Deck 9: State Courts and the Criminal Justice System

Question 1

Which of the following is NOT true regarding plea bargaining?

A)If plea bargains were nonexistent,the cost to the state would be astronomical.
B)Completely innocent people charged with a crime may be intimidated into pleading guilty to reduce a potentially long sentence.
C)Plea bargains give victims of crime the feeling that they have received justice.
D)The already-slow progress of cases through the courts would grind to a halt without plea bargains.

Answer 1

C

Question 2

Which of the following is NOT true regarding state court organizational structures?

A)California has a very simple structure,with only one type of court at each of the three levels.
B)Typically,the more recently a court system has been overhauled,the more complex it is.
C)New York has an extremely complex structure.
D)More complex court structures make the system less understandable to the average person.

Answer 2

B

Question 3

The neutral entity that makes an authoritative decision and is comprised of a cross-section of the community is known as the

A)judge.
B)jury.
C)prosecution.
D)attorney.

Answer 3

B

Question 4

Most trials are known as "bench trials," which means that

A)the defendant's fate is left to a randomly selected jury.
B)the prosecution must prove a certain percentage of facts before getting a conviction.
C)a seated jury will decide the case,but it does not have to be unanimous.
D)a single judge runs the trial and makes the final decision.

Question 5

Which of the following crimes is considered a federal offense?

A)Kidnapping
B)Murder
C)Assault
D)Traffic infractions

Question 6

Which of the following regarding state court systems is TRUE?

A)Most state court judges facing merit elections fail to be retained for another term.
B)As with the federal court system,most state court judges are appointed to the bench for life.
C)According to the American Bar Association,roughly 10 percent of state supreme court judges are qualified for the bench.
D)Unlike the federal court system,most state court judges must sometimes face the voters.

Question 7

Laws that limit the right to sue or the amount that can be awarded in a lawsuit fall into the category of

A)special court institutions.
B)frivolous lawsuits.
C)tort reform.
D)class-action lawsuits.

Question 8

In Iowa in 2010,three Supreme Court Justices

A)decided to retire after their controversial decision legalizing same-sex marriage.
B)lost their merit retention elections.
C)were elected to the bench in the most expensive partisan races in the history of the state.
D)created an innovative collective political action committee to promote their candidacies for reelection.

Question 9

Which of the following is NOT one of the responsibilities given to top state prosecutors and district attorneys?

A)Following up on criminal investigations of the police
B)Deciding which cases to bring to trial
C)Negotiating with defense attorneys
D)Acting as the governor's lawyer in the cases that go to trial

Question 10

Which of the following regarding state court systems is true?

A)Most lawsuits result in either no money or only a modest amount of money being awarded to the injured party.
B)The U.S.Supreme Court handles far more cases than state supreme courts.
C)Television shows portraying the legal system are,contrary to popular belief,quite accurate in their depiction of how things work.
D)There is much less institutional variation within and among states' judicial branches than among either their executive or legislative branches.

Question 11

The court system that a case goes into depends primarily on

A)the decision of the arresting officers.
B)an appeals court judge.
C)the maximum potential sentencing that can be given.
D)the nature of the crime or conflict involved.

Question 12

A traditional system of law concerning contracts and injuries that has evolved case by case over the past 500 years is known as

A)historic law.
B)common law.
C)previous case law.
D)dynamic law.

Question 13

Approximately what percentage of cases moves beyond trial courts?

A)1 percent
B)5 percent
C)15 percent
D)33 percent

Question 14

Which of the following courts judge questions about the fairness of a trial?

A)Trial courts
B)Intermediate courts of appeal
C)Supreme courts
D)District courts

Question 15

Which of the following courts tends to be the only one seen fit for television drama series?

A)Trial courts
B)Intermediate courts of appeal
C)Supreme courts
D)District courts

Question 16

The Florida 2012 Supreme Court merit retention judicial elections revealed that

A)some nonpartisan merit retention elections have become quite partisan.
B)a majority of Floridians support abolishing the death penalty.
C)the state legislature is expected to be able to overturn the high court's decision on same­sex marriage.
D)in general,people distrust state supreme court justices.

Question 17

Which of the following courts handles suits claiming limited amounts of damages with that limit ranging from a maximum of $1,500 in Kentucky to $25,000 in Tennessee,and the typical state amount averaging $5,000?

