as the bases for their decisions in present cases.
|
Precedents
|
|
|
literally means “let the decision stand.” The doctrine that a previous decision by a court applies as a precedent in similar cases until that decision is overruled.
|
Stare decisis
|
|
|
the branch of law that deals with the actions of public agencies or officials and the powers of government.
|
Public Law
|
|
|
law under which a court will examine the government’s actions to see if they conform to the Constitution as it has been interpreted by the judiciary.
|
Constitutional Law
|
|
|
involves disputes over the jurisdiction, procedures, or authorities of administrative agencies.
|
Administrative Law
|
|
|
the first court to hear a criminal or civil case
|
Trial court
|
|
|
a court that hears the appeals of trial court decisions
|
Court of Appeals
|
|
|
the highest court in a particular state or in the United States. This court primarily serves an appellate function.
|
Supreme Court
|
|
|
negotiated agreements in criminal cases in which a defendant agrees to plead guilty in return for the state’s agreement to reduce the severity of the criminal charge or prison sentence the defendant is facing.
|
Plea Bargains
|
|
|
a code used in many states in the area of contract law to reduce interstate differences in judicial decisions.
|
Uniform Commercial Code
|
|
|
the sphere of a court’s power and authority.
|
Jurisdiction
|
|
|
the right of every citizen against arbitrary action by national or state governments.
|
Due process of law
|
|
|
a court order that the individual in custody be brought into court and shown the cause for detention. Habeas Corpus is guaranteed by the Constitution and can be suspended only in cases of rebellion or invasion.
|
Writ of Habeas Corpus
|
|
|
the authority to initially consider a case. Distinguished from appellate jurisdiction, which is the authority to hear appeals from a lower court’s decision.
|
Original jurisdiction
|
|
|
justice on the Supreme Court who presides over the court’s public sessions
|
Chief justice
|
|
|
the practice where by the president, before formally nominating a person for a federal judgeship, seeks the indication that senators from the candidate’s own state support the nomination.
|
Senatorial Courtesy
|
|
|
the power of the courts to review and, if necessary, declare actions of the legislative and executive branches invalid or unconstitutional. The Supreme Court asserted this power in Marbury vs. Madison.
|
Judicial review
|
|
|
formed the basis for the exercise of judicial review in the United States under Article III of the Constitution.
|
Marbury vs. Madison (1803)
|
|
|
Article VI of the Constitution, which states that laws passed by the national government and all treaties are the supreme law of the land and superior to all laws adopted by any state or subdivision.
|
Supremacy Clause
|
|
|
allowed the Supreme Court the power to reverse state constitutions and laws whenever they are clearly in conflict with the U.S. Constitution, federal laws, or treaties.
|
Judiciary Act of 1789
|
|
|
Supreme Court overturned the rulings of Kansas, South Carolina, Virginia, and Delaware public schools stating that black children were denied equal educational opportunities in segregated schools.
|
Brown vs. Board of Education (1954)
|
|
|
the supreme court ruled that Virginia’s “Racial Integrity Act of 1924” was unconstitutional, which ended all race-based legal restrictions on marriage.
|
Loving vs. Virginia (1967)
|
|
|
supreme court ruled that the constitution protected the right to privacy; therefore, the Connecticut law prohibiting the use of contraceptives was overturned on the grounds that it violated the right to marital privacy.
|
Griswold vs. Connecticut
|
|
|
Supreme court ruled that the government cannot punish inflammatory speech unless it is likely to incite imminent lawless behavior.
|
Bradenburg vs. Ohio
|
|
|
the requirement, articulated by the Supreme Court in Miranda vs. Arizona, that persons under arrest must be informed prior to police interrogation of their rights to remain silent and to have the benefit of legal counsel.
|
Miranda Rule
|
|
|
this means that the cases before a court must be an actual controversy, not a hypothetical one, with 2 truly adversarial parties
|
Cases or controversy
|
|
|
the right of an individual or organization to initiate a court case, on the basis of their having a substantial stake in the outcome.
|
Standing
|
|
|
a criterion used by courts to screen cases that no longer require resolution.
|
Mootness
|
|
|
a decision of at least four of the nine Supreme Court justices to review a decision of a lower court; from the Latin “to make more certain.”
|
Writ of Certiorari
|
|
|
requires the payment of filing fees, submission of a certain number of copies, and compliance with a variety of other rules
|
Paid petitions
|
|
|
means “in the form of a pauper” usually filed by prison inmates; therefore, the court waives fees and most requirements.
|
Petitions in forma pauperis
|
|
|
law clerks work together to evaluate the petitions. One clerk reviews the petition and writes a memo for all the other justices. If the justices place it on the discuss list, it will be circulated to the chief justices and voted on during the justices closed-door conference. For a certiorari to be granted, 4 justices must be convinced that the case satisfies rule 10 of the rules of the U.S. Supreme Court.
|
Certiorari pool
|
|
|
the top government lawyer in all cases before the Supreme Court where the government is a party.
|
Solicitor general
|
|
|
a brief, unsigned decision by an appellate court, usually rejecting a petition to review the decision of a lower court.
