A Batson challenge, derived from the U.S. Supreme Court’s ruling in Batson v.
Kentucky, alleges what?
a. that the prosecutor or defense attorney is exercising his/her peremptory challenges to
exclude jurors solely on the basis of their race.
b. that the prosecutor or defense attorney has exceeded his/her limited number of
peremptory challenges.
c. that the prosecutor or defense attorney has exceeded his/her limited number of
challenges for cause.
d. that the defense attorney is going beyond the agreed upon questions included in a
jury questionnaire.
Researchers find that attempts by supervisors to control the work of assistant district
attorneys tend to
a. reduce stress, especially among newly hired assistant district attorneys.
b. increase morale because such efforts lead to fewer differences in the handling of
cases among assistant district attorneys.
c. lead to greater respect for the district attorney because a clear policy is articulated.
d. erode the morale of the office.
CASE 2.1
Roberta picks her toddler up at the daycare after she gets off work. The child is asleep
in her car seat and Roberta decides to stop off at the local pool hall for a beer and to talk
to some friends for a little while. She leaves the child in the car while she goes inside.
She winds up staying for a second beer and a couple of line dances. The temperature in
the car reaches 120 degrees and the child dies of hyperthermia. Roberta, though not
very bright, would never intentionally harm her child.
Which of the following elements is apparently lacking in this scenario?
a. actus reus
c. mens rea
b. omission
d. criminal result
Victims and witnesses face frustrations in coping with the court process
a. but overall exhibit surprising support for the system.
b. and almost never show up for court.
c. and overall resent the system as a result.
d. none of these answers is correct.
Jury selection occurs in three stages:
a. compiling a master list, excusing individuals due to statutory exemptions, and
allowing individuals to be excused if they provide reasons for undue hardship.
b. compiling a master list, summoning the venire, and conducting voir dire.
c. determining who is legally qualified to serve on a jury, questioning prospective
jurors, and then using challenges for cause to strike individuals from the jury.
d. summoning the venire, exercising principal challenges, and then exercising
fact-partial challenges.
Which of the following U.S. Supreme Court cases extended the exclusionary rule to the
states?
a. Mapp v. Ohio
b. Terry v. Ohio
c. Marbury v. Madison
d. Burns v. Reed
During pretrial evidence suppression hearings, the burden of proof lies with the
a. police.
b. prosecutor.
c. defense attorney
d. judge.
Because of the numerous sanctions that may be applied to defense attorneys, they are
forced to take what kind of posture?
a. proactive
b. neutral
c. complacent
d. reactive
CASE 15.1
During the late 1960s and early 1970s, an unusual political coalition developed between
liberals and conservatives. Both sides found considerable fault in existing sentencing
practices. Although their reasons reflected fundamentally different concerns, liberals
and conservatives defined the problem in similar terms: The criminal laws permitted too
much latitude in sentencing, providing judges with little or no guidance on how to
determine the proper sentence for each individual case.
Adherents of the due process model were concerned about a
a. lack of fairness in sentencing.
b. lack of harshness in sentencing.
c. failure to keep offenders in prison long enough.
d. failure to release offenders from prison soon enough.
What court system provides a safety valve for checking the most flagrant abuses of
local justice?
a. dual
b. appellate
c. unified
d. problem-solving
Proponents of the Due Process Model argue that plea bargaining
a. undercuts the Constitutional protections afforded defendants.
b. leads to the conviction of innocent defendants.
c. produces few tangible benefits for defendants.
d. All of these answers are correct.
CASE 8.2
Systems for removing or disciplining unfit judges must not only strike a balance
between judicial accountability and judicial independence, but they must also grapple
with the wide range of misbehavior encompassed by the phrase “judicial misconduct”
(Begue and Goldstein 1987). Most directly, judicial misconduct involves corruption.
What have a growing number of states done to deal with issues of older judges
becoming senile?
a. imposed mandatory retirement ages for judges.
b. imposed mandatory mental health testing for older judges.
c. imposed time restrictions on judicial service.
d. lowered the age at which a person can become a judge.
Maverick defense attorneys
a. most often get the best plea bargains for their clients.
b. work cooperatively with prosecutors to resolve cases quickly.
c. generally have few sanctions imposed on them.
d. are seldom able to negotiate the most lenient sentences.
Once a “not guilty” verdict is returned, a prosecutor cannot appeal the acquittal because
a. citizens are protected from double jeopardy
b. juveniles are protected from double jeopardy
c. courts are protected from double jeopardy
d. prosecutors are protected from double jeopardy
High courts of last resort help to set justice policy through their exercise of their
a. discretionary appellate jurisdiction.
b. mandatory appellate jurisdiction.
c. concurrent appellate jurisdiction.
d. recurrent appellate jurisdiction.
