POLS207 Chapter 11

Compare and contrast the following aspects of criminal and civil law:
Origin of Cases
Parties Involved and their objectives
Percent of cases that go to trial
Location of trials
Bases of decisions/outcomes

Criminal Law:
- Cases originate from any act that is harmful to society as a whole
- The State is the accuser and the prosecutor (district attorney represents the State)
- Only 10% of criminal cases go to trial and the county pays all costs
Civil Law:
- Cases concern legal disputes between "individuals" over unmet obligations or perceived harms
- Plaintiff files complaint or suit
- Loser must compensate winner

Overview the prosecution process under criminal law.

1. Arrest is made
2. Charge is filed
3. Arraignment hearing is held
4. Evidence is presented to grand jury
5. Indictment returned
6. Trial process begins.

Describe the similarities and differences between the two types of criminal offenses in Texas.

Misdemeanors have less serious punishments (shorter times in county jail, community service, and/or fine).
Felonies have a more serious punishment (longer sentences in state prison or county jail, community service, and/or fine). Initiated by a charge from district attorney.

Using the fallen-tree example, highlight the aspects of the civil trial process that are unique from a criminal one.

In the civil trial process, there are often times where both parties are responsible, or neither party is fully in the wrong. These types of things can be settled, but in criminal trials, one party has to be found guilty (there is no in between).

Discuss the case loads of both federal and state courts and explain the differences.

Federal courts handle issues under federal law (they hear very few cases). State courts handle issues under state law. 99.9% of criminal cases in US, and 99.8% of civil cases in US. States handle far more cases because state law governs most aspects of citizen's daily lives. The overload of cases is why so many cases end in plea bargains.

Describe the hierarchy of three main groups of state courts.

Trial Courts - Intermediate Appellate Court - Supreme Court

Explain the types of questions considered in each of these levels. Provide examples. Also explain the implications of a type of question NOT being considered at a particular level.

Trial courts deal with 2 questions. Questions of fact and questions of law. Questions of fact are answered by jury if a jury trial, otherwise answered by the judge. Questions of law are always answered by the judge. Courts of appeal hear objections to lower court decisions. Appeals can only be based on the trial judge's decisions about questions of law. No juries.

Describe or draw out the diagram that shows all of the types and subtypes of courts in Texas. Include the flows of appeals from all of the lower courts.

Justice courts and Municipal courts both feed into County-Level courts. County-Level courts and District courts feed into Courts of Appeals. Courts of Appeals feed into both the Supreme Court and Court of Criminal Appeals.

In general terms, differentiate between the roles and the jurisdictions of each of these courts.

Justice courts, Municipal courts, and County-Level courts all deal with local issues. Supreme Court and Courts of Criminal Appeals deal with any appeals that haven't been judged by law previously.

Describe what a Grand Jury does. How do they function and how are there members selected.

Grand Jury decides whether or not to indict someone and send them to trial. Grand jury is 12 members with a term of 3-6 months. Members must commit 2 long days and review 50-75 cases each day.

Describe how state residents participate in the judicial system and how they are selected.

Grand Juries:
Used to be "Key man" or "Pick-a-pal" - jurors were selected by "jury commissioners" who were picked by the district judge, typically indicted more than returning "no bill", system was accused of persistent economic bias.

Now "Random Selection" is new process as of September 2015.

Trial Juries:
12-person jury in District Court
6-person juries in County or JOP
must be 18 and eligible to vote
not under felony indictment
randomly end up in a pool, but attorneys go through the pool and select from the pool

Explain the issues with fairness and peremptory strikes in jury trials. Discuss whether this is a partisan issue.

Jury selection is biased
Supreme Court decided in 2016 that in a single case, selection process was unbiased (they only reviewed ONE case)
Selection process has not been raised for over 30 years

Peremptory Strike - attorney can deny a person without question (blacks dismissed at a higher rate than white people)

Peremptory strikes are not necessarily a partisan issue

Discuss the qualifications of attorneys and judges/justices in Texas.

Attorneys:
Law degree mandatory
Must be licensed by one State Bar Association (part interest group, part regulatory)
Must pass test, meet character requirements for each state in which they will practice

Judges:
Many are attorneys, but not required
City governments decide rules
JOP; no law degree or experience required (must be 19 years and take special course)
County & District: 4 years as a judge/attorney and at least 25 years old
Appellate: 10 years as a judge/attorney and at least 35 years old

Compare and contrast the systems that US states use to select their judges/justices. Explain why there may be differences with a given state as to the selection method for trial courts and appellate courts.

