Question 1

Supreme Court justices must meet the same age and residency requirements as U.S. senators.

Accepted Answer

Senators must be at least 30 and a citizen for nine years. Supreme Court justices, however, can be any age and have no residency requirements.

Question 2

The Supreme Court has always had six members.

Accepted Answer

Although the Judiciary Act of 1789 established that the Supreme Court was to have six members (five associate justices and one chief justice), today there are nine members (eight associates and one chief)

Question 3

Partisanship has been an important determinant in presidential selection of judicial nominees almost since the ratification of the constitution.

Accepted Answer

John Adams, the second president, filled the courts almost exclusively with adherents of his party, thus setting political precedent for his successors ever since.

Question 4

Jeffersonian Republicans long criticized the Supreme Court under Chief Justice John Marshall for being too responsive to public opinion and not independent enough.

Accepted Answer

President Jefferson and his colleagues had in fact complained that the court was not responsive enough.

Question 5

FDR's court-packing plan required every justice over 70 to retire and be replaced by two judges under 50.

Accepted Answer

FDR proposed that for every federal judge who did not retire upon turning 70, the president could nominate an additional judge to that court. Since two-thirds of the Supreme Court was over 70 at that time, FDR would have been able to appoint an additional six new justices.

Question 6

Which of the following was not an issue that Andrew Jackson challenged the judiciary on?

Accepted Answer

President Jackson challenged Chief Justice John Marshall on two key fronts: the national bank and Indian removal.

Question 7

Which of the following was not a reform proposal offered by President Lincoln concerning ongoing problems with the circuit court system?

Accepted Answer

Lincoln suggested all of these proposals to Congress and left it to the legislature to determine which they thought best.

Question 8

When did Congress fix the number of Supreme Court justices at nine?

Accepted Answer

Between 1789 and 1869 the size of the Supreme Court was changed six times (four times it was expanded, twice it was shrunk), but since the size was fixed at nine justices in 1869, it has not changed.

Question 9

Who was chief justice during the "heyday of judicial liberalism"?

Accepted Answer

Between 1963 and 1969, the heydey of judicial liberalism, the Warren Court struck down conservative state and local statutes at a rate unsurpassed by any previous Court.

Question 10

Which of the following was not a Supreme Court justice appointed by President Reagan?

Accepted Answer

Reagan appointed O'Connor, Scalia, and Kennedy. Burger, however, served as chief justice from 1969-1986 and retired during the Reagan administration.

Quiz 8: The President and the Judiciary Introductory Puzzle: How Earl Warren Became the Last