POSC 100 Study Guide Ricardo Salas

1
POSC 100 Study Guide Ricardo
Salas

• Part 2
• Assignment 7

2
Notice

• Dear students
• The odd-numbered questions are answered for
  you. The answers to the even-numbered questions
  are the result of your readings. This is to
  assure that you are understanding the material.
  Good luck!

3
Assignment 7
4
Justices Judges as Political officials

• T or F Questions (12)
• Multiple Choice questions (12)
• Fill-in Questions (4)

5
True or False Questions

6
True or False

• 1/12
• Although federal judges and justices are
  political officials, their discretionary power is
  greater than elected officials.

7
Answer

• 1/12
• False

8
True or False

• 2/12
• The term "unreasonable" is clearly spelled
  out in the Fourth Amendment.

9
True or False

• 3/12
• Administrative law is derived from statutory
  law but is set by government agencies rather than
  by legislatures.

10
Answer

• 3/12
• True

11
True or False

• 4/12
• The Supreme Court has cared little about
  public opinion, believing that its mandate is to
  apply the law not achieving approval ratings.

12
True or False

• 5/12
• In 2004, the Supreme Court supported the Bush
  administrations claim that U.S. citizens charged
  with terrorism can be jailed indefinitely without
  a judicial hearing.

13
Answer

• 5/12
• False

14
True or False

• 6/12
• In the more than one thousand cases where the
  Supreme Court has invoked its power of judicial
  review, ninety per cent have involved state and
  local officials rather than the president or
  Congress.

15
True or False

• 7/12
• Advocates of judicial activism claim that the
  judiciary must prevent majorities, acting through
  lawmakers, from violating the legitimate rights
  of the minority.

16
Answer

• 7/12
• True

17
True or False

• 8/12
• The Republican-dominated Supreme Court in the
  period between the Civil War and the Great
  Depression was an activist judiciary, striking
  down most state and congressional legislation
  aimed at economic regulation.

18
True or False

• 9/12
• Based on the willingness to invalidate acts
  of Congress, all recent Supreme Court justices
  have been activists to some degree.

19
Answer

• 9/12
• True

20
True or False

• 10/12
• Studies indicate that, in cases that
  reasonably could be decided for either the
  Democratic or Republican party side, justices
  tend toward the side that suits their political
  ideology.

21
True or False

• 11/12
• The law as expressed through the
  Constitution, statutes, and precedent is precise
  enough to provide an automatic answer to most
  every court case.

22
Answer

• 11/12
• False

23
True or False

• 12/12
• The power of judicial review is explicitly
  specified in Article III of the Constitution.

24
Multiple Choice Questions

• The following questions are multiple choices.
  Select the most appropriate answer.

25
1/12

• The following governs relations between
• private parties such as marriage, divorce,
• business contracts, and property ownership
• a) civil laws b) criminal laws
• c) procedural laws d) natural law

26
Answer

• 1/12
• a

27
2/12

• Why cant the government indiscriminately
• tap a persons telephone?
• a) The right of privacy is clearly spelled out
  in the
• Fourth Amendment
• b) The spirit of the Fourth Amendment was
• intended to protect against government
• intrusion into a persons private life
• c) The right against the use of wire taps is
• mentioned in the Fourth Amendment
• d) There is nothing in the Bill of Rights that
  limits
• government power in the area of privacy.

28
3/12

• Stare decisis is the doctrine which refers to
• a) the courts having the flexibility to apply
  the
• law
• b) respecting precedent when deciding cases
• c) trusting in the ability of a jurist to
  apply the
• law fairly
• d) compelling a witness to respect currently
• existing law.

29
Answer

• 3/12
• b

30
4/12

• Why is the Constitution open to
• interpretation giving federal judges a
• substantial amount of discretion?
• a) Because of its precise language
• b) Because it is specified in the
  Constitution
• itself
• c) Because it is a sparely written document
• d) Because of its lack of ambiguity and
• elaborate language.

