Federal judicial appointments must be confirmed by
a. the President of the United States.
b. the Vice President of the United States.
c. members of the U.S. House of Representatives.
d. members of the U.S. Senate.
CASE 17.2
The nature of the juvenile court process remained unchanged until the 1960s. When the
Warren Court began to scrutinize procedures in adult criminal courts, its attention
turned also to juvenile courts. In a groundbreaking decision, the Supreme Court held in
In re Gault (1967) that the due process clause of the Fourteenth Amendment applied to
juvenile court proceedings. The court emphasized that “under our Constitution the
condition of being a boy does not justify a kangaroo court.”
Gault and subsequent cases signaled that the juvenile court must become a real court
and its procedures must be regularized in accordance with
a. constitutional requirements.
b. parens patriae.
c. civil law.
d. criminal rules of procedure.
The overall conviction rate at trial for felonies is upward of:
a. 60 percent
b. 70 percent
c. 80 percent
d. 90 percent
In ancient societies, the primary purpose of punishment was
a. rehabilitation.
b. deterrence.
c. incapacitation.
d. retribution.
Which of the following is/are possible tensions between lawyers and clients?
a. Lawyers sometimes view their clients as not telling them the whole truth about a
case.
b. Defendants may view their attorneys as not fighting hard enough for them.
c. Defendants may view their attorneys as seeking to accommodate the judge and
prosecutor.
d. All of these answers are possible tensions between lawyers and their clients.
In states without intermediate appellate courts, state supreme courts
a. have complete discretion over the cases placed on their dockets.
b. have no power to choose which cases will be placed on their dockets.
c. hear only civil cases.
d. hear only criminal cases.
A juvenile court as a separate statewide entity means that it has its own
a. administration.
b. judges.
c. probation officers.
d. All of these answers are correct.
Which of the following is a primary purpose of the appellate process?
a. error correction
b. enforcing court orders
c. enforcing judgments
d. controlling discretion
U.S. attorneys serve
a. life terms.
b. four-year terms.
c. ten-year terms.
d. at the discretion of the president.
CASE 7.3
Indigents are defendants who cannot afford to pay a lawyer and, therefore, are entitled
to a lawyer for free. Although the Supreme Court has essentially mandated the
development of indigent-defense systems, it has left the financing and type of delivery
system up to states and counties, which have considerable discretion in adopting
programs (Worden and Worden 1989). How best to provide legal representation for the
poor has been a long-standing issue for the courts and the legal profession. In the
United States, the three primary methods are assigned counsel, contract systems, and
public defender.NARREND
The assigned counsel method is
a. attorneys appointed by the judge on a case-by-case basis.
b. attorneys hired to provide services for a specified dollar amount.
c. a salaried public official representing all indigent defendants.
d. None of these answers is correct.
Which of the following court members dominates the grand jury?
a. judge
b. defense attorney
c. prosecutor
d. court clerk
The right to self-representation is also referred to by the Latin term
a. pro se
b. mala in se
c. pro bono
d. mens rea
After the American Revolution, the functions of state courts
a. changed
b. stabilized
c. stagnated
d. was primary to international security
In Ewing v. California the U.S. Supreme Court held that what California law did not
violate the Eighth Amendment?
a. mandatory-minimum sentencing
b. parole abolition
c. discuss the case with the prosecutor.
d. three-strikes
In roughly half of the crimes of violence the defendant and the victim
a. had a prior relationship.
b. were married.
c. were strangers.
d. were neighbors.
Between 1789 and 1891, the inadequacy of the federal judicial system was highlighted
by all of the following, except:
a. the intolerable conditions of circuit riding.
b. increased litigation from the growth of federal activity.
c. Supreme Court refusal to grant certiorari to large numbers of cases.
d. long delays for appeals to be argued before the courts.
CASE 12.2
Guilty pleas are the bread and butter of the American criminal courts. Between 85 and
95 percent of all state and federal felony convictions are obtained by a defendant
entering a negotiated plea of guilt (Covey 2008; Hashimoto 2008). Plea bargaining can
best be defined as the process through which a defendant pleads guilty to a criminal
charge with the expectation of receiving some consideration from the state.
What are the three most common types of plea bargains?
a. charge bargaining, count bargaining, and sentence bargaining.
b. charge bargaining, limit bargaining, and sentence bargaining
c. limit bargaining, count bargaining, and sentence bargaining
d. charge bargaining, count bargaining, and limit bargaining
The duties of a court administrator include which of the following?
a. prepare budgets
b. maintain order in the courtroom
c. transport pretrial detainees from jail to the courtroom
d. make verbatim transcripts of court proceedings
Criminal justice in America can be described as a fragmented non-system due in part to:
a. cases flow in a regular pattern through the system
b. a unified court system
c. there is centralized control
d. the decentralized nature of American government that distributes power
between national and state governments
Which method of providing legal representation for indigent defendants has been found
to violate the Fifth and Sixth Amendments to the U.S. Constitution by at least one state
supreme court?
a. assigned counsel system
b. contract system
c. public defender system
d. pro-bono system
What Amendment to the Constitution prohibits cruel and unusual punishments?
a. Fourth
b. Fifth
c. Sixth
d. Eighth
The Prison Litigation Reform Act resulted in all of the following, except:
a. requiring inmates to pay certain fees from which they had previously been exempt.
b. requiring inmates to exhaust all administrative remedies before filing.
c. no longer allowing inmates to proceed pro se in civil rights actions.
d. barring subsequent cases if previous cases had been dismissed as frivolous.
