judge
/ˈdʒədʒ/
nounthe official in charge of a court who decides on legal matters
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Examples
1. The judge began the trial.
2. How would you judge this current moment in the U.S. and globally?
3. Ultimately, our brains judge color and brightness in context.
4. Judges go their own way.
5. Judges block any adoption requests.
judgment
/ˈdʒədʒmənt/
nounthe quality of being able to make logical decisions
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Examples
1. I learned a hard lesson today about the judgment and discrimination and retaliation against people who are deaf or hard of hearing.
2. Judgment matters as well.
3. - Others actually offered judgment.
4. I deserve judgment.
5. All people in existence have judgments.
judgment call
/dʒˈʌdʒmənt kˈɔːl/
nouna decision that is solely based on one's own judgment or instinct rather than any clear principle or rule
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Examples
1. Well, it's your judgment call or mine in the second century.
2. Unfortunately, these judgment calls, because they are so subjective, can be influenced by a lot of factors.
3. And that's the judgment call.
4. So, I have to make the judgment call.
5. So that looks like a judgment call.
judicial review
/dʒuːdˈɪʃəl ɹɪvjˈuː/
noun(in the UK) the process in which a court of law can examine an action or decision made by a public body or government department
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Examples
1. And judicial review under Marbury, therefore, is a search for rules.
2. Judicial review and the substance of the asserted constitutional doctrine are connected.
3. Judicial review has two legal elements.
4. Wise officials and ministers do not mind a judicial review.
5. The president's declarations under IEEPA are not specifically exempt from judicial review.
jurisdiction
/ˌdʒʊɹəsˈdɪkʃən/, /ˌdʒʊɹɪsˈdɪkʃən/
nounthe power or authority of a court of law or an organization to make legal decisions and judgements
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Examples
1. Together we have jurisdiction.
2. What is jurisdiction?
3. The court has original jurisdiction over lawsuits between two or more states.
4. Who has jurisdiction?
5. No government agency has jurisdiction over the truth.
jurisdictional
/ˌdʒʊɹəsˈdɪkʃənəɫ/
adjectiverelating to an official organization, mainly the court's power and authority to bind the parties to the action
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Examples
1. The Scottish legal system, however, would retain its full jurisdictional independence.
2. It was jurisdictional?
3. It was a jurisdictional defect.
4. Jurisdictional errors do not.
5. And the jurisdictional boundaries are really complicated
to keep / leave one's options open
/kˈiːp lˈiːv wˈʌnz ˈɑːpʃənz ˈoʊpən/
phraseto not make a decision so that one still has choices in the future
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Examples
1. let's leave our options open.
2. They’re just keeping their options open, and that’s cool.
3. Today, Reed kept his options open during a windy interview.
4. I try to encourage them to keep their options open with a backup plan.
5. Zack knows a ton of girls will choose him, so he's wearing his third most racist disguise to keep his options open.
majority verdict
/mədʒˈɔːɹɪɾi vˈɜːdɪkt/
noun(law) a decision supported or made by a jury that most of the people, but not all agree with
Examples
to make allowances for sb/sth
/mˌeɪk ɐlˈaʊənsᵻz fɔːɹ ˌɛsbˈiː slˈæʃ ˌɛstˌiːˈeɪtʃ/
phraseto consider something when doing calculations or making a plan
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Examples
1. The passports for the group had been issued by Napoleon, and he had made allowances for Davy, Davy's wife, a maid, and a valet.
2. The passports for the group had been issued by Napoleon, and he had made allowances for Davy, Davy's wife, a maid, and a valet.
miscarriage of justice
/mɪskˈæɹɪdʒ ʌv dʒˈʌstɪs/
noun(law) a situation in which a court wrongly punishes someone
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Examples
1. - This is a miscarriage of justice!
2. It shows that, sometimes, there is a miscarriage of justice.
3. They call it a miscarriage of justice.
4. And it was a miscarriage of justice.
5. "Cannot allow this miscarriage of justice."
