Understanding the US Federal Judiciary: Roles, Functions, and Key Cases, Quizzes of Public Policy

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TERM 1 Judicial Branch DEFINITION 1 Comprised of spreme court and lower courts as created by congress has power to adjudicate, interpret laws, and settle disputes congress has pwer to organize federal court system under the supreme court Currently 94 US district courts which are general trial courts of us federal court system. both civil and criminal cases are filed in district court which is a court of law, equity, and admirality TERM 2 types of cases district courts can conduct trials on DEFINITION 2 civil actions arising under the constitution, laws, and treaties of the US, certain civil actions between citizens of different states, civil actions within the admiralty or maritime jurisdictions of the US, criminal prosecutions brought by the US, civil actions in which the US is a party; many other types of cases and controversies TERM 3 Federal Circuit courts of appeals DEFINITION 3 created by congress in 1982, has a total of 12 circuit judges sitting at any given time, 13 circuit court of appeals, each circuit court is a 3 judge panel, jurisdiction is based upon subject matter rather than location, it can hear appeals from all of the district courts and administrative agencies, can choose to review a case or "stare decisis" which means to stand by teh precedent, to stand by and adhere to decisions and not disturb what is settled TERM 4 Supreme Courts DEFINITION 4 highest judicial body, consists of chief justice and 8 associate justices who are nom by the pres and confirmed by majority vote of senate, each circuit court of appeals is assigned one circuit justice, from the supreme court, supreme court may exercise original jurisdiction in cases affecting ambassadors and other diplomats, and cases in which a state is a party, appellate jurisdiction for circuit courts and state supreme courts, has the power to interpret what the constitution means and to judicial review, which gives the supreme court power to review the actions of the legislative and executive branches TERM 5 judicial activism DEFINITION 5 Judicial activism is a political term used to describe judicial rulings that are suspected to be based upon personal and political considerations other than existing law. TERM 6 judicial restraint DEFINITION 6 Judicial restraint is a theory of judicial interpretation that encourages judges to limit the exercise of their own power. it asserts that judges should hesitate to strike down laws unless they are obviously unconstitutional TERM 7 Roe vs Wade DEFINITION 7 1973 supreme court decided a woman may abort her pregnancy for any reason up until point at which fetus becomes viable, court called it a constitutional right to privacy TERM 8 Lawrence vs Texas DEFINITION 8 2003 justices struck down sodomy laws in texas that criminalized sodomy between same sex individuals, said intimate consensual sexual conduct was part of liberty protected by substantive due process under 14th amend TERM 9 Griswold vs CT DEFINITION 9 1965, Removed ct's previously held law prohibiting use of contraceptives on grounds that it violated right to marital privacy, ruled constitution protected right to privacy TERM 10 Miranda vs Arizona DEFINITION 10 1966 said both inculpatory and exculpatory statement made in response to interrogation by a defendant in police custody will be admissible at trial only if prosecution can show that the defendant was informed of the right to consult with an attorney before and during questioning and of the right against self incrimination prior to questioning by police, and that the defendant not only understood these rights, but voluntarily waived them TERM 21 policy formulation DEFINITION 21 development of proposed courses of action to help resolve a problem Ex. Mortgage crisis obama proposed using federal powers to clamp down on fraudulent lending practices, establishing a credit card bill of rights to help prevent people from being driven into bankruptcy in first place, and reform of bankruptcy system to allow estate trustees to renegotiate mortgages and an exemption for bankruptcies caused by medical expenses, to deal with foreign energy dependencies obama invested in alternative energy development such as solar panels and fuel cells TERM 22 Policy instruments at govt disposal DEFINITION 22 Price control regulations Ex. Input subsidy or quality control regulations, Quantity controls-Max/min quotas, Public investment/service Ex building roads or improving comm systems and transportation, Legal and Institutional framework Ex. requiring licenses from things or privatization, Research and extension Ex. researching improved livestock breeds to combat famine TERM 23 Legitimation DEFINITION 23 official actions taken by a govt that gives legal authority to a course of action, govts should act when the situation at hand is unrealistic for the average person to overcome on their own, or when something is going to affect the public as a whole not just the individual, or when debate over whether something is morally acceptable govt should step in and settle dispute (by making laws or amendments) TERM 24 Implementation DEFINITION 24 set of activities directed at putting policy into affect, accomplished through the bureaucracy, involves regulating behavior or distributing services TERM 25 What factors influence successful implementation DEFINITION 25 legislative intent, administrative capacity or the implementing bureaucracy, interest group activity and opposition, presidential/executive support TERM 26 3 points to remember in identifying policy instruments to tackle policy issues or problems DEFINITION 26 sometimes no feasible policy instruments may be available to a govt to tack prob, same objective can often be served by several alternative policy instruments, same policy instruments can assist in the attainment of several policy objectives TERM 27 Define evaluation and 5 guiding principles DEFINITION 27 assessment of how well policies are working, systematic inquiry- evaluators conduct systematic data based inquiries about whatever is being evaluated, competence-evaluators provide competent performance to stakeholders, integrity-evaluators ensure the honesty and integrity of the entire eval process, respect for people- evals respect the security, dignity, and self worth of the respondents, program participants, clients, and other stake holders w/ whom they interact, responsibilities for general and public welfare-evals articulate and take into account the diversity of interests and values that may be related to g and p welfare TERM 28 Rational Decision Making and 5 steps DEFINITION 28 process for making logically sound decisions, Define situation/decision to be made, identify the important criteria for the process and the result, consider all possible solutions, calculate the consequences of these solutions vs the likelihood of satisfying the criteria, choose the best option TERM 29 Incrementalism DEFINITION 29 refers to the method of change by which rather than a few extensively planned changes, many small policy (often unplanned) changes are enacted over time in order to create a larger broad based policy change, theoretical policy of rationality developed by lindblom to be seen as middle way between rational actor model and bounded rationality TERM 30 5 tools for making public policy DEFINITION 30 Cost benefit analysis- if benefits are greater than cost then do it, focus on identifying costs and benefits in monetary terms (problematic-- hard to value things like life saved), cost effectiveness analysis- doesn't try to quantify things like life, looks at all options available, choose those that cost least. Risk Assessment-- the determination of quantitative or qualitative value of risk related to a concrete situation and a recognized threat-involves estimation of magnitude. Forecasting-process of making statements about events who actual outcomes typically have not yet been observed based on hypothetical policies Impact assessment- process aimed at structuring and supporting development of policies, identifies and asseses problem at stake and objectives pursued, identifies main options for achieving ovjective and analyses their likely impacts in economic, environmental and social fields, outlines advantages and disadvantages of each option and examines possible synergies and trade-offs.