| A | B |
|---|
| Original Jurisdiction | Cases that go directly to the Supreme Court (those affecting ambassadors, one state vs. another state, cases that involvem public ministers and consuls) |
| Appellate Jurisdiction | power of the Supreme Court to hear cases that are on appeal from a lower court |
| Original intent | looks at what the authors of the Constitution meant when they authored a particualr clause or amendment |
| Rule of Four | 4 SC Justices vote to hear a case; of the approx 8000 options per year, only 75-80 cases are heard each year |
| writ of certioriari | the written appeal made by a party for a case to be heard by the US Supreme Court |
| Oral Arguments | 30 minutes per side in front of the Justices |
| Amicus Curiae Brief | "friend fo the court." Written to give the justices informatino about outher cases that may be relevant to the case they will be hearing; usually from special interst grups, the government, or a party that wants the government to hear its position about a case |
| Judicial Conference | After oral arguments the 9 Supremes meet (Chief Justice presides); each Supreme offers their opinino (starting with the most senior); majority opinion writing is assigned |
| Majority decision of the Court | 5 or more Justices in agreement |
| Minority decision of the Court | AKA dissenting decision |
| Concurring decision of the Court | written by a Justice from the majority, who agrees with the decision, but for different reasons |
| Stare Decisis | Latin for "to stand by that which is decided" strongly connected to precedent |
| John Marshall | longest serving Chief Justice; presided over Marbury v. Madison (established judicial review); McCulloch v. Maryland (supported federal supremacy); Gibbons v. Ogden (defined Congress' role in regulating interstate commerce |
| Earl Warren Court | an Activist Court, creating new precedent and expanding the rights of the accused (Brown v. Board; Mapp v. Ohio; Gideon v. Wainright; Miranda v. Arizona) |
| Warren Burger Court | best known for Roe v. Wade and US v. Nixon. Other notables: NY Times v. US and Bakke v. Regents of the U of CA |
| William Rehnquist Court | a court of judicial restraint; struck down many laws that infringed on state rights; limited the rights fo the accused as well as the rights of students attending public schools. Notables: Planned Parenthood v. Casey; US v. Lopez: Printz v. US; Bush v. Gore |
| Sandra Day O'Connor | appointed by Reagan in 1981; first woman on Court; often the "swing vote" in 5-4 decisions |
| Judicial Activism | often described as liberal because decisions are broad in interpretation of the Constitution |
| Judicial Restraint | often described as conservative because decisions are based on a strict interpretation of the Constitution |
