Deck 9: The Judiciary: Independence Vs Accountability

Question 1

Appellate courts have the responsibility for hearing

A)appeals of cases tried in lower state courts.
B)first cases not settled by pretrial agreement.
C)all cases originating in a specified region of the state.
D)cases tried previously in federal court.

Answer 1

A

Question 2

As part of the merit-selection plans for judges, retention elections

A)nearly always turn out in favor of the incumbent.
B)rarely generate much enthusiasm among voters and seldom turn out the incumbent.
C)generate greater enthusiasm than the general elections.
D)have turned down retention for about 50 percent of all judges since 1972.

Answer 2

B

Question 3

It is estimated that

A)most civil and criminal cases are settled by a coin toss.
B)about half of all civil and criminal cases are actually resolved outside the courtroom.
C)most cases are settled by a jury.
D)90 percent of all civil and criminal cases are actually resolved outside the courtroom.

Answer 3

D

Question 4

If you were arrested for a major traffic violation, and then negotiate with the prosecutor to plead guilty to a minor traffic offense, you have engaged in

A)Fraud.
B)plea bargaining.
C)a court of limited jurisdiction.
D)a bench trial.

Question 5

Merit-selection plans, in practice, are

A)immune from politics.
B)most often dominated by the legal profession.
C)reduced to a struggle between Democrats and Republicans.
D)immune from the governor's influence.

Question 6

The use of nonpartisan election of judges won favor as a means of

A)increasing voter turnout for such elections.
B)ensuring that certain interests were able to buy a judge's loyalty to their causes.
C)reducing the amount of money spent on campaigns.
D)removing politics from the election of judges, thus gaining more independence and professionalism.

Question 7

The most frequent method of selecting appellate court judges in the states is

A)legislative election.
B)popular election.
C)gubernatorial appointment.
D)the merit plan.

Question 8

The question of access to the judicial system as a factor in decision making is

A)important because some businesses, groups, and individuals have ready access and thus possess greater advantages than others.
B)unimportant because judges or juries are able to act on behalf of absent interests.
C)unimportant because the courts are open to all citizens.
D)rapidly declining in significance as judicial lobbying becomes increasingly important.

Question 9

Original jurisdiction courts have the

A)ultimate authority to hear all final appeals.
B)power to hear criminal cases, but never civil cases.
C)power to hear civil cases, but never criminal cases.
D)power to hear certain cases first.

Question 10

Limited jurisdiction trial courts are

A)courts with original jurisdiction over specialized cases, such as juvenile offenses or traffic violations.
B)courts with original jurisdiction to hear appeals from lower courts.
C)those courts with jurisdiction over major criminal and civil cases.
D)courts beyond which there is no appeal except to the U.S. Supreme Court.

Question 11

Appellate courts are different from trial courts because they

A)always have a jury present.
B)openly publish the dissent that arises over the lower-court findings.
C)do not require the presence of the plaintiff, defendants, or witnesses, and their trials are based on lower-court records.
D)always have two judges who make the final decision on the outcomes of appeals.

Question 12

With the aim of processing drug-related offenses more efficiently and reducing recidivism rates of drug offenders, drug courts are an example of which type of court?

A)Limited jurisdiction court
B)Supreme court
C)Appellate court
D)None of these choices.

Question 13

Which of the following forms of elections was adopted in the Jacksonian era as a way to create a judiciary answerable to the voters?

A)Nonpartisan popular election
B)Partisan popular election
C)Missouri Plan
D)Initiative elections

Question 14

Judicial decision making is

A)subject to no review or oversight.
B)based solely on precedents and scientific techniques.
C)often as subjective as the decision making of other government officials.
D)so similar from one judge to another that it is unimportant who sits on a case.

Question 15

State courts resolve disputes and administer justice by interpreting

A)state statutes, the state and federal constitutions, but not common law.
B)state statutes, the state and federal constitutions, and common law.
C)the state and federal constitutions, and common law, but not state statutes
D)state statutes, the state constitution, and common law, but not the federal constitution.

Question 16

Approximately 100 million cases a year are filed in state courts. This represents __________ of all the cases filed in the nation.

A)30 percent
B)45 percent
C)69 percent
D)99 percent

Question 17

According to the American Bar Association's guidelines, which of the following should not be a basis for choosing a judge?

A)Solid professional and personal qualifications
B)Political views and party affiliation
C)Superior self-discipline, moral courage, and sound judgment
D)Broad education and professionally qualified as lawyers

Question 18

When judges use previous judicial rulings to guide their decisions, they are employing the doctrine of

A)ipso facto.
B)judicial federalism.
C)stare decisis.
D)judicial activism.

Question 19

The Missouri Plan for selection of judges involves

A)identification by the governor, review by a commission on judicial appointments, and acceptance or rejection by the voters.
B)nomination by the legislature and selection by the governor.
C)selection of at least two candidates nominated by the state bar association and then a runoff election.
D)nomination by a bipartisan commission; appointment by the governor; and, thereafter, periodic retention elections by the voters.

Question 20

Most state courts are part of the two-tier system. The two tiers are

A)trial and appellate courts.
B)trial and general jurisdiction courts.
C)appellate and supreme courts.
D)trial and district courts.

