1. Judicial Branch Vocabulary! 1) Judicial Branch Responsible for interpreting laws Ex: the US Supreme Court is the nation’s highest court. (9 judges; they have the final word on whether a law is constitutional) 2) Constitutional Rights or freedoms protected by the US constitution

2. Judicial Branch Vocabulary! 3) Judiciary Act In 1789 this law established the lower federal court system (trial courts, which are known as federal district courts; US 94 district courts) 4) Appellate Courts The federal court system has these courts if there is a case that is challenged and they will review the decision made by the district court (there are 12 in the US and one Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit)

3. Judicial Branch Vocabulary! 5) Ex post facto Having retroactive force You're getting punished for a law after the fact. It is meant to prevent a law being passed to make a past action illegal. Some countries will discover an action they do not like, but is not against the law. So they pass the law to make that action illegal and then apply it to people that broke that law before it was passed. 6) Habeas Corpus A law requiring a person to be brought before a judge or court, especially for investigation of a restraint of the person's liberty, used as a protection against illegal imprisonment.

4. Judicial Branch Vocabulary! 7) Writ of Mandamus An order issued by a higher court to a lower court or government official compelling the performance of a duty. 8) Plaintiff One who brings a legal action in a court