Memorize these and you could recognize 12.8% of all Law clues.
| # | Answer | Appearances | Sample Clue |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Thurgood Marshall | 14 | Anti-segregation lawyer in 1954 landmark case, in 1967, he became 1st black Supreme Court justice |
| 2 | Sandra Day O'Connor | 12 | The first woman justice to issue the oath of office at a Pres. inauguration, she swore in Dan Quayle |
| 3 | William Howard Taft | 12 | In 1921 he replaced fellow heavyweight Edward D. White, whom he had appointed Chief Justice in 1910 |
| 4 | John Jay | 11 | The 1st Chief Justice |
| 5 | Earl Warren | 9 | This Chief Justice chaired the commission that investigated the assassination of JFK |
| 6 | Antonin Scalia | 9 | The son of an Italian immigrant, in 1986 he became the 1st Catholic appointed since Brennan in 1956 |
| 7 | manslaughter | 8 | The unlawful killing of another without malice; it can be involuntary or voluntary |
| 8 | Harvard | 7 | The 1st justice with a U.S. law degree was Benjamin Curtis, who earned it from this Mass. university in 1832 |
| 9 | arson | 7 | The true crime podcast "Firebug" is about John Orr, convicted of multiple federal counts of this |
| 10 | Clarence Thomas | 7 | He served as assistant attorney general of Missouri under John C. Danforth from 1974 to 1977 |
| 11 | a subpoena | 7 | Derived from the Latin for "under penalty", this is a legal notice to appear in court as a witness |
| 12 | Pro Bono | 6 | In some states lawyers are required to spend some time doing volunteer work, which is called this |
| 13 | Nolo Contendere | 6 | Latin term sometimes used for a plea of "no contest" |
| 14 | libel | 6 | While slander is spoken, a case of defamatory words written or printed is called this |
| 15 | William Rehnquist | 6 | Antonin Scalia was appointed to the court when this man was promoted to Chief Justice |
| 16 | Ronald Reagan | 6 | This president appointed the most members of the current court |
| 17 | Richard Nixon | 6 | He was the last president to be one of the litigants in a case before the Supreme Court |
| 18 | Louis Brandeis | 6 | This first Jewish justice graduated first in his Harvard Law School class in 1877 |
| 19 | John Dillinger | 6 | He was Public Enemy No. 1 after he escaped from jail March 3, 1934, allegedly with a carved gun |
| 20 | a tort | 6 | From the Latin for "twist", it's a civil wrong or injury that doesn't involve a contract |
| 21 | a jury | 6 | These can be grand, petit or hung |
| 22 | Ruth Bader Ginsburg | 5 | In August 1993 she was confirmed as the second woman justice on the Supreme Court |
| 23 | Roe v. Wade | 5 | Justice Harry Blackmun wrote the majority decision in this landmark 1973 abortion case |
| 24 | murder | 5 | The crime which brought Raskolnikov punishment in Dostoyevsky's "Crime & Punishment" |
| 25 | habeas corpus | 5 | Latin for "you shall have the body", its application protects against illegal imprisonment |
| 26 | a will | 5 | A person who died intestate didn't leave one of these |
| 27 | treason | 4 | In the story "The Man Without a Country", this was the man's crime |
| 28 | probate | 4 | Procedure a will goes through to prove its validity |
| 29 | Oliver Wendell Holmes | 4 | "The Great Dissenter", he was son & namesake of poet who wrote "Old Ironsides" |
| 30 | moot court | 4 | Law school students might participate in this "court", a hypothetical appellate case whose topic is chosen from a real case |
| 31 | fingerprints | 4 | Scotland Yard viewed them as foolproof evidence as early as 1910 |
| 32 | discovery | 4 | The pretrial disclosure of facts to the other party, it's also the name of a TV channel |
| 33 | chattel | 4 | Once applied to slaves, it's the general legal term for items of personal property |
| 34 | Bush v. Gore | 4 | It was the legal name of the December 2000 Supreme Court case to decide who would become president |
| 35 | 9 | 4 | Since 1869, the bench has regularly held this total number of justices |
| 36 | a warrant | 4 | It's an order for the arrest of a person issued by a judge |
| 37 | Ernesto Miranda | 4 | Earl Warren ruled on this man's case that a suspect must be warned prior to questioning that he can stay silent |
| 38 | Felix Frankfurter | 4 | Thisman, who helped found the ACLU in 1920, must have said, "Hot dog!" after taking the bench 19 years later |
| 39 | an arraignment | 4 | Court session when a prisoner hears charges against him & enters plea |
| 40 | William O. Douglas | 3 | He served the longest on the court, having been an associate justice from 1939 to 1975 |
| 41 | venue | 3 | The location where the crime or injury happened; a "change of" it moves the trial |
| 42 | Torts | 3 | You'll need a class on these private wrongs like negligence & defamation |
| 43 | Thomas Jefferson | 3 | In 1804 justice Samuel Chase was impeached for statements made against this president's administration |
| 44 | the Bar | 3 | Dividing the spectators from the proceedings in the courtroom, you have to pass it to become a lawyer |
| 45 | Separate but equal | 3 | This doctrine upheld in 1896's Plessy v. Ferguson was denied in 1954's Brown v. Board of Education |
| 46 | Plaintiff | 3 | Also called the complainant, it's the person bringing a civil suit |
| 47 | perjury | 3 | A person is guilty of this crime if he willfully makes a false statement under oath |
| 48 | Marbury v. Madison | 3 | This battle of M's in John Marshall's Supreme Court was the first time an act of Congress was declared unconstitutional |
| 49 | Louisiana | 3 | Only state whose civil laws are not based mainly on English common law but on the "code Napoleon" |
| 50 | Johnnie Cochran | 3 | O.J. Simpson's lead criminal defense attorney, he was once a prosecutor for the L.A. city attorney |