| Term | Definition |
|---|
| Jurisdiction | The authority of a court to hear a particular case. |
| Original Jurisdiction | The authority of a court to be the first court to hear a particular case. |
| Appellate Jurisdiction | the authority f a court to review the decision of a "lower" court in a particular case. |
| Concurrent Jurisdiction | A situation in which both a state court and a federal court can hear a particular case. |
| "Federal Question" Jurisdiction | The authority of a federal court to hear a case involving an issue of federal law, or involving the United States government as a party or litigant. |
| "Diversity" Jurisdiction | The authority of a federal court to hear a case involving people who live in different states when the amount in disupte is more then 75,000 |
| Plaintiff | The person/government agency/coorporation/etc. who files a lawsuit. |
| Defendant | The person/agency/coorporation/etc. who is sued. |
| Writ of certiorari | The main procedure used to bring a case to the Supreme Court; the s.c has discretion to decide which cases come before it by this route. |
| brief | a written statement, filled with a court by a litigant, setting forth the factrs and law releveant to his or her case and explaining why he or she ought to win the case. |
| Amicus curiae(friend of the court) | A written statement filed by someone who is not a litigant setting forth the facts and law relevant to a particular case and explaining why one side or the other ought to win the case. |
| Opinion | the written statement of a courts reasons for deciding a case in a particular way |
| per curiam opinion | a short unsigned statement of a supreme court decision |
| unanimous opinion | in a court with multiple jduges, a written statement of the reason of the court for deciding a case in a particular way with which all the judges agree |
| majority opinion | in a court with multiple judges, a written statement of the reasons of the court for deciding a case in a particular way with which all of the judges agree |
| concurring opinion | in a court with multiple judges, the wirtten statement of a judge who agrees(or judges who agree) with the decision made about a case by the majority of the judges, but who has different reasons than they do for reaching that decision. |
| dissenting opinion | in a court with multiple judges, the written statement of a judge who disagrees withi the decision made about a case by the majority of the judges, with an explanaition of his or her reasons for disagreeing. |
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