Deck 9: Sentencing, Appeals, and the Death Penalty

Question 1

According to your text,one problem with restitution is that most offenders:

A) consider restitution to be inflammatory and refuse to participate in providing it.
B) provide restitution, but usually the wrong kind.
C) arrange for others to assume the burdens of restitution for them.
D) have neither the financial means nor the abilities to provide adequate restitution.

Answer 1

D

Question 2

In ____,the legislature determines a sentence range for each crime that is usually based on the seriousness of the crime and the criminal history of the offender.

A) determinate
B) presumptive sentencing
C) indeterminate
D) flat-time

Answer 2

B

Question 3

Before the Supreme Court's 1991 decision,____ were considered irrelevant and potentially inflammatory and were not allowed.

A) determinate sentences
B) specific and general deterrence
C) victim-impact statements
D) indeterminate sentences

Answer 3

C

Question 4

Your text lists four examples of the claims that a convicted offender can make at allocution.Three are listed below.Which of the following is NOT one of these claims?

A) That his or her civil rights are being violated by the sentence.
B) That he or she has gone insane since the verdict was rendered.
C) That he or she is not the person who was found guilty at trial.
D) That she is pregnant.

Question 5

Reductions in sentences for death row inmates,which are granted by a state's governor,are called:

A) appellate reviews.
B) habeas corpus petitions.
C) commutations.
D) proportionality reviews.

Question 6

Between 1968 and 1972:

A) only five death row inmates were executed.
B) a formal moratorium on executions was observed.
C) a series of lawsuits challenged various aspects of capital punishment.
D) all of the choices are correct.

Question 7

More than half of the 975 executions that have taken place in the United States since 1977 (as of July 27,2005)have occurred in just three states.Which of the following is NOT one of those three states?

A) Virginia
B) Georgia
C) Texas
D) Oklahoma

Question 8

State and federal legislative bodies enact ____ that specify appropriate punishments for each statutory offense or class of offense.

A) indeterminate sentences
B) forms of restitution
C) flat-time sentences
D) penal codes

Question 9

A(n)____sentence has a fixed minimum and maximum term of incarceration,rather than a set period.

A) determinate
B) presumptive
C) indeterminate
D) flat-time

Question 10

Truth-in-sentencing laws require offenders to serve a substantial portion of their prison sentence,usually ____ of it.

A) 100 percent
B) 51 percent
C) 85 percent
D) 65 percent

Question 11

From biblical times through the eighteenth century,____ was the dominant justification for punishment.

A) retribution
B) restoration
C) rehabilitation
D) deterrence

Question 12

Your textbook names five major criticisms of determinate sentencing.Three are listed below.Which of the following is NOT one of the criticisms?

A) It creates judicial disparity in sentencing.
B) It creates overcrowded prisons.
C) It merely shifts sentencing discretion from judges to legislatures and prosecutors.
D) It produces an unusually harsh prison system.

Question 13

Which of the following is an effort to do something for victims and their survivors-to return them,as much as possible,to their previous state and to make them "whole" again?

A) Retribution
B) Restoration
C) Rehabilitation
D) Deterrence

Question 14

Judges can suspend an entire sentence if the offender:

A) seeks medical treatment.
B) stays out of trouble.
C) makes restitution.
D) any of the above.

Question 15

Presumptive sentences may be based on sentencing guidelines,which are developed by sentencing commissions comprised of:

A) private citizens, including victims.
B) legislatures.
C) both criminal justice professionals and private citizens.
D) police and court personnel.

Question 16

Before 1968,the only issues the Supreme Court considered in relation to capital punishment concerned:

A) the constitutionality of executing juveniles.
B) the means of administering the death penalty.
C) the constitutionality of executing women.
D) the constitutional provision against cruel and unusual punishment.

Question 17

Generally,a presentence investigation report (PSI)is prepared by a:

A) defendant.
B) prosecutor.
C) judge.
D) probation officer.

Question 18

All but four of the capital offenses under federal law involve murder.Three of these are listed below.Which one does NOT belong?

A) Treason
B) Drug trafficking in large quantities
C) Espionage
D) Kidnapping

Question 19

According to your textbook,restorative justice seeks four goals.Three are listed below.Which of the following is NOT one of the goals of restorative justice?

A) To meet victims' needs
B) To restore the health of the community
C) To punish the offender for the harm done
D) To require the offender to contribute to repairing the harm done

Question 20

Nearly ____ of state trial court decisions are affirmed on appeal.

