Federal Judges Quiz Paper

* Question 1
1 out of 1 points | | | Federal Judges are appointed:Answer | | | | | Selected Answer: | b. for life. | Response Feedback: | Correct, "Article III federal judges" (as opposed to judges of some courts with special jurisdictions) serve "during good behavior" (often paraphrased as appointed "for life"). Judges hold their seats until they resign, die, or are removed from office. | | | | | * Question 2
1 out of 1 points | | | Which of the following is a constitutional requirement for judges?Answer | | | | | Selected Answer: | d. The Constitution does not contain any requirements for judges and justices. | Response Feedback: | Correct, the Constitution sets forth no specific requirements.
However, members of Congress, who typically recommend potential nominees, and the Department of Justice, which reviews nominees' qualifications, have developed their own informal criteria. | | | | | * Question 3
1 out of 1 points | | | Which of the following is NOT a function of the U.S. Supreme Court? Answer | | | | | Selected Answer: | d. impeaching the president and other members of the executive branch. | Response Feedback: | Correct, the impeachment process can be found in a tiny corner of the U.S. Constitution, known as Article II, Section 4, which states that the House of Representatives has the sole power of impeachment. | | | | | * Question 4
1 out of 1 points | | | The Constitution sets the number of Supreme Court justices at nine? Answer | | | | | Selected Answer: | False | Response Feedback: | Correct, the United States Constitution does not specify the size of the Supreme Court. Article III of the Constitution gives Congress the power to fix the number of Justices. The Judiciary Act of 1789 called for the appointment of six Justices. As the country grew geographically, Congress increased the number of Justices to correspond with the growing number of judicial circuits: the court was expanded to seven members in 1807, nine in 1837 and ten in 1863. The Judiciary Act of 1869, also known as the Circuit Judges Act, set the number of Justices at nine, where it has since remained. | | | | | * Question 5
1 out of 1 points | | | The U.S. courts of appeal focuses on: Answer | | | | | Selected Answer: | b. correcting errors of procedure and law. | Response Feedback: | Correct! Trials, at which witnesses and other evidence are presented to a jury or judge in order to determine the truth or facts regarding a particular case, are held only in courts with original jurisdiction, i.e., courts in which a lawsuit is originally (and properly) filed and which have the power to accept evidence from witnesses and make factual and legal determinations regarding the evidence presented. Such trial courts also determine what, if any, punishment (in criminal cases), or what damages (in civil cases) should be awarded. Because the courts of appeals possess only appellate jurisdiction, they do not hold trials. Instead, appeals courts review decisions of trial courts for errors of law. Accordingly, an appeals court considers only the record (that is, the papers the parties filed and the transcripts and any exhibits from any trial) from the trial court, and the legal arguments of the parties. | | | | | * Question 6
0 out of 1 points | | | To have your case heard before the U.S. Supreme Court, how many Justices must agree to grant a review?Answer | | | | | Selected Answer: | c. Five. | Response Feedback: | Incorrect, a cert petition is voted on at a session of the Court called a conference.
A conference is a private meeting of the nine Justices by themselves; the public and the Justices' clerks are excluded. If four Justices vote to grant the petition, the case proceeds to the briefing stage; otherwise, the case ends. | | | | | * Question 7
1 out of 1 points | | | Which of the following cases is the Supreme Court most likely to hear?Answer | | | | | Selected Answer: | a. a case involving civil liberties. | Response Feedback: | Correct! The Court grants a petition for cert only for "compelling reasons," spelled out in the court's Rule 10. Such reasons include: * to resolve a conflict in the interpretation of a federal law or a provision of the federal Constitution * to correct an egregious departure from the accepted and usual course of judicial proceedings * to resolve an important question of federal law, or to expressly review a decision of a lower court that conflicts directly with a previous decision of the Court. | | | | | * Question 8
1 out of 1 points | | | A litigant who is unhappy with a decision by the U.S. district court can appeal the decision to a:Answer | | | | | Selected Answer: | c. U.S. Court of Appeal.
| Response Feedback: | Correct, the United States courts of appeals (or circuit courts) are the intermediate appellate courts of the United States federal court system. A court of appeals decides appeals from the district courts within its federal judicial circuit, and in some instances from other designated federal courts and administrative agencies. | | | | | * Question 9
0 out of 1 points | | | Which of the following is TRUE about the U.S. Supreme Court? Answer | | | | | Selected Answer: | a. Enforcement of its opinions is always immediate. | Response Feedback: | Incorrect, the Constitution does not explicitly grant the Supreme Court the power of judicial review; nevertheless, the power of this Court to overturn laws and executive actions it deems unlawful or unconstitutional (i.e. overrule policy) is a well-established precedent. Many of the Founding Fathers accepted the notion of judicial review; in Federalist No. 78, Alexander Hamilton wrote: "A Constitution is, in fact, and must be regarded by the judges, as a fundamental law. It therefore belongs to them to ascertain its meaning, as well as the meaning of any particular act proceeding from the legislative body. If there should happen to be an irreconcilable variance between the two, that which has the superior obligation and validity ought, of course, to be preferred; or, in other words, the Constitution ought to be preferred to the statute." The Supreme Court first established its power to declare laws unconstitutional in Marbury v. Madison (1803), consummating the system of checks and balances. This power allows judges to have the last word on allocation of authority among the three branches of the federal government, which grants them the ability to set bounds to their own authority, as well as to their immunity from outside checks and balances. | | | | | * Question 10
0 out of 1 points | | | Senators have dominated the selection of judges for the federal district courts through _____________. Answer | | | | | Selected Answer: | d. All of these are true. | Response Feedback: | Incorrect: Technically, "senatorial courtesy" refers to an unwritten political custom agreement among senators not to vote for any presidential nominee who is opposed by the senators from the nominee’s home state. | | | | |