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.