The third branch of the US government, after judicial and legislative
What is the executive branch?
100
A document approved by a magistrate that finds probable cause for an arrest
What is a warrant?
100
A step taken in extreme circumstances, where jurors are not permitted to go home for fear that they would be influenced by media or public discussions of the case
What is being sequestered?
100
The side that presents evidence first in a trial
What is the prosecution?
200
The name given to the first ten amendments to the US constitution
What is the Bill of Rights?
200
The unwritten traditional principles that US courts rely on
What is the common law?
200
A jury that is unable to reach a verdict
What is a hung jury?
200
The stage when prosecution or defense is allowed to interrogate a witness called by the other side
What is cross examination?
300
A law that applies retroactively, or after the fact
What is an ex-post-facto law?
300
Latin phrase meaning the state of mind required in order for an act to be considered criminal
What is mens rea?
300
A minor error that had no effect on the outcome of a trial
What is a harmless error?
300
Step in the criminal procedure where an arrest is recorded and the accused is photographed and fingerprinted
What is booking?
400
The number of votes required in each house of Congress to override a presidential veto
What is two-thirds?
400
The name given to disputes arising between citizens of two different states
What are diversity cases?
400
Requests to a judge to exclude a prospective juror with no reason given
What are peremptory challenges?
400
A serious error of law that might have affected the verdict in a criminal trial
What is a reversible error?
400
A request for each individual juror to affirm that they agree with the verdict
What is polling the jury?
500
The part of the US constitution that guarantees federal law has priority over state law
What is the Supremacy Clause (Article VI)?
500
Laws which declare a particular group of people to have committed a crime (without a trial), or that single out a particular group of people for which an action is illegal
What are bills of attainder?
500
Laws that require an automatic, specific sentence upon conviction of certain crimes
What are mandatory sentencing laws (mandatory minimums)?
500
A rule that evidence seized in an illegal search cannot be used against a defendant in trial
What is the exclusionary rule?
500
A process of questioning potential jurors to determine if they are qualified and capable of rendering a fair and impartial verdict