Courts 101
This article of the Constitution outlines the Judicial Branch.
Answer: What is Article III?
This is the number of justices currently serving on the Supreme Court.
Answer: What is 9?
This type of justice focuses on punishing someone for wrongdoing because they deserve punishment.
Answer: What is retributive justice?
In a criminal case, this person represents the government and attempts to prove that the defendant committed the crime.
Answer: Who is the prosecutor?
This type of court hears a case for the first time and determines the facts of the case.
Answer: What is a trial court?
This is the main job of the Judicial Branch.
Answer: What is interpreting laws and deciding whether laws/actions are constitutional?
This is the primary role of the Supreme Court.
Answer: What is oversees a system of federal courts
This type of justice focuses on helping an offender change their behavior and return to society.
Answer: What is rehabilitative justice?
In a civil case, this person brings a lawsuit against another person or organization.
Answer: Who is the plaintiff?
This type of court reviews a lower court's decision to determine whether legal errors occurred.
Answer: What is an appellate court?
The Constitution created a dual court system consisting of these four types of federal courts.
Answer: What are District Courts, Courts of Appeals, the Supreme Court, and specialized federal courts?
Name the three ways a case can reach the Supreme Court.
Answer:
Appeal from a lower federal court
Writ of certiorari- didn’t teach so it is high state court
Original jurisdiction
This type of justice focuses on repairing the harm caused by a crime and involving victims, offenders, and the community.
Answer: What is restorative justice?
This person or organization is accused of wrongdoing in a criminal case or sued in a civil case.
Answer: Who is the defendant?
This person or side asks a higher court to review a lower court's decision.
Answer: Who is the appellant?
This group has the power to create inferior federal courts.
Answer: What is Congress?
These are the four types of opinions justices may issue in a Supreme Court case.
Answer: What are majority, concurring, dissenting, and plurality opinions?
This type of justice attempts to prevent future crimes by making people afraid of the consequences.
Answer: What is deterrent justice?
This person represents the defendant and works to protect the defendant's legal rights.
Answer: Who is the defense attorney?
This person or side responds to an appeal and argues that the lower court's decision should stand.
Answer: Who is the appellee?
There are approximately this many federal district courts in the United States.
Answer: What is 94?
The Supreme Court was established in this year.
Answer: What is 1787?
A city requires everyone to wear a seatbelt while driving. This rule limits a person's freedom of choice in order to protect safety. This illustrates what major conflict?
Answer: What is the conflict between liberty and order/safety?
A student is accused of stealing another student's laptop. The government brings charges against the student. Identify the prosecutor, defendant, and defense attorney.
Answer:
Prosecutor: represents the government
Defendant: student accused of stealing
Defense attorney: represents the student
Put these in the correct order: appellate court, trial court, Supreme Court.
Answer:
Trial Court → Appellate Court → Supreme Court