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Thurston Civics 10
Civics Chapter 10
| Term | Definition |
|---|---|
| plaintiff | An individual or group of people who bring a complaint against another party. |
| defendant | The party who answers a complaint and defends against the complaint |
| prosecution | Government body that brings a criminal charge against a defendant who is accused of breaking one of its laws. "The People" represented by the prosecutor |
| precedent | A guideline for how all similar cases should be decided in the future. |
| original jurisdiction | The authority to hear a case first |
| appeal | To ask a higher court to review the decision and determine if justice was done. |
| appellate jurisdiction | The authority to hear an appeal |
| Courts of appeals | Handle the appeals from federal district courts |
| Circuit courts | Another name for the Court of Appeals |
| judicial review | the power to overturn any law that the Court decides is in conflict with the Constitution |
| opinion | a written statement explaining the reasons for a decision |
| judicial activism | an effort by judges to take an active role in policy making by overturning laws relatively often |
| judicial restraint | an effort by judges to avoid overturning laws and to leave policy making up to the other two branches of government. |