United States District Court for the Southern District of New York - Quiz
  • 1. What is the age limit for a judge to serve as a chief judge?
A) 65
B) 70
C) 75
D) 60
  • 2. How long is the term of a chief judge?
A) Seven years
B) Life tenure
C) Five years
D) Ten years
  • 3. What is the minimum age a judge must be under to become chief judge?
A) 60
B) 65
C) 70
D) 50
  • 4. What is the minimum number of years a judge must be in active service to become chief judge?
A) Five years
B) One year
C) Two years
D) Ten years
  • 5. When did the current rules for the chief judge position take effect?
A) January 1, 1948
B) August 6, 1959
C) October 1, 1982
D) October 28, 2026
  • 6. What happens if no members of the court meet the age requirements for chief judge?
A) The longest-serving senior judge takes the role
B) The Supreme Court appoints a chief
C) The position remains vacant
D) The age restrictions are waived
  • 7. How is a vacancy for chief judge filled?
A) By the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court
B) By presidential appointment
C) By the judge highest in seniority among qualified judges
D) By a vote of all district judges
  • 8. When was the office of chief judge created?
A) 1958
B) 1959
C) 1948
D) 1982
  • 9. What was the rule for becoming a chief judge after August 6, 1959?
A) Judges must have served at least ten years
B) Judges had to be under 60
C) Judges were appointed by the Senate
D) Judges could not serve after turning 70
  • 10. Which of the following is a requirement to be a chief judge?
A) Must have served on the Supreme Court
B) Must be the longest-serving judge on the court
C) Must be at least 70 years old
D) Must not have previously served as chief judge
  • 11. What is the common abbreviation for the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York?
A) S.D.NY.
B) S.D.N.Y.
C) SDNY-Court
D) U.S.D.C.S.N.Y.
  • 12. How many counties are within the geographic jurisdiction of the S.D.N.Y.?
A) Eight
B) Nine
C) Seven
D) Ten
  • 13. Which of the following is a New York City county included in the S.D.N.Y. jurisdiction?
A) Bronx
B) Richmond
C) Kings
D) Queens
  • 14. To which court are appeals from the S.D.N.Y. typically taken?
A) United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit
B) Supreme Court of the United States
C) United States Court of Appeals for the First Circuit
D) United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit
  • 15. What is the colloquial nickname for the S.D.N.Y.?
A) The Federal Trial Center
B) The Financial District Court
C) Mother Court
D) The Original Court
  • 16. Which judge mentioned in the text served on the bench of the S.D.N.Y.?
A) Charles L. Brieant Jr.
B) Thurgood Marshall
C) Daniel Patrick Moynihan
D) Learned Hand
  • 17. Who was the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York as of February 13, 2025?
A) Matthew Podolsky
B) Rudy Giuliani
C) Robert Morgenthau
D) Preet Bharara
  • 18. Where does the S.D.N.Y. hear cases?
A) Manhattan, White Plains, and Poughkeepsie
B) Manhattan, Queens, and Staten Island
C) White Plains, Yonkers, and Albany
D) Manhattan, Brooklyn, and the Bronx
  • 19. Which court shares concurrent jurisdiction over the waters of Kings, Nassau, Queens, Richmond, and Suffolk counties with the S.D.N.Y.?
A) Supreme Court of the State of New York
B) United States District Court for the Eastern District of New York
C) United States District Court for the Northern District of New York
D) United States District Court for the Western District of New York
  • 20. The S.D.N.Y. sits in which of the following buildings in Manhattan?
A) Thurgood Marshall United States Courthouse
B) The Woolworth Building
C) The Merchants Exchange
D) Federal Hall
  • 21. What legislation established the original District of New York court?
A) Judiciary Act of 1789
B) Constitution of the United States
C) Act of April 9, 1814
D) Public Law 95-408
  • 22. When was the District of New York first divided into Northern and Southern Districts?
A) 1789
B) 1814
C) 1865
D) 1900
  • 23. Who reportedly instigated the subdivision of the District of New York?
A) Matthias B. Tallmadge
B) William P. Van Ness
C) Elihu Root
D) Learned Hand
  • 24. Which counties were transferred from the Southern to the Northern district in 1978?