|
Per curiam
|
|
|
literally, “friend of the court”; individuals or groups who are not parties to a lawsuit but who seek to assist the Supreme Court in reaching a decision by presenting additional briefs.
|
Amicus curiae
|
|
|
employed by the federal judge to research legal issues and assist with the preparation of opinion
|
Law clerks
|
|
|
written documents in which attorneys explain, using case precedents, why the court should find in favor of their client
|
Briefs
|
|
|
stage in Supreme Court procedure in which attorneys for both sides appear before the Court to present their positions and answer questions posed by justices
|
Oral argument
|
|
|
follows the oral argument in which the Court discusses the case in its Wednesday or Friday conference.
|
Conference
|
|
|
the written explanation of the Supreme Court’s decision in a particular case
|
Opinion
|
|
|
a decision written by a justice in the minority in a particular case in which the justice wishes to express his or her reasoning in the case
|
Dissenting opinion
|
|
|
judicial philosophy whose adherents refuse to go beyond the clear words of the Constitution in interpreting its meaning.
|
Judicial restraint
|
|
|
judicial philosophy that posits that the Court should go beyond the words of the Constitution or a statute to consider the broader societal implications of its decisions
|
Judicial activism
|
|
|
a legal action by which a group or class of individuals with common interests can file a suit on behalf of everyone who shares that interest.
|
Class action suit
|
|
|
areas of personal freedom with which governments are constrained from interfering.
|
Civil liberties
|
|
|
restraints on what the government shall and shall not have the power to do.
|
substantive liberties
|
|
|
restraints on how the government is supposed to act; for example, citizens are guaranteed the due process of law.
|
Procedural liberties
|
|
|
a court order demanding that an individual in custody be brought into court and shown the cause for detention.
|
Habeas Corpus
|
|
|
a law that declares a person guilty of a crime without a trial.
|
Bill of attainder
|
|
|
a law that declares an action to be illegal after it has been committed.
|
Ex post facto law
|
|
|
the first ten amendments to the U.S. Constitution, ratified in 1791; they ensure certain rights and liberties to the people.
|
Bill of Rights
|
|
|
the process by which different protections in the bill of Rights were incorporated into the Fourteenth amendment, thus guaranteeing citizens protection from state as well as national government.
|
Selective incorporation
|
|
|
the First Amendment clause says that “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion.” This law means that a “wall of separation” exists between church and state.
|
Establishment Clause
|
|
|
a rule articulated in Lemon vs. Kurtzman that government action toward religion is permissible if it is secular in purpose, neither promotes nor inhibits the practice of religion, and does not lead to “excessive entanglement” with religion.
|
Lemon test
|
|
|
the First Amendment clause that protects a citizens’ right to believe and practice whatever religion he or she chooses.
|
Free exercise clause
|
|
|
forbids any federal agency or state government to restrict a person’s free exercise of religion unless the federal agency or state government demonstrates that its action “furthers a compelling government interest” and “is the least restrictive means of furthering that compelling governmental interest.”
|
Religious Freedom Restoration Act 1993
|
|
|
test used by the Supreme Court in racial discrimination cases and other cases involving civil liberties and civil rights, which places the burden of proof on the government rather than on the challengers to show that the law in question is constitutional
|
Strict Scrutiny
|
|
|
of all forms of speech, this one is the most consistently protected.
|
Political speech
|
|
|
made it a crime to say or publish anything that might tend to defame or bring into disrepute the government of the U.S. This act wanted to criminalize the very right given absolute protection by the First Amendment.
|
Alien and Sedition Acts
|
|
|
test to determine whether speech is protected or unprotected, based on its capacity to present a “clear and present danger” to society
|
Clear and present danger test
|
|
|
speech accompanied by conduct such as sit-ins, picketing, and demonstrations; protection of this form of speech under the First Amendment is condition, and restrictions imposed by state or local authorities are acceptable if properly balanced by considerations of public order
|
Speech plus
|
|
|
an effort by a governmental agency to block the publication of material it deems libelous or harmful in some other way; censorship. In the United States, the courts forbid prior restraint except under the most extraordinary circumstances
|
Prior restraint
|
|
|
a written statement made in “reckless disregard of the truth” that is considered damaging to a victim because it is “malicious, scandalous, and defamatory”
|
Libel
|
|
|
an oral statement made in “reckless disregard of the truth,” which is considered damaging to the victim because it is “malicious, scandalous, and defamatory.”
|
Slander
|
|
|
the first major effort to regulate the content of the Internet. Attached to the act was an amendment called the Communications Decency Act.
|
Telecommunications Act of 1996
|
|
|
designed to regulate the online transmission of obscene material
|
Communications Decency Act
|
|
|
required public libraries to install antipornography filters on all library computers with Internet access.
|
Children's Internet Protection Act of 2001
|
|
|
speech that directly incites damaging conduct.
|
Fighting words or expressive speech
|
|
|
items such as newspapers or television ads do not have full first amendment protection because they cannot be considered political speech.
|
Commercial Speech
|
|
|
a large interest group composed of hunters, gun collectors, firearm sports competitors, and others who oppose gun control for reasons of principle and ideology.
