Deck 13: Sentencing and Appeals

Question 1

The guarantee against cruel and unusual punishment is in the:

A) First Amendment.
B) Second Amendment.
C) Fifth Amendment.
D) Eighth Amendment.

Answer 1

Eighth Amendment.

Question 2

The primary purpose of punishment is to:

A) set an example.
B) punish the offender.
C) get even with the offender.
D) protect society.

Answer 2

protect society.

Question 3

The offender when convicted:

A) has a right to probation.
B) has a right to parole.
C) has no rights.
D) has no inherent right to remain free from custody.

Answer 3

has no inherent right to remain free from custody.

Question 4

The sentencing of a convicted offender is:

A) a simple matter of following the law.
B) always agreed upon by the prosecution and defense.
C) a matter of great variance between the states.
D) an unimportant part of the process.

Question 5

If an offender violates the terms of his or her probation, the offender:

A) must be returned to prison.
B) must be sent to jail.
C) may be sentenced to imprisonment.
D) must be given at least one chance to correct his or her problems.

Question 6

A sentence may include which of the following terms?

A) Imprisonment and/or money fine and/or rehabilitation
B) Life imprisonment or death penalty
C) Imprisonment and/or suspended sentence and or probation
D) All of the above

Question 7

A sentence to "four years in the state correctional institution" is a(n) ________ sentence.

A) indefinite
B) definite
C) stacked
D) mandatory

Question 8

The presentence investigation is usually conducted by a staff member of the:

A) police department.
B) probation department.
C) county sheriff's department.
D) state prison system.

Question 9

The benefit of clergy was a forerunner of the:

A) blood feud.
B) trial by battle.
C) death penalty.
D) suspended sentence.

Question 10

Probation is believed to have begun in America by:

A) John Augustus.
B) William Penn.
C) Rufus Cook.
D) Jeremy Bentham.

Question 11

In some states, the indefinite sentence is referred to as:

A) the indeterminate sentence.
B) the nondeterminate sentence.
C) Both A and B
D) None of the above

Question 12

The presentence investigation is usually conducted by a staff member of the:

A) probation department.
B) parole department.
C) police department.
D) District Attorney's office.

Question 13

Which of the following is NOT included in a pre-sentence report?

A) The offender's family status
B) Educational background
C) Work experience
D) All of the above

Question 14

The ________ sentence has been attacked by inmates on the allegation that it violates the due process of law because of its uncertainty, and, as such, is cruel and unusual punishment.

A) indeterminate
B) determinate
C) congealed
D) combined

Question 15

Probation, primarily of ________ origin, is an outgrowth of the suspended sentence and is the newest form of correctional treatment for the offender.

A) American
B) English
C) French
D) Spanish

Question 16

Probation is a form of ________, and an offender has no inherent right to demand to be placed on probation.

A) retribution
B) clemency
C) vengeance
D) an indeterminate sentence

Question 17

The Court held in ________ that the death penalty as such was not cruel and unusual punishment but that the indiscriminate manner in which it was applied made the death penalty cruel and unusual punishment.

A) Furman v. Georgia
B) Coker v. Georgia
C) Gregg v. Georgia
D) Godfrey v. Georgia

Question 18

The Constitution's ban on cruel and unusual punishment bars the execution of mentally retarded people as noted in this U.S. Supreme Court case:

A) Furman v. Georgia.
B) Atkins v. Virginia.
C) Gregg v. Georgia.
D) Texas v. Johnson.

Question 19

A form of punishment for minor crimes.

A) Banishment
B) Fine
C) Jail
D) Halfway house

Question 20

In the Williams case, the U.S. Supreme Court held that imprisoning one who was indigent and unable to pay the fine beyond the maximum amount of imprisonment prescribed by law was in violation of the Equal Protection Clause of the:

A) Fifth Amendment.
B) Eighth Amendment.
C) Fourteenth Amendment.
D) Twenty First Amendment.

Question 21

Under ________ law, imprisonment as punishment was illegal.

A) English
B) Spanish
C) Roman
D) Hebrew

Question 22

In primitive times, ________ was the philosophy behind punishment.

A) retaliation
B) rehabilitation
C) utilitarian
D) deterrence

Question 23

In Baze v. Rees (2008), 128 S.Ct. 1520, lethal injection was found to be unconstitutional.

Question 24

Imprisonment is the earliest form of punishment and the one most frequently used.

Question 25

Probation is an inherent right of one convicted of a felony for the first time.

Question 26

In early England, imprisonment was not a form of punishment.

Question 27

Parole is normally granted before sending the offender to an institution.

Question 28

With our modern technology, it is now relatively easy to determine when an offender is rehabilitated to the point where he or she is no longer a threat to society.

Question 29

All offenders are sentenced to imprisonment.

Question 30

Under early Roman law, imprisonment as a form of punishment was an accepted sentence.

Question 31

In the 1800s, in England banishment served as an additional source of revenue for both the king and the church.

Question 32

In most states, it is still the prerogative of the trial judge to impose a sentence.

Question 33

A consecutive sentence is one that must be served before the next sentence begins.

Question 34

Probation is not considered to be a sentence but rather a disposition of the case.

Question 35

The definite sentence was severely criticized by reformists as being inflexible.

Question 36

Juries generally do not have access to any presentence investigative material.

Question 37

The true indeterminate sentence removes the sentencing of a prescribed number of years from the hands of a judge or a jury.

Question 38

On the continent of Europe during the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, the ________ sentence was used to lengthen the sentences of dangerous criminals for protective detention after they had served their original sentences.

Question 39

The indeterminate sentence has been attacked by inmates on the allegation that it violates the due process of law because of its uncertainty, and, as such, is ________ punishment.

Question 40

The ________ sentence is recognized in our system of justice today, but in most instances, it is coupled with a period of probation.

Question 41

________, like the suspended sentence, permits the convicted offender to remain free from custody, but by being placed on probation, the offender is under the supervision of some person who assists him or her in leading a law-abiding life.

Question 42

If convicted, a defendant will usually ________ the conviction to the appropriate appellate court if there is any basis at all.

Question 43

When the trial judge advises a defendant as to his or her rights before the judge accepts a guilty plea, the advisement is considered as the "________ advisement."

Question 44

Many states have only a single appellate court, which is generally referred to as the ________ Court.

Question 45

The following is a typical example of an appellate court citation: State v. Tison, 142 Ariz. 446 (1999). State v. Tison is the title of the decision; 142 refers to the ________ of the official record.

Question 46

The gas chamber, electric chair, hanging, lethal injection, and firing squad have all been sanctioned by the Court as ________ means of carrying out the death penalty.

Question 47

In the case of ________, the U.S. Supreme Court reaffirmed that the death penalty was not in violation of the Eighth Amendment guarantee against cruel and unusual punishment, when state statutes were then passed allowing the jury or judge to take into consideration aggravating or mitigating circumstances in imposing the alternate sentence of life imprisonment or death.

Question 48

How did imprisonment develop as a punishment?

Question 49

Explain the deterrence and the theory behind it.

Question 50

What are the various forms sentencing can take?

Question 51

Discuss the pros and cons of having the jury impose sentence.

Question 52

What are the differences between definite and indefinite sentencing?

Question 53

What type of sentence do you think is most effective to serving the public good: definite sentence, the indefinite sentence, or the indeterminate sentence? Identify the critiques of each sentencing philosophy.

Question 54

Is the death penalty as we have it now cruel and unusual punishment? Support your answer.