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| 6650737119 | Standing to Sue | The requirement that plaintiffs have a serious interest in a case, which depends on whether they have sustained or are likely to sustain a direct and substantial injury from another party or from an action of government. | 0 | |
| 6650743256 | Class Action Suits | Lawsuits in which a small number if people sue on behalf of all people in similar circumstances. | 1 | |
| 6650758582 | Justiciable Disputes | Issues capable of being settled as a matter of law. | 2 | |
| 6650772168 | Amicus Curiae Briefs | Legal briefs submitted by a "friend of the court" for the purpose of influencing a court's decision by raising additional points of view and presenting information not contained in the briefs of the formal parties. | 3 | |
| 6650797905 | Original Jurisdiction | The jurisdiction of courts that hear a case first, usually in a trial. | 4 | |
| 6650805960 | Appellate Jurisdiction | The jurisdiction of courts that hear cases brought to them from lower courts. | 5 | |
| 6650811327 | District Courts | The 91 federal courts of original jurisdiction. | 6 | |
| 6650816393 | Courts of Appeal | Appellate courts empowered to review all final decisions of district courts, except in rare cases. | 7 | |
| 6650821164 | Supreme Court | The pinnacle of the American judicial system. | 8 | |
| 6650826457 | Senatorial Courtesy | An unwritten tradition whereby nominations for state-level federal judicial posts are usually not confirmed if they are opposed by a senator of the president's party from the state in which the nominee will serve. | 9 | |
| 6650842453 | Solicitor General | A presidential appointee and the third-ranking office in the Department of Justice. In charge of the appellate court litigation of the federal government. | 10 | |
| 6650851132 | Opinion | A statement of legal reasoning behind a judicial decision. | 11 | |
| 6650853949 | Stare Decisis | A latin phrase meaning "let the decision stand." | 12 | |
| 6650859195 | Precedent | How similar cases have been decided in the past. | 13 | |
| 6650861835 | Judicial Implementation | How and whether court decisions are translated into actual policy, thereby affecting the behavior of others. | 14 | |
| 6650868140 | Original Intent | A view that the Constitution should be interpreted according to the original intent of the framers. | 15 | |
| 6650873877 | Judicial Review | The power of the courts to determine whether acts of Congress and, by implication, the executive are in accord with the US constitution. | 16 | |
| 6650879657 | Judicial Restraint | A judicial philosophy in which judges play minimal policymaking roles, leaving that duty strictly to the legislatures. | 17 | |
| 6650884361 | Judicial Activism | A judicial philosophy in which judges make bold policy decisions, even charting new constitutional ground. | 18 | |
| 6650887738 | Political Questions | A doctrine developed by the federal courts and used as a means to avoid deciding some cases, principally those involving conflicts between the president and Congress. | 19 | |
| 6650895637 | Statutory Construction | The judicial interpretation of an act of Congress. | 20 |
