Supreme Court

• Conservative justice - justices who favour more right-wing values and ideas e.g Brett Kavanaugh
• Imperial judiciary - omnipotent judiciary with unchecked influence over the US political system, executive and legislative branches
• Judicial activism - philosophy that justices should use their position to promote desirable social outcomes from their rulings
• Judicial restraint - encourages judges to limit the exercise of their own power
• Judicial review - where a judge reviews the lawfulness of a decision or action made by a public body
• Liberal justice - belief that people should have a lot of freedom in deciding how to behave and think
• Living constitution - the belief that the US Constitution has relevant meaning beyond the original text + is an evolving document that changes over time
• Originalism - theory interpreting legal texts which states that a text in law should be interpreted as it was understood at the time of its adoption
• Public policy - principles on which social laws are based.
• Stare decisis - ‘to stand by things decided’ - courts + judges should honour precedent -> the decisions, rulings and opinions from prior cases
• Strict constructionist - someone who believes that the text of the constitution is not open to interpretation + words of the constitution are literal.
• Loose constructionist - the Constitution is interpreted loosely, reading between the lines to extract a meaning
• Swing justice - a swing judge who essentially decides the overall outcome of the ruling during a split, which can lead to highly impacting decisions
• Constitutional right - prerogative/ duty, power or restraint of power, recognised + established by a sovereign state
• Racial equality - equal rights given to all regardless of race.
• Affirmative action - ensure equal employment opportunities for applicants and employees