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24 Cards in this Set
- Front
- Back
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Why is the Marshall Court considered to be so important to US Constitutional History?
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John Marshall ha been given credit for setting the course of the young Supreme Court. When the issue of federal judgeships came to him in the Marbury case, Marshall had to find legal rationale to rule that Judiciary Act of 1789 was unconstitutional. Marshall, who was orignally the Secretary of State under Adams responsible for delivering the commissons, was in a real bind. He convinced the rest of the Court that even though Madison was wrong not to deliver the commissions, the Judicary Act of 1789 was unconstitutional because it did not meet the requirements outlined in the Constitution related to original jurisdiction. The principle of judicial review was established, and the Supreme Court began making crucial policy decisions. Other cases, such as Gibbons vs. Ogden and McCulloch v. Maryland further strengthened the power of the Marshall Court.
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Why did the founding fathers create no term limits for Federal judges?
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The Founding Fathers wanted federal judges to be independent. If they had to answer to anyone other than themselves, they would not be. It's unfortunately true. Of course, even this "independence" has its limits because the judges that are appointed to the federal bench are still susceptible to social pressure.
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What cases are heard in a Federal Court?
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deals with issues of law relating to those powers expressly or implicitly granted to it by the U.S.
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What cases are heard in State Courts?
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deals with issues of law relating to those matters that the U.S. Constitution did not give to the federal government or explicitly deny to the states.
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Is it possible to sue the US Government? How?
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Generally, a sovereign government cannot be sued unless it allows itself to be sued. In the United States, Congress has passed the Federal Tort Claims Act (FTCA) allowing the U.S. government to be sued for the tortious negligence of its employees that causes personal injury or property damage.
Prior to bringing a lawsuit under the Federal Tort Claims Act, it is required that a written claim be presented to the offending government agency. After the written claim is presented, six months must pass before a lawsuit may be filed in United States District Court. If the claim is denied in writing by the agency, the claimant must file suit within six months of the date of denial. Generally, a written claim must be presented within two years of reasonable knowledge of the cause and existence of the injury, even for minors and incompetents. There are numerous other details and restrictions under the FTCA and it is advisable to have an attorney represent you in this potentially complicated area of the law. Ot |
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Why are class-action law suits significant?
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Class-action lawsuits are an important and valuable part of the legal system when they permit the fair and efficient resolution of legitimate claims of numerous parties by allowing the claims to be aggregated into a single action against a defendant that has allegedly caused harm.
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What are the checks on the judicial branch?
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◦Judicial review
◦Seats are held on good behavior ◦Compensation cannot be diminished ◦Chief Justice sits as President of the Senate during presidential impeachment |
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What is the difference between Chief Justice and Associate Justice?
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The Chief Justice is the head of the United States federal court system (the judicial branch of the federal government of the United States) and the chief judge of the Supreme Court of the United States. The Associate Justice is the title for a member of a judicial panel who is not the Chief Justice in some jurisdictions. The title "Associate Justice" is used for members of the United States Supreme Court and some state supreme courts.
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Who was the first woman appointed to court and what president appointed her?
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Sandra Day O'Connor and President Ronald Reagan
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Who was the first African American appointed and what president appointed him?
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Thurgood Marshall and President Lyndon Johnson
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Who are the current justices and how are they classified by the media
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John G. Roberts (conservative republican), Samuel A. Alito Jr. (conservative with libertarian streak), Antonin Scalia (conservative), Anthony Kennedy (swing voter with conservative results), Clarence Thomas (conservative), Ruth Bader Ginsburg (liberal), Stephen Breyer (liberal), Sonia Sotomayor (liberal)
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Why do you think the founding fathers didn’t originally include the Bill of Rights in the Constitution?
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The reason that the constraints on government power that are expressed in the Bill of Rights were not included in the original Constitution was that there was no need to do so given that the government's powers were expressly limited to the few, limited powers that were enumerated. Since the Constitution did not enumerate the power to regulate religion, for example, the government could not exercise such a power. If a power wasn't enumerated, it couldn't be exercised.
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What is the 3 part test?
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The Three Prong Obscenity Test, also known as the Miller Test. The test was developed in the 1973 case Miller v. California. This test is used to determine whether something is obscene or not. It has three parts:
1)Whether the average person, applying contemporary community standards, would find that the work, taken as a whole, appeals to the prurient(sexual desire) interest. 2) Whether the work depicts/describes, in a patently offensive (cleary visble as offensive) way, sexual conduct or excretory functions specifically defined by applicable state law. 3)Whether the work, taken as a whole, lacks serious literary, artistic, political, or scientific value (SLAPS test). |
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How have the search and seizures laws evolved?
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The U.S. federal government has expanded its power to search, seize, detain, and copy documents as well as information contained on electronic devices, such as laptops, entering the United States because of the threat from terrorists, says the Department of Homeland Security (DHS).
Olmstead vs. US (1928): Federal agents had reason to believe that Roy Olmstead was importing and selling alcohol in violation of the National Prohibition Act. To collect evidence against him, the agents, without first obtaining a search warrant, placed wiretaps on Olmstead’s telephone lines. The did so without setting foot on Olmstead’s property. Once tap was applied in the basement of a large office building in which Olmstead rented space and the other on a telephone line on the street outside Olmstead’s home. These taps allowed the agents to overhear conversations involving illegal activities. The justices concluded that the 4th Amendment did not protect Olmstead’s conversations because it covers only searches of “ |
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Name and discuss some Supreme Court cases involving a high school student and search and seizures.