CASE 17.1
Beginning around 1890, members of the Progressive movement advocated a variety of
political, economic, and social reforms. They were genuinely concerned about the
economic disparities, social disorders, and excesses of industrialization, particularly as
they affected children. Progressives denounced the evils of child labor and pushed for
legislation banning the practice. They were likewise appalled by the violent and
exploitive conditions of reform schools. The fact that orphans were thrown into reform
schools for the uncontrollable circumstance of having no parents shocked the
Progressives’ moral values. Taking up the plight of the children of the urban immigrant
poor, they argued that these children were not bad, but were corrupted by the
environment in which they grew up.
What doctrine allowed the Progressives to use the juvenile court to help children?
a. res ipsa loquitir.
b. stare decisis.
c. parens patriae.
d. patriae familiae.
Which Amendment provides the right to counsel?
a. 4th Amendment
b. 5th Amendment
c. 6th Amendment
d. 7th Amendment
What concept dominated thinking about sentencing throughout much of the 20th
century?
a. retribution
b. rehabilitation
c. incapacitation
d. deterrence
CASE 5.1
Sixteen times Willie Barker’s murder case was set for trial, and sixteen times it was
continued. At first the defense readily agreed, gambling that Barker’s codefendant
would be found not guilty. Thus, some of the continuances were caused by the six
separate trials before the codefendant was finally convicted. Other continuances were
granted because of the illness of the police investigator. It was not until five years after
arrest that Barker was convicted of murder.
The problems in prosecuting and convicting Barker indicate that what is often needed in
interpreting the law?
a. discretion
b. rigidity
c. rule
d. humility
Which of the following is not one of the three statutory responsibilities of a U.S.
attorney?
a. the representation of the U.S. government before the U.S. Supreme Court in all
appeals of federal criminal cases
b. the prosecution of criminal cases brought by the federal government
c. the initiation and defense of civil cases in which the United States is a party
d. the collection of debts owed the federal government
CASE 1.3
As a result of increased enforcement efforts, the courts and correctional facilities are
inundated with mostly low-level drug offenders. Public support of the newest campaign
in the war on drugs is starting to wane as increasing taxes to build new jails to house
pretrial detainees are discussed.
Which of the following is not part of the “crime control” belief system?
a. Individual responsibility is at issue when considering the ramifications of drug abuse.
b. “Speedy trial” legislation should be enacted to ensure that justice is not delayed.
c. The adversarial process at trial achieves the correct result.
d. Incarceration achieves the dual result of deterrence and increased public safety.
“Justice delayed is justice denied” means what?
a. State and federal speedy-trial laws must always be enforced.
b. Delay in reaching case disposition undermines the values and guarantees associated
with the legal system.
c. Delay is an inevitable consequence of any already burdened criminal justice system.
d. Prosecutor discretion causes deterioration of cases and pressures prosecutors to offer
lenient plea bargains.
CASE 9.1
Dharun Ravi, a freshman at Rutgers University, used a web cam to spy on his gay
roommate’s dorm-room sexual encounters and streamed the video (Shallwani 2012). A
few days later his roommate Tyler Clemnti, a talented young musician, committed
suicide. These events quickly became the subject of intense national interest and Ravi
was charged under New Jersey law with hate crime, invasion of privacy, witness
intimidation, and bias intimidation (but not murder).
What was the basis of the governments’ case?
a. twitter feeds, Facebook posts, text message, e-mails and other chatter
b. eyewitness testimony and forensic evidence.
c. forensic evidence and confession.
d. None of these answers is correct.
CASE 14.2
What types of sentences should be imposed upon the guilty? Today, answers center on
prison and probation, with a hot debate over the death penalty. One can approach the
question of which penalty should be imposed upon the guilty from either a micro or a
macro perspective.
Sentences used as alternatives to incarceration include which of the following?
a. capital punishment.
b. caning.
c. fines.
d. none of these answers is correct.
The bail agent provides a specialized form of insurance and makes a profit by
a. focusing on high-risk offenders accused of less serious crimes.
b. focusing on low-risk offenders accused of more serious crimes.
c. focusing on low-risk offenders accused of less serious crimes.
d. focusing on high-risk offenders accused of more serious crimes.
With a mandatory-minimum sentence
a. a prison sentence is required.
b. the committed offense is all that matters.
c. the same sentence is mandated for offenders with very different criminal
backgrounds.
d. All of these answers are correct.
