The Most Common Background Experience Among Recent Supreme Court Nominees

question 30

Multiple Choice

The most common background experience among recent Supreme Court nominees is judicial experience, and this can be explained by which of the following facts?

• A) A judge's previous opinions serve as good predictors of his or her future opinions on the Supreme Court.
• B) All senators confirming or rejecting nominees are lawyers.
• C) A Supreme Court justice must have passed the bar exam.
• D) All senators confirming or rejecting nominees are lawyers and a Supreme Court justice must have passed the bar exam.
• E) Legal education is a formal requirement for all judicial positions in the United States.

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Definitions:

Dutch West India Company

A 17th-century trading company chartered by the Netherlands to conduct commerce and colonization in the Americas and West Africa, also involved in the Atlantic slave trade.

"City Upon A Hill"

A metaphor derived from a sermon by Puritan leader John Winthrop, emphasizing the idea that the colony of Massachusetts should serve as a model of righteousness and Christian virtue for the world.

Puritans

A group of English Protestants in the 16th and 17th centuries who sought to "purify" the Church of England from its "Catholic" practices.

Mid 17th Century

A period that roughly spans from the year 1630 to 1669, marking significant historical, cultural, and political changes worldwide.