Deck 12: The Criminal Justice System

Question 1

When someone has been found guilty of a capital offense, how many jurors must agree to the death sentence for it to be carried out?

A) A third of them
B) Half of them
C) Three quarters of them
D) All of them

Answer 1

D

Question 2

Those who engage in organized crime, repeat offenders, and those who commit hate crimes receive enhanced punishment, which means

A) they are punished as though they had committed the next higher degree of felony.
B) they are automatically given a death sentence.
C) their community service requirements double.
D) they are subject to solitary confinement for the duration of their prison sentence.

Answer 2

A

Question 3

A successful drug court in Tarrant County, the SWIFT Court, has been described as

A) "probation on steroids."
B) "powerful and swift in justice."
C) "rapid probation."
D) "crime fighting on steroids."

Answer 3

A

Question 4

In Texas one's punishment varies based on

A) the severity and category of the crime.
B) district attorney's opinion of the case.
C) which city one lives in.
D) mandatory sentencing.

Question 5

In Texas, impersonating someone online is classified as a

A) first-degree felony.
B) second-degree felony.
C) third-degree felony.
D) state-jail felony.

Question 6

The Texas Penal Code is a body of laws that covers

A) code of conduct for attorneys.
B) requirements for prison officials.
C) crime and punishment.
D) tax laws in Texas.

Question 7

In which case did the Supreme Court rule that the death penalty may not be used for punishment on anyone under 18 years of age?

A) Atkins v. Virginia
B) Ford v. Wainwright
C) Roper v. Simmons
D) Alien v. Predator

Question 8

In 2013, Texas ran out of pentobarbital for lethal injections so they turned to

A) compound pharmacies for custom made pentobarbital.
B) other states that had stockpiled pentobarbital.
C) other forms of lethal injection drugs, like the ones used in Oklahoma.
D) European drug companies looking to profit from killing prisoners.

Question 9

The minimum sentence for a capital felony is

A) death by lethal injection.
B) life with the possibility of parole.
C) 99 years to life.
D) life without parole.

Question 10

Which would not be subject to enhancement under the Texas Penal Code?

A) A crime committed by a street gang
B) A crime motivated by racial hatred
C) A crime committed by a repeat offender
D) A charge of two offenses in the same criminal episode

Question 11

When a prosecutor makes a _________________, they agree to make a deal if the defendant pleads guilty to specific charges, in return for specific concessions from the prosecutor.

A) bargaining plan
B) special concession
C) plea bargain
D) special arrangement

Question 12

In the 1972 Furman vs. Georgia case the death penalty was found unconstitutional because

A) the justices disagreed generally with the practice of executions.
B) the death penalty's use was arbitrary and its application was racially biased.
C) of the Eighth Amendment ban on "cruel and unusual punishment."
D) different methods of execution were being used in different states, making it unfair.

Question 13

Which of the following is not one of the ways that state legislators have sought to address high incarceration rates for drug offenders?

A) Easing parole criteria for nonviolent offenders
B) Establishing in-prison treatment options
C) Creating specialty drug courts
D) Establishing harsher and longer sentences for drug crimes

Question 14

As of 2001, Texas counties with populations over ___________ are required by law to establish a drug court.

A) 250,000
B) 300,000
C) 450,000
D) 550,000

Question 15

When someone is executed, their death certificate lists the cause of death as "Death caused by __________."

A) execution of the state
B) lethal injection by state order
C) order of the governor of Texas
D) judicially ordered execution

Question 16

Felonies are classified as first, second, or third degree depending on the nature of the crime. This is referred to as

A) enhanced punishment.
B) graded penalties.
C) capital felony cases.
D) enhanced penalties.

Question 17

As of 2014, the State of Texas has identified how many crimes as felonies?

A) Less than 1,000
B) Approximately 1,600
C) Approximately 2,000
D) More than 2,600

Question 18

State-jail felonies, like possession of 4 ounces to 1 pound of marijuana, can result in

A) 5 to 99 years in prison and a maximum fine of $10,000.
B) 2 to 20 years in prison and maximum fine of $10,000.
C) 180 days to 2 years in prison and a maximum fine of $10,000.
D) up to 1 year in prison and a maximum fine of $4,000.

