Deck 6: The Court System

Question 1

Who typically reviews cases at the appellate level?

A)grand juries
B)the entire membership of the Supreme Court
C)three-judge panels
D)a superior court judge

Answer 1

C

Question 2

The 30-member board responsible for managing the court system by setting policies,rules,and procedures,controlling the courts' budget,and reporting to the legislature is the ______.

A)Department of Justice
B)Commission on Judicial Appointments
C)Judicial Council
D)California Bar Association

Answer 2

C

Question 3

The highest judicial authority in the state is vested in ______.

A)the state supreme court
B)the attorney general
C)the judicial council
D)the district courts of appeal

Answer 3

A

Question 4

Approximately how many cases does the California court system handle annually?

A)7 million
B)4 million
C)2 million
D)1 million

Question 5

What is true of judicial elections in California?

A)Many are highly controversial,because justices often act in highly partisan ways.
B)Most are low-key affairs;few judges run against opponents,and they are rarely rejected by the voters.
C)They are extremely expensive,routinely costing candidates millions of dollars.
D)They are only held for candidates who are not lawyers (i.e. ,have not passed the bar),but those candidates are highly qualified citizens who want to become judges nevertheless.

Question 6

In what sense is the judicial branch "political"?

A)All judges in California are elected in partisan elections;that is,with their party affiliation stated next to their names on the ballot.
B)All judicial officers (judges,justices)in the state are appointed by the governor and never have to run in an election.
C)Judges make policy through their interpretation of laws and their choices about how to apply those laws.
D)Active and retired judges campaign heavily for their colleagues,who must run for reelection every 12 years.

Question 7

Approximately what percentage of cases filed actually make it to trial?

A)10%
B)25%
C)50%
D)90%

Question 8

Who controls the number of judgeships in the state?

A)the governor
B)the legislature
C)the courts
D)the attorney general

Question 9

How many justices sit on the state supreme court?

A)5
B)7
C)9
D)13

Question 10

The California court system is organized into three distinct layers ______.

A)criminal courts,civil courts,and administrative courts
B)the state supreme court,the Department of Justice,and the Judicial Council
C)trial,superior,administrative,judicial,and supreme courts
D)trial courts,courts of appeal,and the state supreme court

Question 11

Whose job is it to "provide fair and equal access to justice for all Californians?"

A)the governor's
B)the court system's
C)the attorney general's
D)the local sheriff's

Question 12

Members of the Commission on Judicial Appointments include ______.

A)the Big Five
B)all the constitutional executive officers,plus the Supreme Court chief justice
C)the attorney general,Supreme Court chief justice,presiding judge of the courts of appeal,and at-large members of the legal community
D)the legislature's and the governor's appointees who are all at-large members of the legal community

Question 13

Who controls how the judicial system's budget is allocated and spent?

A)the governor
B)the Assembly and Senate
C)the Judicial Council
D)the chief justice

Question 14

Which person is considered to be the principal supervisor of the lower courts?

A)the chief justice of the Supreme Court
B)the governor
C)the attorney general
D)the entire 27-member state Judicial Council

Question 15

Although roughly 8,000 cases are appealed to it,the state supreme court only tends to issue approximately ______ written opinions during an annual term.

A)75
B)250
C)1,000
D)5,000

Question 16

What are the qualifications for becoming a judge in California?

A)selection by the governor;there are no set qualifications.
B)having passed the state bar.
C)having a law degree or law enforcement background (includes attorneys,police or sheriffs,prison guards,and probation officers).
D)having been an attorney who has practiced law for 10 years in California.

Question 17

Who can appoint individuals to fill vacancies on California courts?

A)the governor
B)the legislature
C)the attorney general
D)the chief justice of the Supreme Court

Question 18

To assist the governor with judicial nominations,the ______,a state agency whose members represent the legal profession,must first screen the nominees.

A)Judicial Council
B)State Bar's Commission on Judicial Nominees
C)Attorney General's Office
D)none of these

Question 19

Who confirms the governor's judicial appointments to the appellate and supreme court?

A)the state Senate
B)Commission on Judicial Appointments
C)California Bar Association
D)Attorney General's Office

Question 20

Civil suits ______.

A)are brought against citizens accused of committing crimes against humanity
B)involve disputes between individuals or organizations seeking money for damages that are usually incurred through injuries,breaches of contract,or defective products
C)are only brought against illegal immigrants
D)involve felonies,misdemeanors,and minor infractions,or crimes committed by persons being brought to trial

Question 21

A special court that combines case processing with mandatory help programs such as drug and alcohol treatment programs,and monitoring of individuals,is known as a ______.

A)collaborative court
B)supreme court
C)probate court
D)family court

Question 22

A traffic violation is considered ______.

A)a criminal violation
B)an infraction
C)a misdemeanor
D)a felony

Question 23

About how much money does California spend on state prisons (from all sources)?

A)$300 million
B)$1 billion
C)$3 billion
D)$13 billion

Question 24

What do Californians generally believe about the corrections system?

A)Too much is spent on prisons and prisoners,and funding ought to be reduced.
B)Prison guards and other staff receive the high salaries and benefits that they deserve.
C)Low-level inmates can safely be released back into communities.
D)More money should be spent to build state-of-the-art prisons.

