2.9 & 2.10 - The Court in Action

Which of the following is true of most federal judges appointed by the president?

• They serve ten-year terms.

• They serve as long as the appointing president stays in power.

• They serve for life on good behavior unless removed by the president.

• They serve for life on good behavior unless impeached and convicted by Congress.

• They serve for life and are not subject to congressional impeachment.

Which of the following best explains the principle of stare decisis?

• It requires that at least four Supreme Court justices agree to hear a case.

• It encourages presidents to take judicial experience into account when nominating judges.

• It encourages judges to follow precedent when deciding cases.

• It reinforces the philosophy of judicial activism.

• It increases the number of cases judges are required to hear.

Based on the data in the chart, which of the following is true?

• The percentage of liberal decisions made by the federal district courts on civil rights and civil liberties cases increased between 1900 and 1928.

• The percentage of liberal decisions made by the Supreme Court on civil rights and civil liberties cases decreased between 1964 and 1996.

• The number of civil rights and civil liberties cases heard by the Supreme Court declined between 1944 and 1952.

• The number of civil rights and civil liberties cases heard by the federal district courts decreased between 1972 and 1992.

In the case Twining v. New Jersey (1908), the Supreme Court held that the Fifth Amendment’s protection against self-incrimination is not applicable to the states. In 1964 the Supreme Court overruled the decision in Malloy v. Hogan (1964) and held that the right was incorporated to the states. This scenario illustrates which of the following?

• The Supreme Court oftentimes overrules lower court decisions.

• Constitutional amendments can be used to overturn previous Supreme Court decisions.

• The executive branch can sometimes evade Supreme Court decisions.

• Ideological changes to the Supreme Court can lead to the overturning of precedent.

Which of the following scenarios best illustrates the concept of a case being decided based on precedent?

• The Supreme Court bases its decision in a case involving the commerce clause on one of its earlier decisions involving the commerce clause.

• The Supreme Court overturns a lower court decision in a case dealing with voter identification laws.

• A state passes a law which contradicts federal law, causing the Supreme Court to rule in favor of the federal government.

• The chief justice of the Supreme Court disagrees with the majority of the other justices and decides to declare a law passed by Congress as unconstitutional.

Which of the following is a primary function of the Senate Judiciary Committee?

• Conducting oversight hearings on the Supreme Court budget

• Conducting investigations into allegedly subversive activities

• Conducting hearings on judicial appointments made by the president

• Conducting investigations into wrongdoing by the executive branch

• Initiating appointments to the Supreme Court

Which of the following best describes the relationship between the Supreme Court and public opinion?

• The Court assesses public opinion on a controversial issue and then tries to follow it.

• Court prestige is so high that its decisions become public consensus.

• The existence of a public consensus on an issue limits the extent to which the Court will render decisions contrary to that consensus.

• Public opinion has no bearing on the effective implementation of the Court’s decisions.

• There is no relationship between public opinion and the Court’s decisions.

Those who believe that the Supreme Court in its rulings should defer to the elective institutions of government are advocating

• "Social Darwinism"

• "judicial activism"

• "judicial restraint"

• "incorporation"

• "nullification"

In Baker v. Carr (1962), the Supreme Court ruled that a state legislature would have to redraw their representative districts in order to comply with the Constitution. Which of the following potential difficulties could have resulted from this decision?

• The state legislature could have refused to implement the decision, leading to a crisis in the legitimacy of the Supreme Court’s authority.

• The United States Congress could have requested that funding be cut off from the redistricting program.

• The president could have created an executive agreement with the state that overrode the Supreme Court’s decision.

• A state appellate court could have issued a ruling that overturned the ruling of the United States Supreme Court.

Which of the following statements is correct based on the bar chart?

• Most Independents believe that the Supreme Court should base its rulings on what the Constitution meant as originally written.

• Most Democrats believe that the Supreme Court should base its rulings on what the Constitution meant as originally written.

• The more consistently liberal a person is, the more that person is likely to believe that the Supreme Court should base its rulings on what the Constitution means in current times.

• The more consistently conservative a person is, the more that person is likely to believe that the Supreme Court should base its rulings on what the Constitution means in current times.