POLS Study Guide #2

How many members in the Texas Senate?

31 members

How many members in the Texas House?

150 members

How many years do Texas senators serve?

4 years

How many years do Texas representatives serve?

2 years

Regular sessions

Which are constitutionally mandated and begin on the second Tuesday in January of odd-numbered years; lasts for a maximum of 140 days; make/change laws

Special sessions

A legislative session; the governor specifically calls it; the legislature may consider matters placed before it by the governor; lasting no longer than 30 days each, at any time

Compensation

How much you are paid

Speaker of the House

Serves as a presiding officer; current Speaker is Dustin Borrows; $7,200(?); 2 year terms; elected by House members; proceedings in the House are controlled by the speaker

Lieutenant Governor

Serves as a presiding officer; current Lt. is Dan Patrick; $7,200; 4 year term; serves as the president of the Senate; in line of succession for office of governor; presides over most sessions; plays a leading role in legislative matters; controls entire body of the Senate; 31 people in Senate

Gerrymandering

A practice that involves drawing districts to include or exclude certain groups of voters in order to favor one group or political party (pack/splitting)

Redistricting

Redrawing of boundaries (after equal population)

Filibuster

A denying tactic; during a debate, a senator is permitted to speak about a bill as long as physical endurance permits; which allows deals to happen

Line-item veto

Action by the governor; eliminates an individual budget item; state only

Standing committees

Permanent; substantive and procedural; considers proposed bills/resolutions before floor debates and voting

Select committees

NOT permanent; of special interest studies; crosses committee jurisdiction lines; example is COVID; appointed by the House

Procedural committees

Appointed by the House speaker; consider bills and regulations for internal workings (ex. calendar committees(making calendars)) in the House

Substantive committees

The Texas House; consider bills and resolution relating to the subject; identified by its name; appointed by the House speaker

Conference committees

Composed of members from the Senate and the House; composed of representatives; senators appointed to reach agreement on a disputed bill; recommend changes acceptable to both chambers

Plural Executive

Multi-executive branch; president has the power to select cabinet members (ie. secretary of war/treasury); senate confirms members; has to be elected; if wanting to fire someone, people need to vote; a weak office

Different offices apart of the Plural Executive

Attorney General (AG), Comptroller (of public accounts), Land Commissioner, Railroad (RR) Commissioner, Agricultural (Ag) Commissioner , Secretary of State, Lieutenant Governor (Lt. Gov)

Attorney General (AG)

oversees the legal part of Texas; advisory opinions

Comptroller (of public accounts)

Predicts how much money we get each year; creates a budget of how much they might spend in a year

Land Commissioner

Donates land to colleges; colleges gain money from minerals and oil from the land

Railroad (RR) Commissioner

Deals with energy and NOT railroads; switches every 2 years; 3 members

Agricultural (Ag) Commissioner

Rick Perry vs Greg Abbot; school lunches (Michelle Obama lunches), oversees cattle industry

Secretary of State

Oversees elections; trains counties on state laws; keeps up with the Texas seal (certifies documents); ONLY person that is elected

Why did the founders produce a plural executive?

Wanted to protect citizens from tyranny; basically created the seven key executive officials, who are independently elected by voters instead of the governor

Requirements to serve as Texas Governor

30 years old and must be a citizen of Texas of 5 years

Salary of Texas Governor

Salary is $153,000

How long does the Texas Governor serve?

4 year terms; but no term limit

Perks of the Texas Governor

Gets a Governor mansion, official transportation, and security

Powers of the Texas Governor (Prof. Yawn)

• Has legislative power (voting, vetoing)

• Appointee powers (can only select someone once a year)

• Judges are elected, but if one leaves, the TX Governor selects

Powers of the Texas Governor (Textbook)

• Nominate/remove state officials

• Deal with problems caused by civil disorder and natural disasters

• Participate in state budget making and budget management

• Announce policies by issuing executive orders

• Make public proclamations for ceremonial and other purposes

• Promote the economic development of Texas

Windy Davis political ad

Against Greg Abbott; mentioned how Abbott is disabled but doesn't support/fund/help the disabled community

Rick Perry political ad

The ad seems like a movie; black and white at first, then bursts of color

Greg Abbott political ad

Where he was rolling up a parking garage, saying how he worked hard to be there

Original jurisdiction

When you hear the case first

Appellate jurisdiction

When you hear the case on appeal on lower court decisions

Felony

Murder, armed robbery, school shooting

Misdemeanor

DWI, speeding, minor in possession

What are the two Local Trial Courts?

Justice Court (JP) and Municipal Court

Justice Court

Justice of Peace (JP) court; civil crimes (ie. speeding)

Municipal Court

Deals with the city; civil crimes

What do Justice Court and Municipal Court have in common?

Both are the Lowest Courts, NOT courts of recording (information isn't recorded), & has no jury

County Court of Law

A "real" court; if appealing, you go here and start over because of no records; denovo (new) trial; includes DWI's/scope misdemeanors; has a jury of 6 people; county clerk

What are the two District Courts?

District Court and Criminal District Court

District Court

Jury of 12 people; district clerk; includes felonies and more lethal DWI's

Criminal District Court

For criminal crimes specifically

What do the two District Courts have in common?

Both have original jurisdiction

In the District Court, what happens if there's someone with a death penalty?

The case goes straight to the Court of Criminal Appeals

Court of Appeals

Has appellate jurisdiction; 3 judges, which affirm or overturn cases

What are the two Highest Appellate Courts?

Court of Criminal Appeals and Supreme Court

Court of Criminal Appeals

Criminals; 20 minutes; affirm or overturn

Supreme Court

Divorce

If possibility of going to prison, you’d be...?

Provided with an attorney

Grand jury

12 citizens chosen at random from a list; determines if there's enough evidence to go to trial in a criminal case; 3 months; to indict or not to indict; 9/12 (3 quarters) members must vote

Petit jury

Trial jury; 6 or 12 citizens; determines if a defendant is guilty; all must vote guilty

Define voir dire

"to speak the truth"; a courtroom procedure in which attorneys question prospective jurors to identify any who cannot be fair and impartial; detects any potential bias; can't lie

Court of record

The court records all information (County Court of Law, District Court/Criminal District Court, Court of Appeals, Court of Criminal Appeals/Supreme Court)

Affirm (uphold)

Confirm or ratify; it agrees with a ruling appeal; "upholding" the previous court's decision

Overturn (reverse)

Invalidating a ruling; either re-examines or rejecting it

Remand

Sending cases back down to Court of Law

Plaintiff

The injured party who initiates a civil suit or the government in a criminal proceeding; usually money damages

Defendant

Person sued in a civil proceeding or prosecuted in a criminal proceeding

Prosecutor

Represents the state or the government in the case brought against the accused person

Discovery

When they share documents; potential evidence each party must provide to the other party prior to trial

Judges are elected by...

the people

Justices are elected by...

the people through partisan elections

What is the general process of a bill being passed?

Introduction in the House, Voting in the House —> Senate, Committee, Governor Signature; a bill is read 3 times

Background of the current TX Constitution (1876)

Government often abused their power with state authority and law enforcement during Reconstruction; therefore, Framers, a group of 90 delegates, wanted to dismantle/limit/decentralize power within the government