Question 25

In which type of case is a death sentence possible in California?

A)infraction
B)misdemeanor
C)felony
D)civil

Question 26

Who sits on grand juries?

A)regular citizens,just like trial juries
B)only those with a legal background,such as attorneys
C)retired judges
D)professional jurors who have trained for several years to hold the position

Question 27

If superior court justices are first appointed by the governor,they must become nonpartisan candidates for office when their terms expire.

Question 28

More than half of the cases in the state's judicial system result from traffic violations.

Question 29

Elections involving judges are nonpartisan,meaning that a judicial candidate's party affiliation is not indicated on the ballot as it would be for other statewide elected officials.

Question 30

The state constitution guarantees citizens the right to a jury trial,but not a civil trial.

Question 31

The current policy of sending convicted nonviolent,nonsexual state prisoners to be housed in county jails is ______.

A)prison fiscalization
B)realignment
C)externalities
D)redistricting

Question 32

Almost all state judges and justices are appointed to their positions by the governor.

Question 33

Two recent propositions (Props 36 and 47)may help reduce the state's prison population by ______.

A)closing many jails that need substantial repairs
B)transferring inmates to out-of-state prisons and private prisons
C)granting early parole to anyone convicted before 1992
D)imposing a life sentence on third-strike violent offenders only and reclassifying some drug crimes as misdemeanors

Question 34

The state supreme court is required to review all the cases that are appealed to it.

Question 35

What are grand jurors NOT allowed to do?

A)research claims of improper practices
B)indict political figures
C)investigate wasteful practices
D)determine the constitutionality of a law

Question 36

The California court system annually handles about ______ cases,and about ______of them make it to trial.

A)7 million;10%
B)4 million;25%
C)1 million;90%
D)fewer than 1 million;100%

Question 37

Approximately how much does it cost to imprison one inmate per year in California?

A)$6,000
B)$13,812,the cost of a Cal-Grant for a U.C.student
C)$25,000
D)$76,000

Question 38

If a person wants to become a judge,a qualified individual may run for a judicial election instead of first being appointed by the governor.

Question 39

Judges are immune from political and campaign pressures.

Question 40

Three-strikes sentencing in California is now applied to ______.

A)any and all types of crime
B)drug crimes only
C)violent and serious offenses only
D)undocumented immigrants only

Question 41

Judges and justices in California are broadly representative of California,roughly mirroring the state's ethnic diversity.

Question 42

Judges who are appointed to fill an unexpired term must run in a retention election when the term expires.

Question 43

Since the policy of realignment went into effect,crime rates of all types have skyrocketed in California.

Question 44

Although judges and justices are supposed to be chosen for their nonpartisan and unbiased decisions,they are often chosen by governors who tend to appoint people from their own political party.

Question 45

The state of California must provide adequate medical care to all inmates,because failure to do so is a violation of the U.S.Constitution's ban on cruel and unusual punishment.

Question 46

At the appellate level,grand juries make determinations about whether a case should be dismissed on technical grounds.

Question 47

The federal government fully reimburses California for housing illegal immigrant felons in its state prisons.

Question 48

Unlike other state institutions,California's system of justice remains well-funded and has not had to weather the same kinds of budget cuts as other programs during recent lean budget years.

Question 49

State courts cannot rule on the constitutionality of initiatives that have been approved by voters.

Question 50

The only place that the Supreme Court hears cases (oral arguments)is in the state capital of Sacramento.

Question 51

Appeals courts review the judgments rendered in lower (superior)courts.

Question 52

Review of death penalty cases will be sped up under a proposition passed by voters in 2016.

Question 53

Governor Brown has not diversified the Supreme Court with his three choices for justices: all have been White males.

Question 54

Voters rarely reject judges in retention elections.

Question 55

Unlike legislative elections,special interests may not campaign for or against a judge.

Question 56

Voters often reject judges in retention elections.

Question 57

State courts cannot rule on the constitutionality of initiatives before voters have actually approved them through an election.

Question 58

The state Senate approves or confirms all judicial appointments made by the governor.

Question 59

In a retention election,voters get to decide whether to keep a judge in office.

Question 60

A grand jury exists in every county.

Question 61

Name a direct consequence of budget cuts in the court system.

Question 62

In what ways do "politics" affect the functioning of the state's court system?

Question 63

What are the qualifications for becoming a judge in California?

Question 64

What is the state's "one day,one trial" program?

Question 65

How can the governor shape the judiciary?

Question 66

What are collaborative courts?

Question 67

What are civil suits?

Question 68

Why are prisons chronically underfunded?

Question 69

What is a grand jury? What do grand jurors do?

Question 70

How has Chief Justice Tani Cantil-Sakauye tried to improve access to justice for vulnerable populations?

Question 71

Why are California's prisons overcrowded and "bursting at the seams?"

Question 72

Describe the state's prison population reduction policy that was established by AB 109,the "Public Safety Realignment" law.

Question 73

What is the function of the appellate courts,or courts of appeal?

Question 74

How have California policy makers tried to reduce overcrowding in state prisons?

Question 75

What are the likely outcomes of cuts to the court system's budget?