A) 80 percent
B) 60 percent
C) 40 percent
D) 20 percent

Question 21

A 2005 poll found that more than ____ of Americans nationwide believed that an innocent person had been executed in the last 5 years.

A) 10 percent
B) 70 percent
C) 25 percent
D) 50 percent

Question 22

From which of the following sources does the federal government's Crime Victims Fund receive its funding?

A) annual congressional appropriations
B) fees for federal gun registration
C) fines and penalties paid by federal criminal offenders
D) all of the choices are correct

Question 23

According to a 2003 Gallup poll,approximately what percent of Americans believe that the death penalty is not applied fairly?

A) 25
B) 35
C) 55
D) 75

Question 24

How many states have laws that protect the basic rights of crime victims in the criminal justice system?

A) 0
B) 4
C) 26
D) 50

Question 25

Research confirms that ____ of capital offenders released from prison have killed again.

A) over half
B) about one-third
C) nearly all
D) a small percentage

Question 26

Which of the following is a problem with victims' rights laws and their implementation?

A) victims' rights vary greatly among states and at the federal level
B) victims' rights are often ignored, suffer from arbitrary implementation, or depend on the whims of criminal justice officials
C) victims from other cultures and those with disabilities frequently are not informed of their rights
D) all of the choices are correct

Question 27

Which of the following is NOT true about crime victims' rights in the United States today?

A) only 4 states have laws that protect the basic rights of crime victims in the criminal justice system
B) states have enacted more than 30,000 crime-victim-related statutes
C) at least 32 state victims' rights constitutional amendments have been passed
D) the federal government has passed legislation providing basic rights and services to federal crime victims

Question 28

Which of the following reasons was selected by half of all respondents who favored the death penalty in a recent Gallup poll?

A) "an eye for an eye"/convicted deserve to be executed
B) save taxpayers money/cost associated with prison
C) deterrence
D) arbitrary and discriminatory application

Question 29

Which of the following factors accounts for the American public's increased concern about the death penalty's administration?

A) revelations about the quality of justice in capital murder trials
B) the overturning of several convictions as a result of DNA tests
C) the moratorium on executions in Illinois and elsewhere
D) all of the choices are correct

Question 30

Approximately what percent of Americans favor the death penalty when an alternative such as life imprisonment with absolutely no possibility of parole is provided?

A) 21
B) 39
C) 65
D) 79

Question 31

In July 2000,the president of the ABA called for a moratorium on executions for five reasons.Three are listed below.Which is NOT one of the reasons listed in your textbook?

A) The execution of the mentally retarded and juveniles
B) Gender profiling
C) A lack of due process
D) Racial profiling

Question 32

Which of the following countries typically executes the most people?

A) U.S.
B) Iran
C) China
D) Pakistan

Question 33

Your textbook names several factors that reflect the American public's sustained support for the death penalty.Three are listed below.Which of the following does NOT belong?

A) The incapacitative power of the penalty
B) The desire for vindictive revenge
C) The desire to end unnecessary appeals and lawsuits from such convicts
D) The symbolic value it has for politicians and law

Question 34

In 2000,approximately what percent of prison releases were determined by a parole board decision?

A) 10
B) 25
C) 50
D) 75

Question 35

In approximately what percent of states are courts required by law to order restitution unless there are compelling or extraordinary circumstances?

A) 0
B) 33
C) 50
D) 100

Question 36

For which of the following uses do laws specify that restitution may NOT be court ordered?

A) medical expenses
B) lost wages
C) counseling expenses
D) it may be ordered for all of these uses

Question 37

According to a 2003 Gallup poll,approximately what percent of Americans favored the death penalty for people convicted of first-degree murder?

A) 44
B) 64
C) 74
D) 94

Question 38

For all intents and purposes,the death penalty today is used more than occasionally in:

A) a few nonwestern countries and a few states in the American South.
B) most of the nonwestern world and a few states in the American South.
C) nearly all of the nonwestern world and most of the United States.
D) a few nonwestern countries and most of the United States.

Question 39

In which of the following cases did the Supreme Court in 2002 rule that jurors and not judges must determine whether death is the appropriate penalty in a capital case.

A) Ring v. Arizona
B) Atkins v. Virginia
C) Furman v. Georgia
D) Gregg v. Georgia

Question 40

Which of the following is NOT a right granted to crime victims in at least some jurisdictions?

A) the right to be treated with fairness, dignity, and respect
B) the right to confer with the prosecutor
C) the right to notice of the offender's release
D) all of the choices are rights

Question 41

Match the following types of sentencing with the definition listed below.
a.Indeterminate sentence
b.Determinate sentence
c.Flat-time sentencing
d.Mandatory sentencing
e.Presumptive sentencing
This type of sentencing allows a judge to retain some sentencing discretion,subject to appellate review.

