Definitions of the US Court systems and types of cases, and their corresponding courts. Types of opinions a court can give.
Terms : Hide Images
| 774641353 | Civil Law | Disputes over things like contracts, property, custody of kids, or an issue of liability deal with this. The government is only involved if it happens to be the party being sued. | 1 | |
| 774641354 | Criminal Law | Deals with serious crimes that harm individuals or society. A suspect is arrested and must be indicted. | 2 | |
| 774641355 | Federal District Court | This court has original jurisdiction. | 3 | |
| 774641356 | Federal Circuit Court of Appeals | This court hears cases on appeal from the District Courts. | 4 | |
| 774641357 | the Supreme Court | This court hears appeals of cases dealing with constitutional questions from the Circuit courts and, in rare instances, original suits between states. | 5 | |
| 774651201 | Judicial Activism | Term referring to to the actions of a court that frequently strikes down or alters the acts of the executive and/or legislative branches. | 6 | |
| 774651202 | Judicial Restraint | Term referring to the actions of a court that demonstrates an unwillingness to break with precedent or to overturn legislative and executive branches. | 7 | |
| 774651203 | Judicial Review | The power of the Supreme Court to declare laws and executive actions unconstitutional. | 8 | |
| 774651204 | Unanimous Opinion | When all justices agree - this opinion carries the most force in future legal cases and when legislature drafts new laws. Example: Ruling in Brown v. Board | 9 | |
| 774651205 | Majority Opinion | Occurs when the justices split and one side has the most votes. This side decides the ruling of the case. | 10 | |
| 774651206 | Concurring Opinions | Sometimes, justices may vote with the majority but take issue with its legal reasoning. | 11 | |
| 774651207 | Dissenting Opinion | Those justices in the minority on an opinion can write this, which questions the reasoning of the winning side. Though these dissents have no immediate significance, if the ideological composition of the court changes, they can sometimes become the legal foundation for future majority opinion. | 12 |