Question 19

Most low-level drug offenders have complicating issues such as

A) homelessness and poverty.
B) overly busy work and home lives.
C) high levels of education and socioeconomic status.
D) histories of violence.

Question 20

The primary motivations for hate crime are

A) religion and socioeconomic status.
B) race and sexual orientation.
C) gender and occupation.
D) education level and homelessness.

Question 21

Which of the following has oversight responsibility for county jails?

A) Texas Department of Public Safety
B) Texas Commission on Jail Standards
C) County Commissioners Court
D) Texas Rangers

Question 22

Which of the following is true of prisons run by the TDCJ?

A) A lack of air-conditioning has led to prisoner deaths.
B) Comfortable facilities and good food lead to many repeat offenders who want a place to stay.
C) Corrections officers are always qualified, and properly screened and trained.
D) Gang activity in the prison system has been largely eliminated.

Question 23

Females make up about _____ of the prison population in Texas.

A) 2 percent
B) 8 percent
C) 15 percent
D) 25 percent

Question 24

The two agencies responsible for convicts who serve all or part of their sentence in the community rather than in prison are

A) Community Justice Assistance Division and Parole Division.
B) Department of Public Safety and Probation Office.
C) Department of Criminal Justice and Department of Jail Standards.
D) Health and Human Services and Prisoners'Reentry Office.

Question 25

When a prisoner re-offends after being released from confinement for a prior offense, it is called

A) chronic offenders.
B) recidivism.
C) re-incarceration effect.
D) criminal re-offense.

Question 26

As of 2013, the number of Texans incarcerated, on parole, or on probation is approximately

A) 456,000.
B) 525,000.
C) 601,000.
D) 650,000.

Question 27

Which of the following is true of the death penalty?

A) Its use has declined across the United States and Texas in recent years.
B) It has been definitively proven to deter crime.
C) Anyone convicted of murder is eligible for the death penalty.
D) It is carried out using the electric chair.

Question 28

Which is true of county jails in Texas?

A) All have been privatized, leaving no public county jails.
B) They are designed to house felons serving long sentences.
C) They are all of exceptionally high quality.
D) Most of them do not offer rehabilitation programs.

Question 29

Which of the following states has the highest incarceration rate (number of prisoners per 100,000 residents)?

A) California
B) Florida
C) New York
D) Texas

Question 30

Prisoners save state and local governments money in the jobs they perform, which have included all except for

A) making gavels used by presiding officers of the legislature.
B) repairing engines.
C) making dorm room furnishings for state universities.
D) sewing the robes used by state judges.

Question 31

Which of the following is true of private prisons in Texas?

A) Texas has more privately operated prisons than any other state.
B) Texas has no privately operated prisons.
C) The majority of Texas prisoners are confined to private prisons.
D) Private prisons in Texas operate without government supervision.

Question 32

The stated purposes of the Texas Department of Criminal Justice include all the following, except to

A) assist crime victims.
B) provide for public safety.
C) punish law breakers.
D) promote positive behavioral change.

Question 33

According to statistics compiled by the Texas Department of Criminal Justice, two characteristics shared by inmates in state prisons are

A) illiteracy and mental retardation.
B) poor education levels and substance abuse.
C) mental retardation and having been abused as a child.
D) having been abused as a child and illiteracy.

Question 34

Administrative segregationis another term for

A) solitary confinement.
B) separating prisoners based on race.
C) keeping prison administrators separated from inmates.
D) dividing prisoners based on severity of crime.

Question 35

Approximately ____ of convicted adult criminals end up being re-sentenced to prison after their release.

A) 10 percent
B) 25 percent
C) 40 percent
D) 65 percent

Question 36

What are the reasons for which Texas imprisons lawbreakers?

A) To achieve vengeance and pay restitution to crime victims
B) To punish, rehabilitate and isolate offenders, and deter crime
C) To make the prisons self-supporting and isolate offenders from society
D) To eliminate the drug problem and deter other persons from committing crimes

Question 37

A common barrier to successfully reintegrating prisoners back into society after their release is

A) their reluctance to leave prison.
B) difficulty finding employment.
C) legal bans on ex-convicts obtaining a higher education.
D) constant police harassment.

