H6

a) Judicial review is the ability of the Supreme Court to rule on the constitutionality of laws.

b) Judicial review is a form of checks and balances because it allows the Supreme Court to make legislative or executive actions irrelevant or to alter them by declaring laws, executive orders, or other actions unconstitutional and therefore no longer applicable.

c) A writ of certiorari is a decision by the supreme court to hear an appeal from a lower court. In order to grant this writ, four Supreme Court Justices must agree to hear the case.

d) Stare decisis is the principle that judges must rule in accordance with the precedent set by judges in previous cases. This means that Justices must use the precedent set by former Justices in making their decision regardless of their personal feelings on the case. Judicial activism, on the other hand, is the idea that Justices sometimes make rulings based on their personal opinions or feelings about a case rather than based on existing law. Judicial activism may affect a Justice's decision as he or she considers the effects his or her choice may have in the long term and the ramifications of their decisions in terms of setting a future precedent.