to nail down
/nˈeɪl dˈaʊn/
verbto finally come to an agreement or decision
Examples
to narrow down
/nˈæɹoʊ dˈaʊn/
verbto decrease the number of possibilities or choices
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Examples
1. Narrator: Vince narrowed down his product portfolio.
2. Police have already narrowed down the suspects to every dad in Staten Island.
3. This narrows down the suspects to people with connections to the police.
4. At this point the scientists had narrowed down the impact location to somewhere in North Africa or Europe.
5. The next step is narrowing down your list, into doable story ideas.
negotiable
/nəˈɡoʊʃəbəɫ/
adjectiveable to be changed to discussed in order for an agreement to be reached
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Examples
1. Safety is not negotiable.
2. But other things, apparently, are negotiable.
3. That's negotiable.
4. Those things are not negotiable.
5. Even the cost of health care is negotiable.
no-brainer
/ˌnoʊˈbɹeɪnɝ/
nounsomething such as a decision or question that requires minimal or no mental effort to be made or answered
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Examples
1. Manny: For $100 cheaper than the Sega Saturn, it was a no-brainer for gamers.
2. The first one was a no-brainer.
3. Even the 30 day number was mostly a no-brainer.
4. The eighth pick was a no-brainer.
5. This one is a no-brainer.
of one's own free will
/ʌv wˈʌnz ˈoʊn fɹˈiː wˈɪl/
phrasein a way that demonstrates one's capability and independence in decision-making free of any influence or circumstance
Examples
on the horns of a dilemma
/ɑːnðə hˈɔːɹnz əvə dᵻlˈɛmə/
phrasein a situation that forces one to choose between two alternatives that both have equally undesirable outcomes
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Examples
1. I'm on the horns of a dilemma.
2. I'm on the horns of a dilemma here.
3. So Sidney Powell finds herself on the horns of a dilemma here.
4. And yet every single day in class I would find myself on the horns of a dilemma or you know, I wouldn't understand the arguments that were being made.
5. In other words, what he seems to be saying in that passage at around 37c and d is that he realizes he is on the horns of a dilemma.
open verdict
/ˈoʊpən vˈɜːdɪkt/
noun(in the UK) a legal decision that declares the cause of someone's death IS unknown
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Examples
1. And recorded his death as an open verdict.
option
/ˈɑpʃən/, /ˈɔpʃən/
nounsomething that can or may be chosen from a number of alternatives
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Examples
1. Another option would be to just get a laptop with a higher resolution display.
2. Number four, give them options.
3. Options include dogs, giraffes, unicorns, and deer.
4. Options include fruits, vegetables and fish.
5. Options include banks, brokerage houses, mutual fund companies, credit unions, and insurance companies.
to override
/ˈoʊvɝˌɹaɪd/
verbto change or reject someone's decision, especially by using one's authority
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Examples
1. If the President vetoes a law, Congress, with a two thirds vote in both houses, can override the veto.
2. But a simple majority of the state legislature can override the veto.
3. The laws in these spaces would override wholesale market rules.
4. Kind of its automatic process overrides your selection.
5. But they nonetheless overrode the vote.
to overrule
/ˈoʊvɝˌɹuɫ/
verbto use one's official or political superiority to change or reject a previously made decision
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Examples
1. - Overruled.
2. The fear overrules the appetite.
3. The court first overruled portions of the lower court decision.
4. This case will overrule your objection.
5. - Overruled.
to overturn
/ˈoʊvɝˌtɝn/
verbto reverse, abolish, or invalidate something, especially a legal decision
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Examples
1. Most importantly, the commission officially overturned the result.
2. What order did the protests overturn?
3. On Wednesday, an Italian court overturned a government ban.
4. Overturning Biden's election.
5. The council immediately overturned the ban on pinball.
to pick
/ˈpɪk/
verbto choose someone or something out of a group of people or things
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Examples
1. Pick a number between one and eight. -
2. Pick a number between one and eight. -
3. Pick the right time.
4. Pick a sanitary, licensed parlor.
5. - "Pick a school subject."
to pick and choose
/pˈɪk ænd tʃˈuːz/
phraseto choose the most desirable alternative out of the ones available
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Examples
1. I don't really do all of them at once, but, you know, just pick and choose.
2. And when you deliver low-fares and you allow people to pick and choose those things that they like, that's how they they deliver an even lower fare for themselves and we think that's what what we do every day.
3. So part of the difference that we're seeing here is people, the United States have so many opportunities to participate that they just decide to pick and choose which elections they're going to participate in.
4. Well, customers will get to pick and choose what services they want to spend their money on.
5. Based on this kaleidoscope of details, Facebook forms an advertising profile for each user, putting them into certain groups that advertisers can pick and choose from when buying ads on Facebook.
to draw (lots / straws)
/dɹˈɔː lˈɑːts stɹˈɔːz/
phraseto make a decision solely based on throwing a dice, picking a random paper, etc.
Examples
to pick a winner
/pˈɪk ɐ wˈɪnɚ/
phraseto excel in making decisions that ultimately lead to one's success
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Examples
1. And then we're gonna pick a winner based on which product not only fixed our makeup the best, but which one held up with our products' quality.
2. so there's an episode of immersion and of course I have to pick a winner of science
3. But I was told I have to pick a winner, so I'm gonna pick one.
4. We're gonna pick a winner and you win a $50 gift card to Popeye's chicken.
5. - Gotta pick a winner.