Chapter 12 Self-Check Quiz
Twelve multiple-choice questions and four short-answer questions covering Article III architecture, justiciability, judicial review, the federal court hierarchy, Article I tribunals, judicial selection, the empirical realities of judicial behavior, statutory and constitutional interpretation schools, stare decisis, and the counter-majoritarian/majoritarian-difficulty debate. Answer keys are in appendices/answer-keys.md.
Multiple choice
1. Which of the following federal courts is established directly by Article III of the Constitution?
A. The U.S. District Courts B. The U.S. Courts of Appeals C. The U.S. Supreme Court D. The U.S. Tax Court
2. Which of the following is NOT one of the three constitutional standing requirements articulated in Lujan v. Defenders of Wildlife (1992)?
A. Injury in fact (concrete, particularized, actual or imminent) B. Causal connection between the injury and the defendant's conduct C. Likelihood that the injury can be redressed by the relief sought D. The plaintiff is a citizen of the United States
3. Marbury v. Madison (1803) is most famous for establishing which doctrine?
A. The supremacy of state courts over federal courts on questions of state law B. The power of federal courts to review and strike down acts of Congress as unconstitutional C. The doctrine of dual federalism D. The president's authority to refuse to enforce judicial orders
4. Martin v. Hunter's Lessee (1816) and Cohens v. Virginia (1821) collectively established that:
A. The Supreme Court can review state court decisions on questions of federal law B. The Supreme Court can review state court decisions on questions of state law C. State courts cannot enforce federal law without state legislative authorization D. The Eleventh Amendment bars all state-court review by federal courts
5. How many federal judicial circuits exist?
A. 9 B. 11 C. 13 D. 50
6. The number of justices on the Supreme Court is set by:
A. The Constitution B. Statute (the Judiciary Act of 1869, currently) C. The Supreme Court's own rules D. A treaty between the original states
7. A political question, in the sense of Baker v. Carr (1962), is:
A. Any case involving an elected official B. A constitutional question committed by the Constitution itself to the political branches and therefore not appropriate for judicial resolution C. A case in which the parties disagree about politics D. A case decided during an election year
8. Which of the following is the constitutional difference between Article III courts and Article I tribunals?
A. Article III judges are elected; Article I judges are appointed B. Article III judges have life tenure during good behavior and salary protection; Article I judges typically have fixed-term appointments without these protections C. Article III courts handle criminal cases; Article I tribunals handle civil cases D. Article III courts are federal; Article I tribunals are state
9. The "nuclear option" used by the Senate in 2013 (and extended in 2017) did what?
A. Eliminated all judicial confirmations B. Reduced the cloture threshold for executive-branch and judicial nominations from 60 votes to a simple majority C. Prohibited the use of the filibuster on legislation D. Required unanimous consent for Supreme Court confirmations
10. Cass Sunstein's empirical work on the federal judiciary primarily found that:
A. Federal judges decide cases identically regardless of who appointed them B. Federal judges' votes correlate substantially with the political party of the appointing president, especially on contested questions C. Federal judges always follow the recommendations of the political parties D. Federal judges' votes are random across politically charged cases
11. The interpretive philosophy that holds that the meaning of a statute is the meaning of its text as understood by an ordinary speaker of English at the time of enactment is called:
A. Purposivism B. Living constitutionalism C. Textualism D. Common-law constitutionalism
12. The "counter-majoritarian difficulty," articulated by Alexander Bickel in The Least Dangerous Branch (1962), refers to:
A. The problem of how an unelected, life-tenured judiciary can be permitted to overturn the decisions of elected representatives in a democracy B. The problem of judges who lose elections C. The difficulty of getting a majority of judges to agree D. The problem of the Supreme Court not being able to enforce its rulings
Short answer
13. In 150–200 words, explain the constitutional difference between the Supreme Court's original jurisdiction and appellate jurisdiction. Give an example of a case in each category.
14. In 200–250 words, summarize the empirical case for and the formalist response to the claim that federal judges are not neutral umpires. Be careful to steel-man both sides; do not argue for one over the other.
15. In 200–250 words, explain the doctrine of stare decisis, the factors courts use to decide whether to overrule precedent, and the contested question of when overruling is principled and when it is political. Reference at least two specific cases (one liberal-coded overruling and one conservative-coded overruling).
16. In 150–200 words, contrast originalism and living constitutionalism as constitutional-interpretation traditions. Give one strong argument for each. Identify which Justice (current or recent) is most associated with each approach.