Glossary

Amicus Brief

Also called a “friend-of-the-court” brief, these briefs are submitted by interested people or groups who are not a party to the litigation itself. WoLF has submitted a number of amicus briefs.

Bill

A proposed law or policy.

Bill of Rights

The first ten amendments to the Constitution, which safeguard some specific rights of the American people and the states.

Constitutional Amendment

A change to the Constitution proposed either by the Congress, with a two-thirds majority vote in both the House of Representatives and the Senate, or by a constitutional convention called for by two-thirds of the state legislatures.

Democracy

Rule by the people; a system of government by the whole population or all the eligible members of a state, typically through elected representatives.

Due process

In criminal law, the constitutional guarantee that a defendant will receive a fair and impartial trial. In civil law, the legal rights of someone who confronts an adverse action threatening liberty or property.

Elector

A member of the Electoral College.

Electoral College

The body that elects the president of the United States; composed of electors from each state equal to that state’s representation in Congress; a candidate must get a majority of electoral votes to win.

Executive Order

A directive issued by the president, either to carry out an act of Congress or to guide the administrative branch in implementing the law.

Federal

Relating to the U.S. government (as opposed to U.S. state governments).

Jurisdiction

The legal authority of a court to hear and decide a certain type of case. It also is used as a synonym for venue, meaning the geographic area over which the court has territorial jurisdiction to decide cases.

Level of Scrutiny

The level of scrutiny is how closely a court reviews a constitutional challenge to a law - strict, intermediate, or rational basis review.

Political party

An alliance of like-minded people who work together to win elections and control of the government

Precedent

A court decision in an earlier case with facts and legal issues similar to a dispute currently before a court. Judges will generally "follow precedent" - meaning that they use the principles established in earlier cases to decide new cases that have similar facts and raise similar legal issues. A judge will disregard precedent if a party can show that the earlier case was wrongly decided, or that it differed in some significant way from the current case.

Presentment

Refers to the practice of presenting a federal statute passed by both the House and Senate to the President for signature before it becomes law.

Primary election

An election within a party to choose the party’s nominee for a political office.

Regulation

A rule issued by a government agency that has the force of law.

Statute

A law passed by the legislative branch.