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| The law in which Congress laid out the organization of the federal judiciary. The law refined and clarified federal court jurisdiction and set the original number of justices at six. It also created the Office of the Attorney General and established the lower federal courts. |
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| Lower level trial courts of the federal judicial system that handle most U.S. federal cases. |
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| The authority of a court to hear appeals from lower courts and change or uphold the decision. |
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| The Supreme Court's power to strike down a law or executive branch action that it finds unconstitutional. |
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| Orders issued by a higher court to a lower court, government official, or government agency to perform acts required by law. |
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| Constitutional Interpretation |
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| The process of determining whether a piece of legislation or governmental action is supported by the Constitution. |
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| The various methods and tests used by the courts for determining the meaning of a law and applying it to specific situations. |
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| The person or party who brings a case to court. |
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| The person or party against whom a case is brought. |
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| The final decision in a court case. |
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| An agreement between a plaintiff and defendant to settle a case before it goes to trial or the verdict is decided. In a civil case this usually involves an admission of guilt and an agreement on monetary damages; in a criminal case it often involves an admission of guilt in return for a reduced charge or sentence. |
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| The amount of evidence needed to determine the outcome of a case. The standard is higher in a criminal case than a civil one. |
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| The responsibility of having to prove guilty; it rests with the plaintiff in criminal cases but could be with either party in a civil trial. |
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| A two-sided court structure in which lawyers on both sides of a case attempt to prove their argument over their opponents' version of the case. |
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| Law based on the precedent of precious court rulings rather than on legislation. It is used in all federal courts and forty-nine of the fifty state courts. |
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| A legal norm established in court cases that is then applied to future cases dealing with the same legal questions. |
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| Legitimate justification for bringing a civil case to court. |
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| The sphere of a court's legal authority to hear and decide cases. |
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| Those courts established under Article III of the Constitution (or under the legislative power granted to Congress in Article III to create new courts): the Supreme Court, district courts, and appeals courts. |
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| Limited jurisdiction courts created by Congress under Article I of the Constitution. |
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| The intermediate level of federal courts that hear appeals from district courts. More generally, an appeals court is any court with appellate jurisdiction. |
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| A norm in the nomination of district court judges in which the president consults with his party's senators from the relevant state in choosing the nominee. |
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| A calendar listing of cases that have been submitted to a court. |
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| The authority of a court to handle a case first, as in the Supreme Court's authority to initially hear disputes between two states. |
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| Cases brought before the Supreme Court because Congress has determined that they require the Court's attention. |
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| An uncommon way in which a case is brought before the Supreme Court, whereby an appeals court askes the Court to clarify federal law in regards to a particular case. |
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| The most common way for a case to reach the Supreme Court, in which at least four of the nine justices agree to hear a case that has reached them via an appeal from the losing party in a lower court's ruling. |
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| Agreement between the litigants on the desired outcome of a case, causing a federal court to decline to hear the case. More generally, collusion can refer to any kind of conspiracy or complicity. |
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| The irrelevance of a case by the time it is received by a federal court, causing the court to decline to hear the case. |
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| A criterion that federal courts use to decide whether a case is ready to be heard. A case's ripeness is based on whether its central issue or controversy has acutally taken place. |
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| A system initiated in the Supreme Court in the 1970s in which law clerks screen cases that come to the Supreme Court and recommend to the justices which cases should be heard. |
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| A presidental appointee in the Department of Justice who represents the federal government when it is a party to a case. |
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| Written documents prepared by both parties in a case, and sometimes by outside groups, presenting their arguments in court. |
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| Latin for "friend of the court," referring to an interested group or person who shares relevant information about a case to help the Court reach a decision. Usually AMICUS participants register their opinions in briefs, but they also may participate in oral arguments if one of the parties in the case gives them some of their allotted time. |
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| Spoken presentations made in person by the lawyers of each party to a judge or appellate court outlining the legal reasons why their side should prevail. |
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| A way of interpreting the Constitution based on its language alone. |
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| The theory that justices should surmise the intentions of the Founders when the language of the Constitution is unclear. |
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| A way of interpreting the Constitution that takes into account evolving national attitudes and circumstances rather than the text alone. |
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| A way of understanding decisions of the Supreme Court based on the political ideologies of the justices. |
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| The idea that the Supreme Court should defer to the democratically elected executive and legislative branches of government rather than contradicting existing laws. |
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| The idea that the Supreme Court should assert its interpretation of the law even if it overrules the elected executive and legislative branches of government. |
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