CASE 14.2
What types of sentences should be imposed upon the guilty? Today, answers center on
prison and probation, with a hot debate over the death penalty. One can approach the
question of which penalty should be imposed upon the guilty from either a micro or a
macro perspective.
Court orders regarding conditions of confinement in prison specified which of the
following?
a. maximum prison population.
b. required physical conditions to be upgraded.
c. increased number of prison guards.
d. All of these answers are correct.
CASE 17.3
Although a fairly uniform upper age limit for the exercise of original juvenile court
jurisdiction in delinquency proceedings has been established in the United States, there
is far less uniformity involving lower age limits for juveniles charged with serious
offenses, or who have a history of repeated offenses, who may be tried as adults.
Transfer to criminal court refers to the process whereby the jurisdiction over a juvenile
delinquent is moved to adult court. There are four primary mechanisms for juvenile
transfers to adult criminal courts: judicial waivers, prosecutorial waivers, statutory
waivers, and automatic waivers.
What types of waiver laws permitand sometimes even requirejuvenile court judges to
transfer a juvenile to adult court for criminal prosecution?
a. judicial waiver laws c. prosecutorial waiver laws
b. statutory waiver laws d. automatic waiver laws
The nineteenth century British criminologist who popularized deterrence theory was
a. August Comte.
b. John Stuart Mill.
c. Isaac Newton.
d. Jeremy Bentham.
The operation of two separate and distinct court systems in the United States is referred
to as:
a. a dual court system
b. checks and balances
c. separate but equal
d. judicial federalism
CASE 6.2
Ethical issues facing prosecutors are very different from those confronting defense
attorneys because prosecutors do not represent individual clients. Prosecutors often
define their jobs as representing victims of crime and the police, but these are not
typically considered to fit under the attorney”client relationship. Rather, the client of the
prosecutor is the government, and for this reason prosecutors are given special
responsibilities.
When prosecutors are not acting as the government’s advocate in some judicial phase of
the criminal justice process, what kind of immunity do they enjoy?
a. Absolute immunity.
b. Comprehensive immunity.
c. Partial immunity.
d. Qualified immunity.
Which of the following is not true of federal district court judges?
a. They are nominated by the President.
b. They must be confirmed by the U.S. Senate.
c. They must reside in their district.
d. They are appointed for eight year terms..
The chivalry/paternalism hypothesis emphasizes that women are
a. mature
b. innocent
c. competent
d. childlike
The crime control model begins with the premise that crime is the product of
a. moral breakdown
b. justice breakdown
c. divorce
d. family breakdown
Coerced confessions are admissible only if they are proven to be reliable.
Trial courts of _____________ jurisdiction are sometimes referred to as inferior courts
or lower courts.
The U.S. Supreme Court has ruled that a lawyer’s failure to file an appeal constitutes
ineffective assistance of counsel.
The U.S. Attorney General was the prosecutor in the Oklahoma City bombing case.
What are normal crimes? What are the two most important factors in determining
normal penalties?
Victim/witness ____________________ programs encourage cooperation in the court
process by reducing inconveniences faced by citizens appearing in court.
_____________________ evidence has no evidential value by itself. Rather, it serves as
a visual or auditory aid to assist the fact-finder in understanding the evidence.
The First Amendment limits the power of judges to control media coverage of a trial.
Since Cunningham, it is clear that Blakely applies to state sentencing laws.
If a conversation takes place in public, where other parties can overhear the
conversation, there is no reasonable expectation of .
Evidence of racial imbalance in prison populations is not evidence of racial in the
sentencing process.
Giving discretion to judges and parole boards is inconsistent with the goal of
rehabilitation.
Defense attorneys who aggressively fight for their clients and, thus, maintain a hostile
relationship with the prosecutor’s office always secure the best possible outcomes for
their clients.
State trial courts receive over 95 times the number of filings received by federal district
courts.
Defendants convicted of violent offenses and sentenced to lengthy prison terms are less
likely to win on appeal than those convicted of less serious offenses.
Preliminary hearings are relatively uniform throughout the country and are seen as an
important way for defense lawyers to get evidence in the case.
State task forces consistently find evidence of ____________________ bias in four
areas of the legal system: domestic violence, sexual assault, divorce, and behavior
toward female workers.
The National Center for State Courts studied 21 courts across the nation and found that
the relative size of court caseloads bore little relationship to case-processing time.
What technique do jury consultants use to help attorneys develop convincing trial
presentations? What does the research generally show with regard to the effectiveness
of jury consultants?
Describe the process of impeachment for a federal judge from the complaint stage to
the dismissal stage.