A)Trial courts
B)Specialty courts
C)Problem-solving courts
D)Small claims courts

Question 18

State courts are a central part of government,not only enforcing the law and settling conflicts,but sometimes

A)even passing their own constitutional amendments.
B)even making public policy.
C)even overruling the United States Supreme Court.
D)even opting to increase the size of the state judiciary.

Question 19

In civil cases,the party that feels it has been injured is known as the

A)defendant.
B)prosecutor.
C)plaintiff.
D)people.

Question 20

Suing a person because you feel he or she injured you is a common way of settling disputes in the Anglo-American tradition of common law,and is called a(n)

A)tort.
B)probate.
C)class-action lawsuit.
D)writ of mandamus.

Question 21

Which of the following is NOT true regarding the administrative duties of state supreme courts?

A)They employ hundreds of law enforcement officers and clerical workers,such as bailiffs and court reporters.
B)They administer various state legislative statutes through discretionary hearings.
C)They administer the court system's budget through the state budget process and run its personnel system.
D)They assign lower court judges to specific courts and hire and assign temporary judges as needed.

Question 22

Why do state supreme courts have considerable staying power with regard to court-made constitutional law?

A)The supreme court is the most powerful and dominant institution under most state constitutions.
B)Most state legislatures collectively agree to give state supreme courts nearly unlimited power in terms of their statutory and constitutional interpretation.
C)The legislative process to amend the state constitution is extremely difficult compared to amending a statute.
D)Most state legislatures are too focused on substantive issues to worry about pressuring the decision making of supreme courts.

Question 23

Which of the following is NOT true regarding the jurisdiction of state supreme courts in states that use a three-tiered legal system?

A)When the state legislature and governor have a conflict over their powers under the state constitution,they can bring the suit directly to the Supreme Court.
B)The Supreme Court is required to hear appeals of certain criminal convictions,such as trials resulting in a death sentence.
C)The Supreme Court can hear appeals of trial courts and decisions of intermediate courts of appeals at their discretion.
D)The Supreme Court's docket is comprised largely of routine,mandatory appeals.

Question 24

Which of the following is NOT true regarding the appeals process?

A)A person cannot appeal a trial court decision simply because he or she lost the case.
B)Legitimate grounds for an appeal in civil or criminal law have nothing to do with the facts of the case.
C)A case can only be appealed based on questions about either the fairness of the trial or the constitutionality of the law involved.
D)All state court systems have one level of appellate courts,deciding both questions of fairness and constitutionality.

Question 25

Which of the following is the most widely used judicial selection mechanism?

A)Nonpartisan election
B)Gubernatorial appointment
C)Partisan election
D)Merit Plan

Question 26

Which of the following is a document in which the parties involved point out what they see as the problems with the trial and respond to the arguments in the other party's brief?

A)Trial transcript
B)Trial brief
C)Legal briefs
D)Legal transcript

Question 27

Which of the following plays the dominant,if not exclusive,role in the decision making of state supreme court justices?

A)Case facts and existing legal decisions
B)The ideology of the justices and the state's population
C)A justice's party affiliation and gender
D)The religion of the justice and the defendant

Question 28

What is one way that intermediate courts of appeals differ from trial courts?

A)Appeals are heard only by judges and never by a jury.
B)Witnesses testify and physical evidence is produced in intermediate courts,but there is no questioning by the prosecution.
C)Legal briefs are not allowed in intermediate courts of appeals.
D)The parties to the case generally do not attend the trial court,but almost always attend appellate court proceedings.

Question 29

Roughly what percentage of all sitting state judges were women in 2012?

A)13 percent
B)24 percent
C)39 percent
D)52 percent

Question 30

Which of the following is NOT true regarding courts and their policy-making role in state government?

A)If you ask a judge-even a state Supreme Court justice-if the court makes policy,he or she will likely deny it vehemently.
B)The judicial branch has a lot of policy-making legitimacy in popular American culture because their decisions are backed by precedent and law.
C)To admit to making policy,a judge would be violating professional norms.
D)Even if a judge wanted to make policy,their agendas would be affected to a much greater degree by events and outsiders than the policy agendas of legislatures or governors.

Question 31

Which of the following is a type of problem-solving court?

A)Drug court
B)Small claims court
C)Traffic court
D)Supreme court

Question 32

The different types of judicial selection in the states reflects the persistent debate regarding the

A)proper way to run a judicial system.
B)balance of power between the judicial and executive branches of government.
C)extent to which a judge uses the law versus public opinion to make legal decisions.
D)impact of major ethical movements in state and federal law.

