CHAPTER ONE: UNDERSTANDING THE U.S. SUPREME COURT
Type: E
1. Describe the structure of the U.S. judicial system.
2. Why do most cases come to the Court through writs of certiorari?
3. How does the U.S. judiciary differ from other judiciaries throughout the world?
4. Is our federal judiciary centralized or decentralized? Which seems to be the better system?
Why?
5. Why does the Court set up checkpoints that cases must go through before they are accepted for
review?
6. According to Supreme Court Rule 10 what makes a case “certworthy?”
7. Discuss the three political factors that scholars believe may affect the justice’s decision to
place a case on the Court’s docket. Give examples of each.
8. What special roles does the Chief Justice have in the agenda setting process?
9. Why do you think the Court adheres to the Rule of 4?
10. Explain why the Solicitor General is so successful at the agenda setting stage.*a. varies
11. Are Amicus Curiae really friends of the Court? Why or why not?
12. Based on the text and lecture, do you think oral arguments affect the Court’s decisions? Why
or why not?
13. Why might the justices want to ensure absolute privacy in their conference discussions
14. Why is efficiency a concern when the chief assigns opinions to be written? *a. varies
15. What response options does a justice have once an opinion is circulated?
16. Explain the difference between textualism and original meaning. Give at least one example.
17. Explain the difference between judicial activists and judicial restraintists. Give an example of
18. Why is precedent such an important criteria for the justices when deciding cases? Why might
it not be such a good criteria?
19. Should the Court look to other jurisdictions (within or outside the U.S.) when it makes
decisions? Why or why not?
20. What evidence did Pritchett use to argue against the legal model? Is it persuasive?
21. How do strategic considerations differ from legal or ideological ones?
22. Describe (with examples) three external constraints faced by Supreme Court justices.
23. Given that the justices are not elected, how can public opinion have an effect on decisions
24. While the Solicitor General is successful at the agenda setting stage, why is the office just as
successful at the final decision stages of the Court’s process?
25. Which decision making model best explains how the Court decides?
26. What factors might lead a justice to change her vote from the one she cast at conference to
the one she signs in a final opinion?
27. What are the key criticisms against the use of original intent to decide Supreme Court cases?
28. Stare Decisis means: C
29. What led Pritchett to believe that the law was not the only factor affecting justices’
decisions?
30. According to the attitudinal model the coalition of Justices Thomas, Scalia, Alito, and
Roberts may best be defined as:
31. An activist Supreme Court justice is likely to:
32. Why should the Supreme Court pay attention to the preferences of the president?
33. What is the main way in which interest groups try to influence the Supreme Court?
34. What are the Court’s two types of jurisdiction? Fully describe each and explain how cases
come to the Court through each type.
35. The legal, attitudinal, and strategic models provide competing explanations for the Supreme
Court justices make decisions. Explain the main tenets of each model with examples. Then
make an argument for which model you believe provides the best (most realistic) view of how
the justices actually make decisions.