Question 42

Match the following types of sentencing with the definition listed below.
a.Indeterminate sentence
b.Determinate sentence
c.Flat-time sentencing
d.Mandatory sentencing
e.Presumptive sentencing
The effort to do something for victims and their survivors-to return them,as much as possible,to their previous state and to make them "whole" again

Question 43

For most offenses,a majority of defendants are sentenced either on the day of conviction or the next day.

Question 44

Match the following types of sentencing with the definition listed below.
a.Indeterminate sentence
b.Determinate sentence
c.Flat-time sentencing
d.Mandatory sentencing
e.Presumptive sentencing
Has a fixed minimum and maximum term of incarceration,rather than a set period

Question 45

Match the following types of sentencing with the definition listed below.
a.Indeterminate sentence
b.Determinate sentence
c.Flat-time sentencing
d.Mandatory sentencing
e.Presumptive sentencing
Has a fixed period of incarceration,which eliminates the decision-making responsibility of parole boards

Question 46

Mitigating factors are circumstances that make a crime worse than usual.

Question 47

Death penalty support among the American public,at least according to the major opinion polls,remains relatively strong.

Question 48

Match the following types of sentencing with the definition listed below.
a.Indeterminate sentence
b.Determinate sentence
c.Flat-time sentencing
d.Mandatory sentencing
e.Presumptive sentencing
With this sentencing,the second type of determinate sentencing,a specified number of years of imprisonment,usually within a range,is provided for particular crimes.

Question 49

In an appellate review,the appellate court compares the sentence in the case it is reviewing with penalties imposed in similar cases in the state.

Question 50

Mandatory sentencing usually allows release on parole but does not allow credit for good time.

Question 51

The practical effect of the Furman decision was that the Supreme Court voided the death penalty laws of some 35 states.

Question 52

About one-third percent of Americans executed since 1608 have been women.

Question 53

Defendants are entitled to present new evidence or testimony on appeal if that evidence or testimony could have been (but was not)presented at trial.

Question 54

Match the following types of sentencing with the definition listed below.
a.Indeterminate sentence
b.Determinate sentence
c.Flat-time sentencing
d.Mandatory sentencing
e.Presumptive sentencing
The prevention of individuals from committing crime again by punishing them,or the prevention of people in general from engaging in crime by punishing specific individuals and making examples of them

Question 55

Today's state legislatures are increasingly replacing determinate sentences with indeterminate ones.

Question 56

Judges almost always impose the sentence agreed upon during plea negotiations because if they did not,plea bargaining would not work.

Question 57

Among Western industrialized nations,the United States is the only nation to employ capital punishment.

Question 58

Match the following types of sentencing with the definition listed below.
a.Indeterminate sentence
b.Determinate sentence
c.Flat-time sentencing
d.Mandatory sentencing
e.Presumptive sentencing
With this sentencing,judges may choose between probation and imprisonment but have little discretion in setting the length of a prison sentence.

Question 59

In 1977,the Supreme Court held that rape of an adult female and kidnapping where the victim was not killed do not warrant the death penalty.

Question 60

Match the following types of sentencing with the definition listed below.
a.Indeterminate sentence
b.Determinate sentence
c.Flat-time sentencing
d.Mandatory sentencing
e.Presumptive sentencing
The attempt to "correct" the personality and behavior of convicted offenders through educational,vocational,or therapeutic treatment

Question 61

Name and explain the three procedural reforms approved by the Supreme Court in Gregg for death penalty cases.

Question 62

Define truth-in-sentencing laws.What offenders do these laws target?

Question 63

Name four of the reasons given in your textbook that explain why the death penalty in the United States is a waning institution.

Question 64

Match the following types of sentencing with the definition listed below.
a.Indeterminate sentence
b.Determinate sentence
c.Flat-time sentencing
d.Mandatory sentencing
e.Presumptive sentencing
The removal or restriction of the freedom of those found to have violated criminal laws

Question 65

Name the five major rationales or justifications that have been given for punishments imposed by the criminal courts.

Question 66

Match the following types of sentencing with the definition listed below.
a.Indeterminate sentence
b.Determinate sentence
c.Flat-time sentencing
d.Mandatory sentencing
e.Presumptive sentencing
The only rationale for criminal punishment that specifically addresses what has happened in the past; that is,to pay back offenders for their crimes

Question 67

Name the five methods of execution currently in use in the United States.