Question 38

What percentage of Texas inmates are housed in private prisons?

A) Two percent
B) Five percent
C) Seven percent
D) Ten percent

Question 39

The current focus of legislators on rehabilitation and reentry has

A) had no effect on imprisonment rates.
B) succeeded at reducing the rising imprisonment rates of the 1900s.
C) resulted in even higher imprisonment rates.
D) cost too much money to continue.

Question 40

Texas Crime Victim's Compensation Fund provides money to victims and their families for all of the following,except

A) counseling.
B) medical costs.
C) burial services.
D) representation by an attorney.

Question 41

In Texas, an individual with a serious mental illness is

A) eight times as likely to be incarcerated as to receive treatment.
B) eight times as likely to receive treatment as to be incarcerated.
C) just as likely to receive treatment as to be incarcerated.
D) automatically incarcerated.

Question 42

Rules and procedures in criminal cases in Texas must legally be grounded in the

A) rules outlined in the Declaration of the Rights of Man.
B) Fourteenth Amendment's guarantee that no state can "deprive any person of life, liberty or property without due process of law."
C) United Nations charter on Human Rights.
D) 10 Commandments.

Question 43

Among the ways that some Texas prisoners may legally communicate with the outside world are

A) social media websites.
B) cell phones.
C) prison-based public access television channels.
D) paying guards to deliver personal messages.

Question 44

The district attorney (DA) is powerful because she or he has the ability to

A) seek any sentence they believe is in the best interest of Texas.
B) prevent evidence from being introduced by the defense.
C) completely control the selection of the jury.
D) request the court to take one's life, liberty, or property on behalf of the state.

Question 45

Which of the following is not a common problem facing Texas prisons?

A) Excessive spending on education for prisoners
B) Overcrowding
C) Mental illness
D) Misconduct by district attorneys

Question 46

Between 1989 and 2014 there have been roughly ____________ inmates exonerated across the nation after DNA analysis.

A) 50
B) 115
C) 225
D) 315

Question 47

The job of representing the State of Texas in criminal cases belongs to a

A) a district attorney.
B) a defense attorney.
C) the attorney general.
D) a pro bono attorney.

Question 48

Wrongful imprisonment by the state in Texas

A) cannot happen under our current system.
B) has been shown to be a possibility.
C) would result in a formal apology from the governor.
D) means that the prisoner is eligible to receive state health coverage.

Question 49

Both TDCJ and TJJD collect DNA samples of all inmates convicted of a

A) misdemeanor.
B) civil offense.
C) class A offense.
D) felony offense.

Question 50

Why have so many people been convicted of crimes they didn't commit based on eyewitness identification?

A) No one has ever been convicted of a crime based on faulty eyewitness identification.
B) Eyewitnesses are often paid off by the prosecution or threatened by police to help gain a conviction.
C) Eyewitnesses can overlook facial features of people of different races, transfer memories of people from different settings, or have poor recall due to stress.
D) Judges allow prosecutors to find people with a grudge against a defendant to serve as eyewitnesses.

Question 51

The term adjudication hearing refers to __________ in juvenile law.

A) a grand jury indictment
B) a trial
C) an appellate review
D) a parole procedure

Question 52

The agency created to investigate negligence and misconduct in a criminal case is the

A) Criminal Justice Committee.
B) Texas Forensic Science Commission.
C) Texas Criminal Justice System.
D) Committee to Stop the Death Penalty.

Question 53

Regarding race and ethnicity in the Texas criminal justice system,

A) more than two-thirds of Texas law enforcement agencies targeted minorities for stops and searches.
B) African Americans and Latinos are overrepresented in elected and appointed leadership positions.
C) only a tiny fraction of the prison population are African American and Latino.
D) racial and ethnic bias in criminal justice ended with the successes of the Civil Rights movement.

Question 54

Juvenile courts are considered __________ rather than criminal courts.

