Define access. | Supreme Court doctrines that govern who may sue and the powers of courts to provide redress. |
What is an advisory opinion? | Judicial ruling in the absence of an actual case or controversy; a ruling in a hypothetical case without bona fide litigants. |
Define caseload. | Number of cases requiring judicial action at a certain time, or the number of cases acted upon in a given court during a given time period. |
What is certification? | Rarely used method of appealing to the U. S. Supreme Court by which the lower court formally identifies questions of law for decision. Also, the process by which a federal court sometimes refers a question about state law to a state court and delays deciding the case until the question is answered. |
What is exhaustion of remedies? | Doctrine that requires persons aggrieved to avail themselves of all administrative remedies before seeking judicial relief. |
What is a federal question? | Case that contains a major issue involving the U. S. Constitution or U. S. laws or treaties. |
Define in forma pauperis. | Latin phrase meaning ''in the manner of a pauper.'' In the U.S. Supreme Court, cases brought in forma pauperis by indigent persons are exempt from the Court's usual fees and from some formal requirements. |
Define justiciable. | Describes controversies that are within the proper jurisdiction of a court and appropriate for judicial resolution. |
What is the miscellaneous docket? | Term formerly used to refer to the listing of in forma pauperis cases to be heard by the U. S. Supreme Court. |
Define Moot. | Case that no longer presents a justiciable controversy because the issues involved have become dead. |
Original jurisdiction? | Jurisdiction in the first instance; commonly used to refer to trial jurisdiction (as compared with appellate jurisdiction). Appellate courts, however, have limited original jurisdiction. |
What is a per curiam decision? | An unsigned opinion of the court, often quite brief; per curiam is a Latin phrase meaning ''by the court.'' |
What is a political question? | Doctrine that courts will not decide cases involving issues for which a final decision is clearly left to one of the political branches by the Constitution. |
What is a ripe case? | Case that is ready for court action because the controversy has jelled sufficiently. Courts will not decide an issue before the need to do so. |
Who is the solicitor general? | Third-ranking official in the U. S. Department of Justice, who conducts and supervises government litigation in the Supreme Court. |
What is a special master? | Person appointed by a court to hear evidence and submit findings and recommendations based on that evidence. The Supreme Court typically uses special masters in original jurisdiction cases. |
What is standing? | Requirement that the party who files a law-suit have a legal stake in the outcome. |
What is a taxpayer lawsuit? | Lawsuit brought by a person who claims standing on the basis of his or her status as a taxpayer. Such standing is only rarely granted. |