|
National Rifle Association (NRA)
|
|
|
named for James Brady, Reagan’s press secretary, who was permanently disabled by one of the attacker’s bullets. The act provided for a nationwide system of background checks for handgun purchasers and included a ban on semi-automatic assault weapons; however, the assault weapons ban was allowed to expire in 2004.
|
Brady bill
|
|
|
the ability of courts to exclude evidence obtained in violation of the Fourth Amendment.
|
The Exclusionary Rule
|
|
|
jury that determines whether sufficient evidence is available to justify a trial; grand juries do not rule on the accused’s guilt or innocence.
|
Grand Jury
|
|
|
the Fifth Amendment right providing that a person cannot be tried twice for the same crime.
|
Double Jeopardy
|
|
|
the guarantee that no citizen “shall be compelled in any criminal case to be a witness against himself.”
|
Self incrimination
|
|
|
the right of government to take private property for public use.
|
Eminent Domain
|
|
|
the right to be let alone, which has been interpreted by the Supreme Court to entail free access to birth control and abortions.
|
Right to Privacy
|
|
|
use of any unreasonable and unjust criterion of exclusion
|
Discrimination
|
|
|
obligation imposed on government to take positive action to protect citizens from any illegal action of government agencies as well as of other private citizens
|
Civil Rights
|
|
|
provision of the Fourteenth Amendment guaranteeing citizens “the equal protections of the laws.” This clause has been the basis for the civil rights of African Americans, women and other groups.
|
Equal Protections Clause
|
|
|
ruled that Scott had no due process rights because as a slave he was his mater’s permanent property regardless of his master’s having taken him to a Free State or territory.
|
Dred Scott vs. Sandford
|
|
|
patterned after the Declaration of Independence and declared “we hold these truths to be self-evident: that all men and women are created equal,” and “the history of mankind is a history of repeated injuries and usurpations on the part of man toward woman, having in direct object the establishment of an absolute tyranny over her.”
|
Declaration of Sentiments and Resolutions
|
|
|
act that restored the right of a married woman to own property. First passed in New York State.
|
Married Women's Property Act
|
|
|
one of the three Civil War Amendments that abolished slavery.
|
Thirteenth Amendment
|
|
|
one of the three Civil War Amendments that guaranteed equal protection and due process.
|
Fourteenth Amendment
|
|
|
one of three Civil War Amendments that guaranteed voting rights for African American men.
|
Fifteenth Amendment
|
|
|
laws enacted by southern states following Reconstruction that discriminated against African Americans.
|
Jim Crow Laws
|
|
|
attempted to protect blacks from discrimination by proprietors of hotels, theaters, and other public accommodations; however, the court declared the civil rights act unconstitutional because it sought to protect blacks from discrimination by private businesses.
|
Civil Rights Act of 1875
|
|
|
the court upheld a Louisiana statute that required segregation of the races on trolleys and other public carriers.
|
Plessy vs. Ferguson (1896)
|
|
|
doctrine that public accommodations could be segregated by race but still be equal.
|
Separate but equal rule
|
|
|
established by a group of black and white reformers in 1909 that built organizations and devised strategies for asserting their constitutional rights.
|
The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP)
|
|
|
ratified in 1920 which guaranteed women the right to vote.
|
Nineteenth Amendment
|
|
|
the court ruled against the practice of “restrictive covenants” which required the buyer of a home to sign a contract agreeing not to resale the home to any non-Caucasian, non-Christian person.
|
Shelley vs. Kraemer
|
|
|
the 1954 Supreme Court decision that struck down the “separate but equal” doctrine as fundamentally unequal. This case eliminated state power to use race as a criterion of discrimination in law and provided the national government with the power to intervene by exercising strict regulatory policies against discriminatory actions.
|
Brown vs. Board of Education
|
|
|
literally, “by fact”; legally enforced practices, such as school segregation in the South before the 1960s
|
De Jure
|
|
|
literally, “by fact”; practices that occur even when there is no legal enforcement, such as school segregation in much of the United States today.
|
De Facto
|
|
|
apportionment of voters in districts in such a way as to give unfair advantage to one racial or ethnic group or political party
|
Gerrymandering
|
|
|
prohibited discrimination in the sale or rental of most housing
|
Fair Housing Act
|
|
|
a practice in which banks refuse to make loans to people living in certain geographic locations
|
Redlining
|
|
|
stated that “equality of rights under the law shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any state on account of sex.”
|
Equal Rights Amendment (ERA)
|
|
|
a test used by the Supreme Court in gender discrimination cases, which places the burden of proof partially on the government and partially on the challengers to show that the law in questions is unconstitutional.
|
Intermediate Scrutiny
|
|
|
involves an explicit or strongly implied threat that submission is a condition of continued employment.
|
Quid pro quo
|
|
|
harassment that creates offensive or intimidating employment conditions
|
Hostile environment
|
|
|
government policies or programs that seek to redress past injustices against specified groups by making special efforts to provide members of these groups with access to educational and employment opportunities
|
Affirmative Action
|