A) Orange, Dutchess, and Sullivan
B) New York, Bronx, and Kings
C) Westchester, Putnam, and Rockland
D) Columbia, Greene, and Ulster
  • 25. What type of cases dominated the S.D.N.Y. caseload during its first hundred years?
A) Civil Rights
B) Admiralty
C) Environmental
D) Patent
  • 26. Who was the longest-serving judge in the history of the S.D.N.Y.?
A) Pierre N. Leval
B) David Norton Edelstein
C) Samuel Blatchford
D) Sonia Sotomayor
  • 27. Which two judges were elevated from the S.D.N.Y. to the Second Circuit and later to the Supreme Court?
A) Samuel Blatchford and Sonia Sotomayor
B) Robert P. Patterson and Michael Mukasey
C) Learned Hand and Augustus Noble Hand
D) Harold Medina and Pierre N. Leval
  • 28. Which former S.D.N.Y. judge served as the Director of the FBI?
A) Robert P. Patterson
B) Michael Mukasey
C) Louis Freeh
D) Rudy Giuliani
  • 29. What position did Michael Mukasey hold under President George W. Bush?
A) Director of the FBI
B) Secretary of War
C) Supreme Court Justice
D) United States Attorney General
  • 30. In which city is the Charles L. Brieant Jr. Federal Building and Courthouse located?
A) New York City
B) Poughkeepsie
C) White Plains
D) Manhattan
  • 31. Which 1912 maritime disaster had its injury and loss of life claims heard in the S.D.N.Y.?
A) Lusitania
B) Bojinka
C) Titanic
D) General Slocum
  • 32. Which judge rejected government efforts to censor James Joyce's Ulysses in 1933?
A) Murray Gurfein
B) John M. Woolsey
C) William H. Pauley III
D) Lewis A. Kaplan
  • 33. What 1971 case involved an attempt to enjoin The New York Times from publishing the Pentagon Papers?
A) William H. Pauley III
B) John M. Woolsey
C) Murray Gurfein
D) Lewis A. Kaplan
  • 34. Which former U.S. Attorney General was acquitted in the S.D.N.Y. in 1974?
A) John Mitchell
B) Alger Hiss
C) Ariel Sharon
D) Harry Daugherty
  • 35. Which financial figure was prosecuted for fraud in the S.D.N.Y.?
A) Abduwali Muse
B) Bernard Madoff
C) Tom Brady
D) Imelda Marcos
  • 36. Who was the 'Somali Pirate' whose prosecution was heard in the S.D.N.Y. in 2010?
A) Patrick Ho
B) Omar Abdel Rahman
C) Abduwali Muse
D) Michael Cohen
  • 37. Which NFL player was involved in a controversy heard in the S.D.N.Y. in 2015?
A) Michael Milken
B) Sam Bankman-Fried
C) Tom Brady
D) Ivan Boesky
  • 38. Who presided over the 2023 E. Jean Carroll v. Donald J. Trump trial?
A) John M. Woolsey
B) Murray Gurfein
C) William H. Pauley III
D) Lewis A. Kaplan
  • 39. Which former Philippine First Lady was tried in the S.D.N.Y. in 1990?
A) Cilia Flores
B) Bess Myerson
C) Ghislaine Maxwell
D) Imelda Marcos
  • 40. Michael Cohen was sentenced by which judge on December 12, 2018?
A) Lewis A. Kaplan
B) Murray Gurfein
C) William H. Pauley III
D) John M. Woolsey
  • 41. What legal argument was central to the Viacom Inc. v. YouTube Inc. case?
A) Defamation
B) Fair use
C) DMCA safe harbor
D) Obstruction of justice
  • 42. Which individual was known as 'The Blind Sheikh' and tried in the S.D.N.Y.?
A) Patrick Ho
B) Michael Milken
C) Omar Abdel Rahman
D) Alger Hiss
  • 43. The suspect Luigi Mangione is currently in a federal case in the S.D.N.Y. regarding the killing of which CEO?
A) Tom Brady
B) Sam Bankman-Fried
C) Bernard Madoff
D) Brian Thompson
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