American Government 100 Part II
Patterson, pgs. 456-474, A:AG7-15
Personal Backgrounds of Judicial Appointees
True or False Questions
1. White males are overrepresented on the federal bench, just as they dominate in Congress and at the top levels of the executive branch. True or False
2. A number of persons of Asian descent have been appointed to the Supreme Court. True or False
3. Federal judges make their decisions within the context of a legal system rooted in law and independent of any political influence. True or False
4. There are instances where federal judges can rule against the Constitution when conditions require it; that is, to assure that justice is achieved. True or False
5. The large majority of cases that arise in courts involve issues of constitutional law rather than statutory and administrative law. True or False
6. All federal courts are bound by federal statutory and administrative laws, as well as by treaties, and judges must work within the confines of these laws. True or False
7. Government has no responsibility to make clear what its laws are and how they are being applied. That role is limited only to the judiciary. True or False
8. Although judges are required to follow the Constitution, statutes, and precedent, the law is not always a precise guide, with the result that judges often have leeway in their rulings. True or False
9. With Samuel Alito’s appointment to the Supreme Court, the ban on partial-birth abortions even when the life of the mother is of concern was upheld reversing what the Court had decided earlier. True or False
10. The Supreme Court has cared little about public opinion, believing that its mandate is to apply the law not achieving approval ratings. True or False
11. Under Ronald Reagan, a friend of civil rights since FDR, directed the Justice Department to push lawsuits that strengthened affirmative action. True or False
12. The Constitution is unambiguous on the question of how it should be interpreted, which has left the judiciary’s proper role less susceptible to dispute. True or False
13. Some democracies, including Great Britain, still do not allow broad-scale judicial review, but most democracies now provide for it. True or False
14. Unlike the American federal judicial system, the Austrian system allows elected officials to request judicial review prior to legislation being passed. True or False
15. In recent decades, the judiciary has at times acted almost legislatively by addressing broad social issues, such as abortion, busing, affirmative action, church-state relations, campaign finance, and prison reform. True or False
16. Judicial review, the most substantial form of judicial power, is explicitly granted by the Constitution. True or False
17. The period between the Civil War and the Great Depression witnessed a Supreme Court that was a deferential body, respecting the rights of most state and congressional legislation aimed at economic regulation. True or False
18. The liberal-dominated Court in the period after World War II was an activist judiciary, striking down state legislative acts by the dozen in expanding fair-trial rights and civil rights. True or False
19. The recent and current Supreme Court has been activist for the right, having struck down more acts of Congress than were invalidated in the past half-century. True or False
Multiple Choice Questions
1. The majority members of the Supreme Court are: a) Catholic, b) Protestant, c) Jewish, d) Agnostic.
2. In recent years, most recent appointees to the Supreme Court held a position: a) in the Senate, b) as solicitor general, c) on the appellate court, d) as a lobbyist.
3. The following consists of the rules, regulations, and judgments that agencies make in the process of implementing and enforcing statutory law: a) agency mandate, b) bureaucratic procedure, c) organizational restraint, d) administrative law.
4. When hearing a case, judges will often try to determine whether the meaning of the statute or regulation can be determined by common sense: a) plain meaning rule, b) common sense application, c) logical conclusion principle, d) reasonable legal interpretation.
5. To respect what previous decisions of earlier courts have stipulated: a) legal acquiescence, b) precedent, c) per curiam decision, d) judicial accountability.
6. Why was the decision in Faragher v. City of Boca Raton (1998) defined as the Court making law? a) because the legislation was unconstitutional in the first place, b) the issue before the Court was not considered in the original legislation, c) murder is considered a capital offense requiring legal counsel, d) Florida had not passed any legislation protecting wildlife in the Everglades.
7. Based on studies conducted by Segal and Spaeth, which of the following two justices tended to vote alike? a) Ruth Bader Ginsberg and Samuel Alito, b) Clarence Thomas and Antonin Scalia, c) Anthony Kennedy and Sonia Sotomayor, d) John Roberts and Stephen Breyer.
8. In a unanimous ruling in Brown decision (1954) dealing with segregation of public schools, how did the Supreme Court direct school districts to comply? a) they had to immediately desegregate, b) they left it ambiguous intentionally, c) they sent the case back to a lower federal court to rule, d) the supporters of segregation won by the Court arguing that it did not have jurisdiction to hear the case.
