End of Topic Test – Supreme Court

Total = 64 marks               Pass mark = 45 marks

1. What are the 5 key powers the US Supreme Court has? (5 marks)
2. What 4 key roles does the Supreme Court fulfil? (4 marks)
3. What sort of cases does the US Supreme Court have jurisdiction over? (4 marks)
4. What is appellate jurisdiction? (1 mark)
5. What is original jurisdiction? (1 mark)
6. Who are the current 9 member of the US Supreme Court? (9 marks)
7. What is originalism? (1 mark)
8. What is loose constructionism? (1 mark)
9. What is strict constructionism? (1 mark)
10. Identify the 6 stages of the judicial appointment and confirmation process. (6 marks)
11. How many successful nominations to the Supreme Court have there been? (1 mark)
12. How many unsuccessful nominations to the Supreme Court have there been? (1 mark)
13. What is judicial review? (1 mark)
14. In which case did the judiciary ‘find’ the power of judicial review? (1 mark)
15. In which case did the judiciary first use their power of judicial review? (1 mark)
16. What are civil liberties? (1 mark)
17. Identify the checks by the legislature on the judiciary. (4 marks)
18. Identify the checks by the executive on the judiciary. (2 marks)
19. Identify other checks on the judiciary. (4 marks)

Landmark Cases

For each of the landmark cases below, explain briefly what the case was about. (15 marks)

1. Dred Scott v. Sandford (1857)
2. Ableman v. Booth (1859)
3. Plessy v. Ferguson (1896)
4. Near v. Minnesota (1931)
5. Brown v. Board of Education (1955)
6. Roth v. United States (1957)
7. Engel v. Vitale (1962)
8. Roe v. Wade (1973)
9. United States v. Nixon (1974)
10. Texas v. Johnson (1989)
11. Planned Parenthood of Seattle v. Casey (1992)
12. Vernonia School District 47J v. Acton (1995)
13. Bush v. Gore (2000)
14. Gonzales v. Carhart (2007)
15. Boumediene v. Bush (2008)