Government Vocab- Chapter 18

Front 1

Inferior courts

Back 1

courts beneath the supreme court, federal courts

Front 2

Jurisdiction

Back 2

authority of a court to hear (try and decide) a case

Front 3

Exclusive Jurisdiction

Back 3

cases can only be heard in federal courts

Front 4

concurrent jurisdiction

Back 4

the shared powers of the federal and state courts to hear a case

Front 5

plaintiff

Back 5

person who files suit

Front 6

defendant

Back 6

person whom the complaint is against

Front 7

original jurisdiction

Back 7

a court in which a case is first heard

Front 8

appellate jurisdiction

Back 8

a court that hears a case on appeal from a lower court and has the ability to uphold or overrule or in some way modify from the lower court's decision

Front 9

criminal case

Back 9

a case where a defendant is tried for committing some action that congress has declared by law to be a federal crime

Front 10

civil cases

Back 10

under bankruptcy, postal tax, public lands, civil rights of the usa

Front 11

docket

Back 11

list of cases to be heard

Front 12

writ of certiorari

Back 12

"To be made more certain"- order to give the court directing a lower court to send up the record in a given case for its review

Front 13

certificate

Back 13

process when a lower court is not clear about the procedure or the rule of law that should apply in a case

Front 14

majority opinion

Back 14

announces the court's decision in a case and sets the reasoning on which it is based

Front 15

precedents

Back 15

or examples to be followed in similar cases as they arise in the lower courts

Front 16

concurring opinion

Back 16

to add or emphasize a point that was not made in the majority opinion

Front 17

dissenting opinion

Back 17

are often written by those whose justices who do not agree with the court's majority decision

Front 18

redress

Back 18

satisfaction of claim

Front 19

courts- martial

Back 19

military courts, serve disciplining needs of the armed forces and are not a part of the federal court system

Front 20

civilian tribunal

Back 20

a court operating as part of the judicial branch, entirely separate from military establishment