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| Authority of the courts to hear certain cases |
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| The authority to hear cases for the first time; in the federal system possessed by district courts and the Supreme Court in a limited number of cases |
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| Courts that hear reviews or appeals of decisions from the lower courts; in the federal system the Courts of Appeals and the Supreme Court have appellate jurisdiction |
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| Allows certain types of cases to be tried in either the federal or state courts |
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| Federal courts created by Congress under Article III of the Constitution |
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| Constitutional courts that serves as the lowest court in the federal system; they hear trials and have original jurisdiction |
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| Constitutional courts that serve as the middle court in the federal system; they hear appeals and have appellate jurisdiction |
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| Special courts created by Congress under Article I that have a narrower range of authority than constitutional courts such as Territorial Courts, U.S. Tax Court, and the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Armed Forces |
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| The practice of allowing individual senators who represent the state where the district is located to approve or disapprove potential nominees |
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| Four of the nine Supreme Court justices must agree to hear a case |
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| Returned to the lower courts for reconsideration because of a related case that was recently decided |
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| An order by the Supreme Court directing a lower court to send up the records of a case for review; usually requires the need to interpret law or decide a constitutional question |
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| A lower court may ask the Supreme Court about a rule of law or procedures in specific cases |
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| A detailed statement of the facts of the case supporting a particular position by presenting arguments based on relevant facts and citations from previous cases |
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| "Friends of the Court" briefs where interested parties like interest groups are invited to submit briefs also |
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| A majority of the justices agree on the decision and its reasons |
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| A justice who agrees with the majority opinion but not with the reasoning behind the decision |
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| A justice or justices who disagree with the majority opinion |
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| Standards or guides to be followed in deciding similar cases in the future |
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| The power of the President to withhold information from the other two branches |
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| The belief that the Supreme Court should play an active role in determining national policies by applying the Constitution to social and political questions, especially where constitutional rights have been violated or unacceptable conditions exist |
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| The belief that the Supreme Court should avoid taking the initiative on social and political questions, operating strictly within the limits of the Constitution and upholding acts of Congress unless the acts clearly violate specific provisions of the Constitution |
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| A person that advocates the judicial philosophy of interpreting the Constitution very narrowly by not reading further into it than what is written |
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| A person that advocates the judicial philosophy of interpreting the Constitution as a "living document" that is supposed to be updated via judicial decisions as time passes |
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| Those rights that belong to everyone; they are protections against government and are guaranteed by the Constitution, legislation, and judicial decisions |
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| Positive acts of government, designed to prevent discrimination and provide equality before the law |
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| A right in the original Constitution that states you must be brought before the court and informed of charges against you |
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| You cannot be singled out and punished without a trial |
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| Law applied to an act committed before the law's passage |
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| The constitutional protection that one does not have to testify against oneself |
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| The constitutional protection that one can not be tried for the same crime twice |
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| Applies the guarantees of the Bill of Rights to state and local governments |
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| Speech without words, but rather actions that is protected under the Constitution |
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| The constitutional protection that the federal government can not establish a national religion |
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| The constitutional protection that one is allowed to freely exercise their own religion provided it does not interfere with others |
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| For a law to be constitutional regarding religion it must (1) have a primarily secular purpose; (2) its principal effect must neither aid nor inhibit religion; (3) it must not create excessive entanglement between government and religion |
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| The most common form of speech, verbal speech; given the most protection by the courts |
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| Verbal and symbolic speech used together, such as a rally and then picketing; may also be limited |
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| The constitutional protection from having the government censor a publication before it is published |
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| Involves the policies of government, or the subject matter of the laws, determining whether the law is fair or if it violates constitutional protections |
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| The method of government action or how the law is carried out, according to established rules and procedures |
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| Allows government to take property for public use, but also requires that government provide just compensation for that property |
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| The barring from court evidence that has been obtained in violation of the Fourth Amendment |
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| The Supreme Court ruled that suspects in police custody have certain rights and that they must be informed of those rights (right to remain silent, right to an attorney) |
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| The Supreme Court upheld the Jim Crow segregation laws by allowing separate facilities for the different races if those facilities were equal. This created the seperate but equal doctrine |
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| Brown v. Board of Education |
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| The Supreme Court overturned the Plessy decision, ruling that seperate but equal is unconstitutional |
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| Part of the 14th Amendment that insures everyone receives equal protection under the law |
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| A policy designed to correct the effects of past discrimination |
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