Question 21

The term judicial activism implies that judges are

A)actively trying to influence or change public policy.
B)conservatives who are actively involved in partisan politics.
C)working in court systems with heavy caseloads.
D)liberals who seek to use their position on the bench to influence policy on social issues.

Question 22

Appellate courts hold a second trial, which includes hearing testimonies from plaintiffs, defendants, and witnesses.

Question 23

Because courts only interpret the law, they are not involved in policy making.

Question 24

Most states use a two-tiered court structure.

Question 25

A judges personal characteristics, such as party identification, political ideology, prior careers, religion, age and sex are important aspects of judicial decision making because

A)they allow access to particular groups when filing friend of the court briefs.
B)they predispose a judge to decide cases in certain ways.
C)they are often set-aside by the judge when making judicial decisions.
D)they are only influential in appellate courts and not trial courts.

Question 26

Common law is defined as unwritten law based on tradition, custom, or court decisions.

Question 27

Heavy caseloads in state court systems

A)may be reduced by reliance on mediation and arbitration, which are now used by most states.
B)can be solved by more reliance on pretrial settlements and plea bargaining.
C)lower the possibility of appeals.
D)are solved by adding new trial court judges and appellate courts.

Question 28

Civil cases involve disputes between individuals or organizations.

Question 29

Approximately 90 percent of all criminal and civil cases are settled out of court or with a guilty plea.

Question 30

Judges who attain their position through electoral politics tend to behave like elected officials in the executive and legislative branches of state government by emphasizing political, rather than legal, factors in their decision making.

Question 31

Judicial federalism is

A)a trend in which state constitutional and statutory laws are consulted and applied before federal law.
B)a trend of making public policy by judges through decisions that overturn existing law.
C)a court-generated change in public policy that is perceived as illegitimate.
D)None of these choices.

Question 32

Tort reform refers to the policy goal of reducing

A)the number of liability and personal injury cases and the subsequent awards.
B)the number of liability and personal injury cases but not size of the subsequent awards.
C)drug sentencing by providing counseling rather than prison sentences.
D)the number of advertisements for personal injury law firms on television.

Question 33

Judges on one or more courts face elections in thirty-eight states.

Question 34

In all but five states, judges must be admitted to the state's bar and have practiced law for five years.

Question 35

Since proposals to establish unified court systems were first proposed, most states have now restructured their court systems to create a substantially unified court system.

Question 36

In at least two states, local newspapers publish the names of local residents that have been called for jury duty but did not show up.

Question 37

In the late 1930s, the American Bar Association recommended that states adopt methods of selecting judges that were based on merit plans. The first state to adopt this idea was Arizona in 1940.

Question 38

The legislatures appoint all state judges in four states.

Question 39

States cannot extend civil liberties or civil rights beyond those specified in the U.S. Constitution.

Question 40

In most states where judges are elected, judges can accept campaign contributions from plaintiffs, defendants, their lawyers, and political action committees.

Question 41

The recent trend in judicial federalism is that state courts might override the decisions of the U.S. Supreme Court. How can they do so? Define judicial federalism and describe the recent trend in federal versus state court power. Provide examples to illustrate your discussion.

Question 42

There are five methods by which judges are selected. Discuss which method is best, in your opinion? Why? What are the drawbacks to this method?

Question 43

Court caseloads continue to mount at the same time budget cuts have forced staff reductions. What have courts done over the past twenty years to streamline operations, utilize technology, and consolidate operations to conduct business?

Question 44

Under the doctrine of stare decisis , the principles and procedures of law applied in one situation are applied in any similar situation.

Question 45

The term judicial federalism refers to a trend in which state courts look first at state constitutional and statutory law in rendering legal judgments on important state and local issues. The effect has been that many state courts are now more liberal than the federal courts.

Question 46

State court rulings on issues such as school finance, prison overcrowding, and treatment of the mentally ill have severely affected state budgets as the courts seldom factor in the related fiscal impacts of their decisions.

Question 47

The concept of judicial activism refers to judges making public policy through decisions that overturn existing law or effectively make new laws.

Question 48

The national economic collapse of 2008-2011 was a boon to state courts, as states had to increase their budgets to handle bankruptcy and other cases.

Question 49

​ Where judges are elected by popular elections, as well as in merit systems, voters are the ones who hold judges accountable for their decisions.

Question 50

Trial courts are more prone to interpret the law, whereas appellate courts are more apt to apply the law and make public policy.

Question 51

State supreme courts vary dramatically in ideology. Those in Hawaii, Rhode Island, and Maryland are much more liberal than those in Arizona, Mississippi, and New Hampshire.

Question 52

Most judges easily make the kind of money they should, because they are compensated far better than most successful lawyers.

Question 53

Personal values, attitudes, and characteristics of state judges can affect their decisions. Provide an illustration of how these might affect a judge's decision. What is the implication for our court system in terms of both objectivity and fairness?

Question 54

A judge's party identification, political ideology, prior careers, religion, age, and sex (the judge's personal characteristics)often predispose a judge to decide cases in certain ways.

Question 55

Describe each of the two tiers of state courts and discuss how they are related. Explain each tier's role in judicial decision making.