H6

1) Judicial review is the court's power to determine if acts of Congress and the Executive branch are Constitutional.
2) Judicial review gives the Supreme Court power over the Legislative and Executive branch because it checks up on them by making sure they are following the laws of the land and it is balanced because this does not give the Court the power to make or pass legislation.
3) A writ of certiorari is an order a higher court issues in order to review the decision and proceedings in a lower court and determine whether there were any irregularities. The Supreme Court issues a writ of certiorari when they are deciding whether or not to take the case.
4) Justices rely heavily on previous decisions and if a lower court has reached a stare decisis, meaning "let the decision stand", a Justice could decide to uphold that. Judicial activism is a judicial philosophy in which judges make bold policy decisions, emphasizing that courts can correct pressing needs. If a justice sees that the people are lacking essential legislation, they could use judicial activism to change that.

H3

1.
a) Three characteristics of Supreme Court nominees are ethical behavior, competence, and partisanship.
b) All three characteristics listed above are politically relevant because Supreme Court Justices serve for life and everything they do reflects somewhat on the president who nominated them. Presidents have to be very careful in their nominations because it lasts a lifetime.
c) Elena Kagan proved to Obama that she had ethical behavior because of her former job as Dean of Harvard Law school, he also knew she was competent because of her work as Solicitor General and she was a left-leaning lawyer.
2.
a) Interest groups with ideologies different from Kagan's voiced them to the public and raised money by doing so. Interest groups in favor of Kagan's confirmation made ads that supported her while bringing to light  their agenda.
b) The website of NARAL Pro-choice America told it's followers to urge senators to look into Kagan's stance on Roe v. Wade which influence liberal senators to vote for her confirmation. The Judicial Crisis Network used social networks, which senators have access to, to get the word out about Kagan's extreme left-wing views.
c) Elena Kagan would be one of three women Justices on the Supreme Court which liberal interest groups who specifically work for women's rights would bring to light and help push for her confirmation.

H1

1) Sonia Sotomayor is the first Hispanic justice and third female justice to serve on the US Supreme Court.
2) She is very liberal in her rulings and stands up for inequality in the court system. (While cross-examining the defendant, who was implicated in a drug deal but said he didn't know that that's what was going to happen in his friends' hotel, the prosecutor said: "You've got African-Americans, you've got Hispanics, you've got a bag full of money. Does that tell you--a light bulb doesn't go off in your head and say, 'This is a drug deal?'")
3) Sonia takes cases involving minorities, like the case of the Voting Rights Act.