judicial quiz key terms

The Supreme Court has the authority to hear or not hear most of the cases it considers.

Legal briefs that enable groups or individuals, including the national government, who are not parties to the litigation but have an interest in it, to attempt to influence the outcome of the case; literally, "friend of the court" briefs.

The authority of a court to hear a case on appeal after it has been argued in and decided by a lower federal or state court.

A Latin term meaning "to be made more certain"; this writ enables the Court to accept cases for review only if there are "special and important reasons therefore."

A system of law based on precedent court rulings and customs.

A written opinion of a justice who disagrees with the holding of the Court.

Proceedings in which all of the appeals judges in a particular circuit serve as a tribunal.

Agreements in which the state presses for either a reduced set of charges or a reduced sentence in return for a guilty plea.

A single civil case in which the plaintiff represents the whole class of individuals similarly situated, and the court's results apply to this entire class.

The authority of a court to be the first to hear a case.

The power of the Supreme Court to interpret or reinterpret a federal or state law.

A procedure in which a president submits the names of judicial nominees to senators from the same political party who are also from the nominee's home state for their approval prior to formal nomination.

A means of determining which cases the Supreme Court will hear; at least four justices must vote to hear a case and grant the petition for a writ of certiorari for the case to be put on the Court's docket.

The third-ranking official in the Justice Department, appointed by the president and charged with representing the US government before the Supreme Court.

A doctrine meaning "let the decision stand," or that judges deciding a case should adhere if at all possible to previously decided cases similar to the one under consideration.

Previously decided court cases on an issue similar to the one being considered.

An approach in which justices see themselves as appointed rather than elected officials, who should defer to the legislature and uphold a law or political action if at all possible.

An approach in which justices create new policy and decide issues, to the point, some critics charge, of writing their personal values into law.

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.

to send a case back to a lower court to be tried again