End of Topic Test – Supreme Court

Total Marks = 60               Pass Mark = 42

Role of the Supreme Court (8 marks)

1. The role of the US Supreme Court is to hear cases from jurisdictions – explain what these are. (2 marks)

2. The Supreme Court’s original jurisdiction extends to 4 different types of cases. What are they? (4 marks)
   a) ______________________________________________________________________________________
   b) ______________________________________________________________________________________
   c) ______________________________________________________________________________________
   d) ______________________________________________________________________________________
3. The Constitution only mentions 1 federal court – the Supreme Court, but gives the power to create other courts to Congress. Article 3 of the Constitution on the judiciary is purposefully vague. What else does Article 3 not tell us about the Supreme Court? (2 marks)
   a) ______________________________________________________________________________________
   b) ______________________________________________________________________________________

Membership of the Supreme Court (24 marks)

4. There are 9 justices on the US Supreme Court. Complete the missing details in the table below. (14 marks)

Picture	Name	Year Appointed	Appointed by President
	a)	2005	b)
	Antonin Scalia	1986	c)
	Anthony M Kennedy	1988	d)
	e)	1991	George H W Bush
	f)	1993	g)
	Stephen G Breyer	1994	Bill Clinton
	Sauel Alito	2006	h)
	i)	j)	k)
	l)	m)	n)

5. Define the following terms. (10 marks – 2 marks for each definition)
   a) Loose constructionist
   ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
   b) Strict constructionist
   ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
   c) Originalism
   ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
   d) Judicial Activism
   ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
   e) Judicial Restraint
   ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Appointment and Confirmation Process (8 marks)

6. There are 6 key stages of the appointment and confirmation process of Supreme Court Justices. Complete the list below. (2 marks)
   President Nomination
   2. White House Review
   3._____________________________________
   4._____________________________________
   5. Senate Confirmation Hearings
   6. Senate Vote
7. Explain the role of the Senate Judiciary Committee in the appointment process. (5 marks)
   ________________________________________________________________________________________________________

________________________________________________________________________________________________________

________________________________________________________________________________________________________

8. There have been 130 successful nominations to the US Supreme Court. How many unsuccessful nominations have there been? (1 mark)
______________

Supreme Court Nominees  (10 marks)

9. Why were each of the following Supreme Court nominees rejected by the Senate;
   a) Robert Bork
   ________________________________________________________________________________________________________
   b) G Harold Carswell
   ________________________________________________________________________________________________________
   c) Clement Haynsworth
   ________________________________________________________________________________________________________
10. Why were each of the following Supreme Court nominations withdrawn by President George W Bush;
    a) Harriet Miers
    ________________________________________________________________________________________________________
    b) John Roberts Jnr
    ________________________________________________________________________________________________________
11. Clarence Thomas was confirmed by a very narrow margin of 52-48. Explain why?
    ________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Judicial Review (4 marks)

12. Define judicial review.
    _______________________________________________________________________________________________________
13. Explain Marbury v Madison.
    _______________________________________________________________________________________________________

Landmark Cases (6 marks)

14. Give a brief explanation of what each of the following cases was about.
    a) Ableman v Booth (1859)
    _________________________________________________________________________________________________________
    b) Roth v United States (1957)
    _________________________________________________________________________________________________________
    c) Engel v Vitale (1962)
    _________________________________________________________________________________________________________
    d) Roe v Wade (1973)
    _________________________________________________________________________________________________________
    e) Texas v Johnson (1989)
    _________________________________________________________________________________________________________
    f) Boumediene v Bush (2008)
    _________________________________________________________________________________________________________