Legislative Election (most common)
Appointed by Governor
Partisan Election
Non-Partisan Election
Merit Plan (appointed by governor, then people get to vote)

More "Merit Plan" and less "Partisan Election" on appellate court vs trial court because there are more "value-setting" in appellate decisions (people want more accountability in appellate courts)

Describe the "Choose Well" video, explain the rationales provided for appointing or electing judges/justices.

Strengths:
Can that person run a fair courtroom?
We must choose our judges well, not based on their ideological stances radical, conservative, but can they uphold the law well.

Weaknesses:
Define the measure of fairness? Where is the data to support fairness? Is fairness really the best criteria for judges?

Based on the "Red, White, and Blue" video, explain the rationales provided for appointing or electing judges/justices.

Appointing - Judiciary is more "independent" (protected from biased decisions). Voters also don't know who candidates are.
Electing - More likely to have judiciary that reflects the demography of their jurisdictions. Appointed judges will have obligations to whoever elected them.

Based on the Democracy Now! video, describe how campaigns have changed in state judicial races and how and why this may threaten the fairness of the courts.

Campaigns have become far more expensive over the years.

Based on the article by former-Chief-Justice Cobb, discuss the role of campaign donations in a state with elected judges/justices, their effect on the judiciary, and the expectations of donors.

Campaign donations make judicial candidates make the opponent seem terrible through ads. They also make the elections far too political. Donors just want to know that their investment will lead to something that effects them. To them, the idea of impartial and fair judges is an abstraction.

Describe the two examples she provided about judicial conduct in Texas that was unethical, but legal.

One judge forced a firm to donate a certain amount of money because other firms did the same.
Another judge inappropriately asked for a contribution in a somewhat needy way.
To her thoughts, these were shameful acts, but perfectly legal.

Describe the distribution of executions in the US since 1977. Characterize the frequency of executions in Texas since 1996.

The south has a significantly higher number of death penalties than the midwest, west, and northeast. Texas accounts for more than one-third of executions nationwide since 1977. Overtime, the frequency of executions in Texas has decreased slowly.

Discuss Judge Price's dissent in the Panetti appeal, including his rationale and the reasons it could be thought-provoking.

Capital Punishment is losing public support because there are so many flaws in the system (wrongful convictions, super expensive, etc.)

Explain the reasons that capital punishment is losing US public support.

- Life-without-parole is now available in all states.
- Deterrence effect is doubled, there is no scientific evidence for deterrence.
- Imprisonment for life is very expensive.
- There are many errors in the form of wrongful convictions.

Discuss the disagreement between the conservative researcher and the National Research Council report on whether the death penalty has a measurable deterrence effect.

The Conservative researcher found that the death penalty has a deterrence towards murder rates, but the National Research Council has found that there is a flawed deterrence effect on murder rates from the death penalty. Ultimately the two disagree in whether or not the death penalty decreases homicide rate.

Describe the problems posed for the death penalty by the timeline, expense, and errors in these capital cases.

- There is no scientific deterrence for death penalty and homicide rate
- Delays (huge time sucker)
- Very expensive (2-4 times more expensive than imprisonment for life)
- Errors in the from of wrongful convictions

Use the example of the capital crime in Van Zandt County to illustrate those problems.

The family in Van Zandt did not think it was worth it to enforce capital punishment considering the expense. So they were not able to punish the criminal as they thought they should.

Discuss the frequency and reasons for exonerations. Discuss the role of DNA and non-DNA factors in the three cases of Texans previously imprisoned for crimes they did not commit.

Exonerations are very frequent.
- Mistaken Witness ID
- Perjury or False Accusation
- False Confession
- False or Misleading Forensic Evidence
- Official Misconduct
Non-DNA exonerations are far more frequent than DNA exonerations. Texas has more exonerations than any other state.

Highlight why the judiciary should matter to state residents.

These are the people who decide who is convicted. They can affect how many exonerations we have. We want to elect honest, hardworking judges. If your loved one was wrongfully convicted, wouldn't you want your judge to behave in a way that your loved one wasn't punished.