H6

a) Judicial Review gives the judiciary the power to review actions of the legislative and executive branches.

b) The power of judicial review allows the supreme court to declare actions of congress or the president unconstitutional. This contributes to the idea of checks and balances because it gives the supreme court the power to monitor the two other branches and make sure they are working within their powers and rights.

c) The losing party in a court case files a "Cert Petition" asking the Supreme Court to review the decision made by the lower court, the Supreme Court then decides whether to hear an appeal from the lower court or not, called a Writ of Certiorari.

d) A stare decisis can have an influence on justices because it basically asks them to leave previous decisions in cases alone. If a case from a lower court is granted a Writ of Certiorari, and the Supreme Court decides to look at the case, then the stare decisis can influence justices to keep the result of the case the same, changing nothing and allowing the case to move on swiftly.
Judicial Activism affects justices because it is suggesting a bias within the courts. If a justice believes something is wrong even though it is not against the law and makes a case decision based on this, then that is an example of judicial activism. Justices are expected to interpret the law, not their opinions, and so judicial activism should be left out of the Supreme Court.

H3

1. a) Three characteristics of Supreme Court nominees are they are usually old aged, well educated and in most cases graduated from an ivy league, and have experience in law.

b) With age comes experience, and experience in law and legal matters is important for a justice to have in his decision making process within the courts. A full education is also important for a justice because it helps qualify the justice for his position and his ability to make decisions on important legal matters, which in some cases may be life or death decisions.

c) Eleanor Kagan was confirmed as a justice partly for her age. At 50 years old, she has plenty of experience and has worked in legal matters for a long enough time to give her the proper qualifications of a justice, however still has many years ahead of her to spend as a justice.

2. a) Two methods used by interest groups to influence the appointment process are they can donate money and endorse certain candidates and rallying support for their views and spreading their opinions through the media.

b) Donations help candidates' campaigns and can give them better chances and opportunities to win the position. Working the media helps gain support for the candidate being publicized the most widely.

c) Interest groups have endorsed Kagan through both donations, such as the ones given by pro choice groups, and coverage through the media.

Antonin Scalia

1) Scalia is one of the most talkative and flamboyant justices, being of italian heritage. He is very traditional and believes in keeping his religious views and intellectual views together as one in his thought process. He is against abortion and gun control and in favor of the death penalty.

2) Scalia believes in the theory of originalism, which most courts don't agree with. Scalia believes that Judges should only interpret the constitution in the meaning that the original framers assigned, giving no room for allowing judges' own interpretations of the constitution.

3) Scalia's "slash and burn" style lost him his opportunities to write for the majority and his shot at chief justice. However, he is still seen as one of the most influential justices, having killed the handgun ban in D.C and resurrecting the second amendment.