A) felony courts
B) punitive courts
C) probate courts
D) civil courts

Question 55

TDCJ has a policy of no fraternizing between inmates and correctional staff, but they allow staff and inmates to be "friends"on Facebook because

A) of the freedom of association guaranteed under the Constitution.
B) they have found no harm comes from this form of relationship.
C) it's too difficult to monitor online sites.
D) it creates a community between inmates and staff.

Question 56

District attorneys in Texas

A) have at times been found to hide evidence and make improper arguments to juries.
B) have not been found to engage in any misconduct.
C) are required to focus on getting convictions over all other goals.
D) have little actual power, and hold mostly ceremonial positions.

Question 57

Which scientific development has shown that some persons sentenced to death actually did not commit the crime?

A) DNA testing
B) Fingerprint analysis
C) Hair-strand analysis
D) Electro-encephalography

Question 58

For exonerated individuals, the State of Texas does not provide

A) financial compensation.
B) an attorney to sue the state.
C) tuition for an education.
D) health insurance.

Question 59

Which of the following is not true of juvenile justice in Texas?

A) Each county has a juvenile probation board, juvenile probation officer, and juvenile probation department.
B) Texas has a preference for sending juveniles far away from home to correctional facilities.
C) Juvenile detention facilities have seen an increase in violence in recent years.
D) Counseling and probation are the most commonly used procedures for dealing with juvenile offenders.

Question 60

Which of the following is true of juvenile offenders in Texas?

A) Juveniles can never be transferred to adult prisons, even after they become adults.
B) Twenty-five percent of juveniles charged with serious crimes stand trial and are punished as adults.
C) Texas automatically directs 17-year-olds into the adult criminal justice system.
D) Over 1 million Texas youths enter the state's juvenile justice system every year.

Question 61

How has DNA testing changed criminal justice in Texas? What are the limitations of DNA as evidence?

Question 62

What is a hate crime and why are those who commit hate crimes receive enhanced punishments? Do you think enhanced punishments are justified for hate crimes?

Question 63

Under what circumstances may Texas not impose the death penalty on a person convicted of a capital felony? Are these restrictions justified? Should there be more restrictions?

Question 64

Describe the scientific testing process that may exonerate or confirm a capital felony conviction. Explain how those exonerated are compensated by the state of Texas.

Question 65

Explain the difficulties that the TDCJ and its prisons face regarding their workforce or staff. How might these problems be alleviated?

Question 66

Part of the mission of the Texas Department of Criminal Justice is to assist crime victims. Assess their efforts to achieve this mission, and suggest improvements that may help them better fulfill that mission in the future. Are there things that other levels or branches of government can do to help?

Question 67

Explain capital felony law in Texas. Include in your discussion a definition of capital felony, what the jury must consider, and its sentencing options.

Question 68

Explain the process that faces a juvenile accused of committing a crime in Texas.

Question 69

How does the state decide on the proper punishment for an individual's criminal offenses? Should incarceration continue to be used as aggressively as it is today? Why or why not?

Question 70

Part of the mission of the Texas Department of Criminal Justice is to promote positive behavior changes. Assess their efforts to achieve this mission, and suggest improvements that may help them better fulfill that mission in the future. Are there things that other levels or branches of government can do to help?

Question 71

Explain how Texas handles juveniles who break the law. What changes to the juvenile justice system might you suggest? If you would recommend no change, explain why you think the Texas juvenile justice system is the best it could possibly be.

Question 72

Briefly describe the history of capital punishment in Texas. There are two sides to the capital punishment debate: Those in favor and those against capital punishment. What are the arguments put forth by each side in support of their position?

Question 73

Part of the mission of the Texas Department of Criminal Justice is to reintegrate offenders into the general society after their release. Assess their efforts to achieve this mission, and suggest improvements that may help them better fulfill that mission in the future. Are there things that other levels or branches of government can do to help?

Question 74

Part of the mission of the Texas Department of Criminal Justice is to provide public safety. Assess their efforts to achieve this mission, and suggest improvements that may help them better fulfill that mission in the future. Are there things that other levels or branches of government can do to help?

Question 75

Trace the history of incarceration as a method of dealing with nonviolent drug offenders. What alternatives to incarceration exist and are being used? Explain why you either support or oppose continued use of imprisonment as a punishment for such offenses.