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New Jersey v. T.L.O. (1985)
Students have a reduced expectation of privacy in school. A teacher accused T.L.O. of smoking in the bathroom. When she denied the allegation, the principal searched her purse and found cigarettes and marijuana paraphernalia. A family court declared T.L.O. a delinquent. The Supreme Court ruled that her rights were not violated since students have reduced expectations of privacy in school. Board of Education of Independent School District #92 of Pottawatomie County v. Earls (2002) Random drug tests of students involved in extracurricular activities do not violate the Fourth Amendment. In Veronia School District v. Acton (1995), the Supreme Court held that random drug tests of student athletes do not violate the Fourth Amendment's prohibition of unreasonable searches and seizures. Some schools then began to require drug tests of all students in extracurricular activities. The Supreme Court in Earls upheld this practice. |
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How did the founding fathers ensure that the rights of the accused were protected?
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5th Amendment:
No person shall be held to answer for any capital, or otherwise infamous crime, unless on a presentment or indictment of a Grand Jury, except in cases arising in the land or naval forces, or in the Militia, when in actual service in time of War or public danger; nor shall any person be subject for the same offence to be twice put in jeopardy of life or limb; nor shall be compelled in any criminal case to be a witness against himself, nor be deprived of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor shall private property be taken for public use, without just compensation. 6th Amendment: In all criminal prosecutions, the accused shall enjoy the right to a speedy and public trial, by an impartial jury of the State and district where in the crime shall have been committed, which district shall have been previously ascertained by law, and to be informed of the nature and cause of the accusation; to be confronted with the witnesses against him; to have compulsory process for ob |
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What is the significance of Mapp v. Ohio?
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Until Mapp, states did not have to obey the exclusionary rule, which prevents the government from using evidence its gets during an illegal search and seizure.
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What can the police do after arresting you?
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The police have the authority to perform a search of a suspect and his immediate surroundings, "incident" to the arrest of the suspect. If the police arrest a person who was driving a car, they ordinarily get the authority to search the entire passenger compartment of the car - and will usually also be able to search passengers for weapons. If the car is impounded, the police may perform an "inventory search" of the entire car, including the contents of the trunk.
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How are police searches limited?
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You are entitled to say "No." If the police officer has the legal authority to perform the search, he will do so whether or not you agree. However, if he does not have the legal authority to perform a search, your consent gives him that authority.
Most searches by the police require a search warrant based on probable cause, although there are exceptions. |
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Describe your rights with regards to confessions and self-incrimination?
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No person...shall be compelled in any criminal case to be a witness against himself. This means testimony, not physical evidence. The right against self-incrimination forbids the government from compelling any person to give testimonial evidence that would likely incriminate him during a subsequent criminal case. This right enables a defendant to refuse to testify at a criminal trial and "privileges him not to answer official questions put to him in any other proceeding, civil or criminal, formal or informal, where the answers might incriminate him in future criminal proceedings" (Lefkowitz v. Turley).
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Describe equal protection of the laws?
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The Equal Protection Clause can be seen as an attempt to secure the promise of the United States' professed commitment to the proposition that "all men are created equal" by empowering the judiciary to enforce that principle against the states. However, it grants equal protection, not equal rights, and applies only to states, not to the federal government.
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Discuss important court cases discussing race and what the outcomes of these cases were.
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•Brown v. Board of Education (1954) | Case Background (from U.S. Courts)
In this landmark case, the Court prohibited racial segregation of public schools. •Brown v. Board of Education II (1955) This decision quickened the process for implementing the anti-segregation orders issued in "Brown I." •Bailey v. Patterson (1962) The Court in this case prohibited racial segregation of interstate and intrastate transportation facilities. •Loving v. Virginia (1967) This decision holds that state laws prohibiting inter-racial marriage are unconstitutional. •Jones v. Mayer Co. (1968) The Court held in this case that federal law bars all racial discrimination (private or public), in sale or rental of property. •Lau v. Nichols (1973) The Court found that a city school system's failure to provide English language instruction to students of Chinese ancestry amounted to unlawful discrimination. •University of California Regents v. Bakke (1978) The Court decides that a public university |
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Discuss some items that you can not discriminate based on gender?
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Equal Pay Act of 1963 - prohibits wage discrimination by employers and labor organizations based on sex
Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964- broadly prohibits discrimination in the workplace including hiring, firing, workforce reduction, benefits, and sexually harassing conduct. Pregnancy Discrimination Act - covers discrimination based upon pregnancy in the workplace. |
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What decisions can be based on gender?
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Where a job is in a single sex situation. Such as female only staff in a hospital ward with only female patients.
An employer can then claim that gender is a genuine occupational qualification. (This defence is not available if discrimination is based on marital status, or a persons terms of employment, or if a worker of another gender or race etc could legitimately do the job.) Also discrimination may not be unlawful if it is done to safeguard national security or is done in pursuance of an Act of Parliament. |