9. What is meant by amicus curiae? a) parties not directly involved in a case are allowed to submit briefs to the Court, b) constraints on the courts initiated by public opinion, c) interest group pressure on Congress to limit court decisions, d) efforts to more accurately define and interpret a Supreme Court decision.
10. In what case did the Supreme Court assign itself the power of judicial review for the first time? a) Williams, v. Garner, b) Cardozo v. Brandeis, c) Marbury v. Madison, d) Williams, v. Bradley.
11. To amend the Constitution requires: a) a majority vote in the Congress to introduce and a two-thirds vote of the state legislatures to incorporate, b) a two-thirds vote in the Congress to introduce and a three-quarter vote of the state legislatures to incorporate, c) a three-quarter vote of the Congress to introduce and a three-fourths vote of state legislatures to incorporate, d) a three-fifths vote to introduce in Congress and a three-quarter vote of the state legislatures to incorporate. Slight Revision,
12. The following amendment to the Constitution is one of the few times that a Supreme Court decision has been reversed through constitutional amendment: a) Fifteenth Amendment, b) Sixteenth Amendment, c) Seventeenth Amendment, d) Eighteenth Amendment.
13. Similar to Congress and the president, why has the judiciary become more extensively involved in policymaking? a) social and economic changes have required government to play a larger role in society, b) the Constitution was poorly written and has been unable to flexibly adapt to today’s complex world, c) religious zealots and ideologues have run roughshod and taken over both political parties, d) the U.S. is now reoccupied with war and conquest and less concerned with domestic affairs, generating greater resentments and hostility internally.
14. The Supreme Court’s voiding of a legislative or executive action on the grounds that it violates the Constitution: a) judicial prerogative, b) judicial review, c) stare decisis, d) judicial mandate.
15. The following landmark Supreme Court decision of 1803 which established the power of judicial review: a) Marbury v. Madison, b) McColloch v. Maryland, c) Gibbons v. Ogden, d) Fletcher v. Peck.
16. Which of the following is true about the Austrian system of judicial review? a) judges can declare a law void on the grounds that it is unconstitutional, b) judicial review is restricted to a special constitutional court, c) judges have the power to exclude elected officials from their decision-making process, d) ex post facto laws are disallowed.
17. A prominent philosophy of conservatives, arguing that the Constitution should be interpreted in the way that a reasonable person would have interpreted it at the time it was written: a) compact theory, b) constitutionalism theory, c) interposition theory, d) originalism theory.
18. Proponents of the following claim that the framers, through the use of broad language and basic principles, intended the Constitution to be an adaptable instrument: a) nullification theory, b) living constitution theory, c) inorganic view of constitutionalism, d) democratic development theory.
19. Advocates of judicial restraint say that when judges substitute their views for those of elected officials, they: a) protect the Constitution against the abuses by an emotionally charged majority, b) undermine the fundamental principle of self-government, the right of the majority, c) come to the defense of a persecuted or unpopular minority, sustaining the Bill of Rights, d) assure that the Constitution and Bill of Rights will be respected.
20. An ardent nationalist, the former chief justice who served for thirty-four years, led the Court to a series of activist rulings that established it as a powerful institution and helped lay the foundation for a strong Union: a) John Jay, b) Earl Warren, c) John Marshall, d) Louis Brandeis
Fill-in Question
1. The judiciary works within the context of three main sources of law:
a) the ______,
b) legislative ______, and
c) legal ______.
2. The doctrine of judicial restraint holds that:
a) judges should generally defer to ______and to the decisions made by ______.
b) In nearly every instance policy issues should be decided by ______and not by appointed judges.
c) The role of the judge is to ______the law rather than ______it.
3. The doctrine of judicial activism holds that:
a) judges should actively interpret the Constitution, statutes, and precedents in light of ______principles and
b) should intervene when ______fail to act in accord with these principles.
c) Although advocates of judicial activism acknowledge the importance of majority rule, they claim that the courts should not bow to precedent or the decisions of elected officials when core principles— such as ______, ______, and self- government—are threatened.
d) Precedent should be respected only if it is based on legal reasoning that is as sound _____ as it was when the precedent was ______.
Answers
True/False Questions
1. True
3. False
5. False
7. False
9. True
11. False
13. True
15. True
17. False
19. True
Multiple Choice Questions
1. a
3. d
5. b
7. b
9. a
11. b
13. a
15. a
17. d
19. b
Fill-in Questions
1. a) Constitution, b) statutes, c) precedents
3. a) fundamental, b) elected representatives, c) liberty, equality, d) today, established
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