Unit 2 Free-Response Questions: Prompt 3 — Unit test
Question 19 • AP US Government and Politics
A law professor writes an article for a legal journal. The article opposes judicial review, arguing that the final decision on the constitutionality of a law should rest with the legislature, which represents the people, rather than with the unelected justices of the Supreme Court.
Answer
A
The Supreme Court is composed of a balance of political viewpoints, which forces consensus, as opposed to the legislature, whose shifting party composition lacks political consistency.
B
The Constitution gives the Supreme Court the power of judicial review to maintain the balance among governmental branches.
C
Legal decisions made by unelected judges and based on the Constitution provide greater national stability than those based on the changing opinions of the electorate.
D
The lifetime tenure of Supreme Court justices makes them better qualified to decide matters of long-term consequence than elected officials.