31
5/12

• What is meant by amicus curiae?
• a) parties not directly involved in a case are
• allowed to submit briefs to the Court
• b) constraints on the courts initiated by
  public
• opinion
• c) interest group pressure on Congress to limit
• court decisions
• d) efforts to more accurately define and
  interpret
• a Supreme Court decision.

32
Answer

• 5/12
• a

33
6/12

• Orrin Hatch's denunciation of judges when he
  said they were "making laws" reflects the views
  of other Republicans who
• a) argue for a loose interpretation of the
• Constitution
• b) embrace the so-called strict
  constructionist
• perspective
• c) believe that the Constitution is an
  organic
• document
• d) say that democrats are too often followed
  by
• popular sentiments rather than the law.

34
7/12

• How can a president influence the judiciary?
• a) The president can decide what decisions to
• enforce
• b) The president can affect what cases come
• before the judiciary
• c) The president's power to appoint members of
• the judiciary affect the latter's
  direction
• d) all the above.

35
Answer

• 7/12
• d

36
8/12

• The power of the courts to declare an
• executive or legislative act
• unconstitutional
• a) court authority
• b) judicial review
• c) constitutional mandate
• d) balance of the judiciary

37
9/12

• Why has the judiciary become more
• extensively involved in policymaking?
• a) because of the changes that have required
• government to increase its role, both
• economically and socially
• b) because of the failure of the Congress to
• address its responsibilities more
  effectively
• c) because it is the nature of political power
  that
• any institution of government will expand
  its
• role
• d) because the Constitution has mandated such
• authority.

38
Answer

• 9/12
• a

39
10/12

• Advocates of judicial restraint say that when
• judges substitute their views for those of
• elected officials, they
• a) protect the Constitution against the abuses
  by
• an emotionally charged majority
• b) undermine the fundamental principle of self-
• government, the right of the majority
• c) come to the defense of a persecuted or
• unpopular minority, sustaining the Bill of
  Rights
• d) assure that the Constitution and Bill of
  Rights
• will be respected.

40
11/12

• In Baker v. Carr (1962), the Supreme
• Court by a 6-2 vote took an activist
• position, holding that
• a) the composition of juries should reflect the
• local community
• b) segregated schools violated the Fourteenth
• Amendment's equal protection clause
• c) state legislative districts must be
  apportioned
• on the principle of one person, one vote
• d) religious schools are entitled to government
• support for books, meals, and other secular
• activities.

41
Answer

• 11/12
• c

42
12/12

• The establishment of the judiciary as a
• coequal branch of government was charged
• with a variety of responsibilities, including
• a) enforcing the laws of the United States
• b) establishing the legislative agenda for each
• generation
• c) demanding accountability
• d) protecting individual rights and minority
• interests.

43
Fill-in Questions

• The following questions have missing critical
  words. Fill in the most appropriate missing word.

44
1/4

• Criminal law deals with acts that
• a) the ___________ defines as _______and
• b) can result in a ______, imprisonment, or
• other ___________.

45
Answer

• 1/4
• a) government, illegal
• b) fine, punishment

46
2/4

• What three sources of law constrain the courts?
• a) the ______________,
• b) _____________ statutes (and the
• ________________ regulations derived from
• them)
• c) ____________ established by __________
• court rulings.

47
3/4

• How can Congress affect the Supreme Court?
• a) Congress is constitutionally empowered to
• establish the Supreme Court's ______ and
• ___________ jurisdiction.
• b) Congress can ________ _____________
• that it feels the Court has
  _______________.

48
Answer

• 3/4
• a) size, appellate
• b) Rewrite legislation, misinterpreted

49
4/4

• The doctrine of judicial restraint holds that
• a) judges should work closely within the wording
• of the ____,
• b) be respectful of ___________,
• c) and generally defer to decisions made by
• ______________.

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The End