2025 civics test · Question 51 · System of Government
What does the judicial branch do?
Any one of these answers is accepted
- Reviews laws
- Explains laws
- Resolves disputes (disagreements) about the law
- Decides if a law goes against the (U.S.) Constitution
What this means
The judicial branch is the court system, headed by the Supreme Court. Its job is to interpret the law rather than to write it or enforce it.
The courts:
- review laws and decide what they mean
- explain laws when their wording is unclear
- resolve disputes: disagreements between people, companies, or states
- decide if a law goes against the Constitution
That last power is the important one. If the Supreme Court rules that a law violates the Constitution, the law can no longer be enforced, even though Congress passed it and the president signed it.
Any one of those four answers is accepted.
Why this is on the test
This is the branch most applicants find hardest to describe, and it is also the branch that decides whether a law follows the Constitution.
How this question is asked
On the 2025 civics test, the officer asks up to 20 of the 128 questions out loud and you pass by answering 12 correctly. You answer in your own words. There is no multiple choice and nothing to write down for the civics portion.
This question also appears on the 2008 civics test , as question 37.
Related questions
More from System of Government.
- 16 Name the three branches of government.
- 17 The President of the United States is in charge of which branch of government?
- 18 What part of the federal government writes laws?
- 19 What are the two parts of the U.S. Congress?
- 20 Name one power of the U.S. Congress.
- 21 How many U.S. senators are there?