| A | B |
|---|
| American Bar Association(ABA) | The American Bar Association (ABA) administers the bar exam to allow law students to become lawyers. They evaluate potential federal judiciary nominees. |
| Betty Friedan | United States feminist who wrote the Feminine Mystique and founded National Organization for Women (NOW) |
| Brief | A written legal document used in various legal adversarial systems that is presented to a court arguing why the party to the case should prevail. |
| Burger Court | The years that Warren Burger had served in the Supreme Court from 1969 to 1986, Warren was appointed by the Nixon administration and was a conservative. |
| Concurrent jurisdiction | Exists where two or more courts from different systems simultaneously have jurisdiction over a specific case. |
| Concurring opinion | A written opinion by one or more judges of a court which agrees with the decision made by the majority of the court, but states different reasons as the basis for his or her decision. |
| Constitutional courts | A high court that deals primarily with constitutional law. Its main authority is to rule on whether or not laws that are challenged are in fact unconstitutional, i.e. whether or not they conflict with constitutionally established rights and freedoms. |
| De facto segregation | Racial segregation, especially in public schools, that happens “by fact” rather than by legal requirement. |
| De jure segregation | Segregation that is imposed by law |
| Defendant | A person against whom an action or claim is brought in a court of law. They are defending themselves from an accusation. |
| Defendants' rights | Defendant’s rights are legal protections afforded to people accused of committing criminal offenses. Examples: right to counsel (lawyer), right to a speedy trial, etc. These are found in amendments 4-8. |
| Desegregation | The process of ending the separation of races |
| Due process clause | A clause in the Fourteenth Amendment that prohibits state and local governments from depriving persons of life, liberty, or property without certain steps being taken to ensure fairness. This clause has also allowed for selective incorporation of the Bill of Rights to occur. |
| Eminent domain | The right of a government or its agents to take private property for public use, with payment of compensation |
| Equal Pay Act of 1963 | The right of employees to be free from discrimination in their compensation is protected under federal law |
| Equal Rights Amendment | Was a proposed amendment that would give equal rights to women, brought up in 1920 and again in the 1970s where it failed the states ratification process. |
| Executive Order 9066 | Was the executive order given by president Franklin D. Roosevelt to intern the Japanese after Pearl Harbor |
| injunction | a court order to force an action to stop because it is some sort of illegal activity |
| intermediate scrutiny | The level of scrutiny the court exercises in examining whether or not a classification by gender is constitutional or not. |
| Lemon test | The "test" of questions the court uses to determine whether there the 1st amendment has been violated. It is used to determine whether there has been excessive government involvement in religion. Created during the Lemon v. Kurtzman (1971) establishment clause case. |
| loose construction | This philosophy allows the government to take actions not specifically enumerated nor forbidden by the Constitution. |
| Marshall Court | Nominated by John Adams, Federalist John Marshall served on the court from 1801-1835. Known for decisions that expanded the power of the federal government. |
| Miller test | The "test" of questions the court uses to determine if something is obscene or not. Created during the Miller v. CA case. |
| NOW | Friedan's organization for women's equality, created in the 1960ss. |
| obscenity | Yet to be specifically defined. Obscenity can be a term to describe pornography or activities deemed to be offensive. |
| original intent | A theory of interpreting the Constitution in which a justice would try to interpret what the framers of the Constitution intended. |
| overturned | To strike down or reverse a law. This can be done with a court case decision. |
| Palko v. Connecticut | Case in which the SCOTUS determined to do selective incorporation and rejected total incorporation. |
| plaintiff | The person in a court case who is making an accusation (against the defendant). Usually their name is listed first in a case name. |
| privileges and immunities clause | Provision of the 14th amendment weakened by the Slaughterhouse cases. |
| procedural due process | A provision of the 14th amendment which requires states to following a set of procedures before removing someone's "life, liberty, or property" |
| Rehnquist Court | 1986-2005 SCOTUS. Rehnquist was nominated by Ronald Reagan and known for being a conservative. |
| rule of four | The procedure by which SCOTUS members decide whether or not to take an appellate case. If 4 of th 9 Justices agree, the case is placed on the court's docket (agenda). |
| selective incorporation | The process by which provisions of the Bill of Rights to the states to force the states to obey them. This is done on a case by case basis using the Due Process Clause of the 14th amendment which says states cannot deny life, liberty, and property without due process of law. |
| Senate Judiciary Committee | A committee of the Senate specifically to research and recommend or not recommend the president's nominees to the federal courts. |
| Seneca Falls Convention | The first large meeting of women to formally demand equality for women. 1848. The Declaration of Sentiments were written there. |
| slander | Saying untrue or malicious things about someone. Defamation. |
| Slaughterhouses cases | 1870s cases in which the 14th amendment's Privileges and Immunities clause was interpreted in a way which made it weak. |
| strict construction | A legal philosophy in which a justice uses the exact words of the Constitution to apply it to a court case decision. The justices who practice this do not stretch the meaning of the Constitution |
| strict scrutiny | The level of scrutiny the court exercises in examining whether or not a classification by race is constitutional or not. Race-based discrimination/classifications are the most difficult to get away with under the law. |
| substantive due process | Largely ignored due to the difficulty in interpreting it. |
| Title IX of Education Act of 1972 | If a school, education program (including sports), etc. discriminates on the basis of gender, they will lose federal funding. |
| total incorporation | A possible course of action the SCOTUS could have taken in the early 20th century which would have applied all 10 amendments to the Bill of Rights at once. Due to arguments against it, this did not happen. |
| upheld | When a law or idea is kept in place. |
| Warren Court | 1953-1969, a liberal, activist court led by Earl Warren, appointed by Eisenhower. |
| writ of certiorari | Calling up the documents pertaining to a case from a lower court. The SCOTUS needs to review the lower courts' documents to decide on a case. |
| writ of habeus corpus | Requires the government to bring an accused person before the court to present the evidence against them. |
| writ of mandamus | An order issued from a higher court to a lower court to force them to do something or stop doing something. |