Question 33

Which of the following is NOT a step in the Merit Plan selection process?

A)The judge,after serving a probationary term,faces the voters in a retention election.
B)Each judicial candidate is represented by his or her registered party (or no party if independent)after selected by a nominating commission.
C)The governor appoints one of the nominees to the vacancy for a short term,usually one to three years.
D)A nominating commission is formed to recruit and evaluate potential judges.

Question 34

Generally,which type of court establishes the facts of a case and applies the law?

A)Trial courts
B)Intermediate courts of appeal
C)State supreme courts
D)The U.S.Supreme Court

Question 35

Which of the following is NOT true regarding the similarities and differences between the judicial branch and the other branches of government?

A)The format of trial court decision making is formal and consistent across courts.
B)Governors and legislators are able to consider a variety of points of view.
C)Like all courts,trial courts are active decision makers.
D)Judges make decisions on specific disputes and specific facts concerning law in specific cases,whereas legislatures and governors make broad and general policy decisions.

Question 36

The power to judge whether a statute violates the state's constitution and ability to nullify that law is known as

A)judicial nullification.
B)judicial dissent.
C)statutory revision.
D)judicial review.

Question 37

Each supreme court employs someone to do most of the day-to-day administrative work.This position is known as the

A)attorney general.
B)state prosecutor.
C)director of state courts.
D)chief clerk.

Question 38

Supreme courts like to hear cases that raise

A)ambiguous legal questions that are common to a class of cases.
B)specific legal questions that are common to a class of cases.
C)ambiguous legal questions that are particular to certain cases.
D)specific legal questions that are particular to certain cases.

Question 39

Which of the following two states are the only ones to use legislative appointment for judicial selection?

A)South Carolina and Virginia
B)Georgia and Arkansas
C)Nebraska and Kansas
D)New Mexico and Oregon

Question 40

Which state court is also known as the court of last resort?

A)Trial court
B)Appellate court
C)Supreme court
D)Court of general jurisdiction

Question 41

Which of the following is NOT a critique of the elite appointment system or of judicial elections?

A)Judicial elections are criticized for being high-turnout,high-information affairs.
B)The original elite appointment system for judges took away the independence of the courts.
C)Elite appointments of judges can influence the type of person who rises to the bench.
D)The legal profession frowns on judicial candidates who offer the sort of information that routinely is seen in campaigns for other political offices.

Question 42

What is the difference between a jury trial and a bench trial? What are the advantages and disadvantages of each type of trial?

Question 43

What are the different methods that states use for selecting judges? Why is there such variance across the states? Which system do you think is the best? Why?

Question 44

Which of the following is NOT true regarding judges that are elected to the bench?

A)Elected judges' decisions tend to reflect the ideology and values of their state's citizens.
B)Elected judges tend to adjust their voting as elections approach.
C)Judicial elections lead to less plea bargaining,more trials,and more dissenting opinions on controversial issues in Supreme Court decisions.
D)Judges elected on partisan ballots tend to grant higher awards to injured parties than judges selected through other systems.

Question 45

How have intermediate courts of appeal in the states evolved over time? What is their primary role in the judicial process? How do they differ across the states?

Question 46

A primary difference between judges and other politicians,such as governors or legislators,is that judges are expected to be

A)more intelligent.
B)nicer and sympathetic.
C)unbiased and fair.
D)correct in every instance.

Question 47

What is the role of state supreme courts in affecting public policy? Do you think the courts should impact public policy? Citing some examples,make your case.

Question 48

Discuss the major differences between criminal and civil law,as well as between the federal and state court systems.

Question 49

Which of the following is NOT true regarding analyses of the effect of judicial selection mechanisms?

A)State judges are overwhelmingly middle-aged,middle-class,white,and male.
B)Elections tend to reduce the level of racial and ethnic diversity among judges.
C)Female judicial candidates do worse in election systems,even though they constitute a slight majority in most states.
D)The type of judicial selection results in major differences in judicial decision making.

Question 50

States have regulated judicial elections much more heavily than they have legislative or gubernatorial races in order to

A)avoid appearances of bribery but not other illicit activities.
B)prevent conflicts of interest developing between judges and campaign donors.
C)take power away from the judiciary and redistribute it among the other two branches.
D)control the type of judges that will eventually be elected to the bench.

Question 51

Which state was the first to adopt and utilize the Merit Plan?

A)Montana
B)Mississippi
C)Maine
D)Missouri