What kind of offender is more likely to have experienced neglect, abuse, or violence in
his/her families?
a. white-collar offenders
b. purse snatchers
c. property offenders
d. violent offenders
Defending unpopular clients is the basis for a great deal of criticism of lawyers. What is
the core legal ethical value in defending an unpopular client?
a. Every client is entitled to legal representation, no matter how unpopular or heinous
the crime.
b. It is not ethical for a defense attorney to defend someone who is lying about their
innocence.
c. As a matter of legal ethics, no lawyer may represent someone who intentionally
perjured him/herself after being advised against doing so.
d. As long as the client is adequately represented in a court of law, defense attorney
ethics are secondary.
_____________ courts are a prime example of courts based on the concept of
therapeutic jurisprudence.
a. Drug
b. domestic violence
c. mental health
d. drug, domestic violence, and mental health
To be eligible for drug treatment by drug courts, defendants
a. must have no prior felony convictions.
b. must have no prior misdemeanor or felony convictions.
c. may be charged with drug possession or drug sale.
d. must request drug treatment, but are not required to admit that they have a drug
problem.
The Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court of Review’s only function is to:
a. hear appeals regarding constitutional violations of individual privacy rights.
b. review warrant applications related to national security investigations.
c. act as arbitrator between intelligence officials and foreign governments.
d. review denials by the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court of applications for
electronic
surveillance warrants.
In general, proponents of the “law-and-order” approach to the victims’ bill of rights
accuse the courts of protecting the rights of defendants rather than those of victims.
Proponents of such an approach would not support which of the following?
a. abolishing the exclusionary rule
b. restricting plea bargaining
c. imposing harsher sentences on offenders
d. proponents of such an approach would support all of these
In 1950, Congress extended significant new due process rights in courts-martial by
adopting the:
a. Military Justice Act
b. U.S. Joint Service Committee Act
c. Uniform Code of Military Justice
d. Armed Forces Court of Appeals Act
Which U.S. Supreme Court decision acknowledged a defendant’s right to
self-representation?
a. Argersinger v. Hamlin
b. Strickland v. Washington
c. Powell v. Alabama
d. Faretta v. California
In what case did the U.S. Supreme Court announce that candidates for judicial office
are free to announce their views on key issues?
a. Republican Party v. White 2002.
b. Clark v. Edwards 1988.
c. Chisom v. Roemer 1991.
d. Gregory v. Ashcroft 1991.
A 2008 decision by this Court declared that the U.S. President was not allowed to
imprison enemy combatants indefinitely without the right to habeas corpus review in
federal court.
a. U.S. District Court
b. International Court of Justice
c. U.S. Supreme Court
d. United Nations Human Rights Court
CASE 15.3
Executions in the South clearly show major racial differences. Racial imbalances in
outcomes do not necessarily prove discrimination. Interestingly, many studies found
that the most obvious factorrace of the defendantwas not as important as the race of the
offender in combination with the race of the victim. This is the offender-victim dyad.
Which offender-victim dyad has research show is least likely to result in execution?
a. black offender, white victim c. white offender, white victim
b. black offender, black victim d. white offender, black victim
The U.S. Congress and the Burger and Rehnquist Courts have generally
a. expanded the right to collaterally attack a conviction.
b. narrowed habeas corpus relief.
c. increased the scope of post-conviction review.
d. decreased prisoner use of garnishment writs.
A(n) ____________________ is defined as the physical taking into custody of a
suspected law violator.
Judicial bodies established by Congress under Article III are known as ____________
courts.
_____________law involves a type of lawsuit filed by a person when they are injured
by another person.
Some studies focusing on victims have identified ways in which the courts have ignored
the interests of victims and witnesses.
The Supreme Court has held that judges and not juries have the authority to determine
important facts (other than prior record) that determine sentencing.
Describe the three major types of cases that may be heard in juvenile court. Provide
examples of each type of case.
The combination of court decentralization and local control of the judiciary results in
court financing.
Criminal law affects the courts in many ways, one of which revolves around sentencing
of offenders. Describe the connection between the public, legislature and courts relating
to criminal sentences.
____________________ is the most obvious way criminal law affects the operations of
the criminal courts.
The three major agencies involved in prosecution in state courts are the state attorney
general, the chief prosecutor and the local prosecutor.
Both Article I and Article III judges serve during “good behavior,” which for practical
purposes means for life.
The U.S. Solicitor General is often referred to as the ____________________ Justice.
Not all states provide for a judicial determination of probable cause at the initial
appearance before a magistrate.
Juveniles accused of serious offenses, or who have a history of repeated offenses, may
be tried as adults.
The U.S. Supreme Court is an extremely important institution because it shapes
national criminal justice policy. Explain why this is so. Be sure to provide examples and
discuss the trends of the Warren, Burger, Rehnquist, and Roberts Courts.
Some U.S. attorneys will not prosecute bank tellers who embezzle small amounts of
money, get caught, and lose their jobs. The stigma of being caught and losing the job is
viewed as punishment enough.