Final Exam Potpourri
The Articles of Confederation, the original government of the United States, was purposefully weak. It did not allow the federal government to create a standing army or levy taxes. The Articles were a reflection of what fear?
The job of this group of citizens is to determine if there is enough evidence to bring an accused person to trial.
What is a grand jury?
How a judge gets a job in the federal court system ( the judicial branch of the federal government).
What is appointment by the president (and then, confirmation by the senate)?
The job of an appellate ( or an appeals court) is to do this?
What is "to look for errors in the application of the law in a previous trial"?
This position at the state level is comparable to the presidency at the federal level and is considered part of the executive branch of state government.
Who is the governor?
This type of organization is formed with the purpose of raising money to influence elections, usually by giving financial support to candidates.
What is a PAC? ( Political Action Committee)
The compensation of a victim for a crime that has been committed against them.
What is restitution?
The duty of the prosecution to provide enough solid evidence in order to prove alleged facts and establish guilt in a criminal case.
What is "burden of proof"?
This person ( or people) represent the government and the people in trials against those accused of committing a crime.
Who is the "prosecutor" or the "prosecution"?
These are the 3 primary qualifications named in the Consitution for the presidency.
What are being at least 35 years of age, a natural born citizen, and living in the US for 14 years?
In the Constitution, the 5th, 6th, 7th, and 8th Amendments provide these protections.
What are protections of the rights of the accused ( such as the right to due process, an attorney, trial by jury of peers, speedy trial, and protection from self incrimination).
Traffic courts and small claims courts are known as "Courts of _________ _____________"
What is limited jurisdiction?
This is the name for the party who files the lawsuit in a civil case.
What is the plaintiff?
In criminal cases, the burden of proof rests on the prosecution. They must prove "__________" that the accused is guilty of committing the crime.
What is "beyond a reasonable doubt"?
The press secretary, speechwriters, adminstrative assistants, etc are among the members of this team who support the president and the executive branch.
What is the White House Staff?
In this type of democracy, the people directly elect their legislaters, and the legislaters then elect the Prime Minister.
What is a parliamentary democracy?
The main advantage of plea bargaining within the criminal justice system.
*Plea bargaining allows the accused to plead guilty to a lesser crime for a reduced sentence.
What is reducing the load of cases that go to trial.
This is how cases to be heard by the Supreme Court are determined.
What is "they are selected by the Justices themselves after they review a petition for certiorari"?
In civil cases, the burden of proof is known by this term, which means that the plaintiff must provide "the greater amount of evidence" that their claim is valid.
What is preponderance of the evidence?
This must happen in order for a presidential veto to be overridden, which explains why the process is very rare!
What is a 2/3 vote by both chambers of Congress?
The court of original jurisdiction in the federal court system.
What are the US district courts?
Because of this, evidence gained illegally cannot be used in a trial.
What is the Exclusionary Rule?
This term means that the judical branch should apply the power of judicial review rarely and very cautiously. People who believe in this think that the judicial branch should primarily allow the legislative and executive branches handle matters of the law.
What is judicial restraint?
A "petition" for " ____________" is a formal request for the Supreme Court to hear the appeal of a lower court decision.
A "writ" of "____________" is a request by the Supreme Court for a lower court to send up records of a particular case.
*Hint, it's the same word.
What is a petition/ writ of certiorari?
This process, which allows elected officials to be removed from office midway through their terms, is allowed in some ( but not all) state and local areas.
What is a recall election?