Chapter 13 Inquizitive Texas Government
What is the role of the Texas Board of Pardons and Paroles?
The Texas Board of Pardons and Paroles makes clemency recommendations to the governor. (The governor's powers of pardons and clemency are curtailed in the Texas constitution. The governor must have a recommendation from the board in order to grant clemency.)
What is the role of a grand jury?
A grand jury determines whether or not there is enough evidence for a trial.
Texas is home to more verified wrongful convictions than is any other state.
True; According to the National Registry of Exonerations, Texas has seen the highest number of wrongful convictions in the United States. This is due to a variety of reasons, including an over-reliance on eyewitness accounts and overzealous prosecutors.
Criminal justice reforms that have been successful in Texas are often framed as issues of justice, not partisanship.
True; Many recent changes to the criminal justice system have been low-controversy matters that do not attract a great deal of partisan scrutiny. Requiring juveniles convicted of felonies to serve their sentences close to home is far less controversial than changes to high-visibility issues such as the death penalty.
African Americans make up a disproportionate number of death row inmates.
True; Only about 13 percent of Texans are African American, but as of 2015 more death row inmates were African American than any other group. As of 2015, 107 of the of the 252 inmates on death row are African American, as were 197 of the 531 people executed in Texas since 1977.
To convict a defendant of a crime, jurors must believe that the defendant's guilt is -, and their verdict must be -.
beyond a reasonable doubt; unanimous
Public defenders and assigned counsel perform similar roles, though there are differences. Which of the following are characteristics of public defenders, assigned counsel, or both?
public defenders: salaried defense lawyers funded by the state assigned counsel: - private lawyers appointed by judges to offer legal representation to poor clients - The most common form of defense for poorer defendants in most counties both: - assigned to capital cases - available to defendants who cannot afford private counsel
Study the table below on crime classification in Texas, and determine which classification is most appropriate for the scenario described.
Charged with a felony: - a man uses a gun to rob a bank - A man burns down a house to collect insurance money. - Two men are caught with 100 pounds of marijuana packed in the trunk of their car. Charged with a misdemeanor: - A seventeen-year-old is pulled over and has several bottles of alcohol in the car. - A woman is pulled over for driving while intoxicated; she was convicted of a DWI once before.
Which of the following statements about sentence enhancements are accurate?
Correct: - "Three strikes" provisions can result in life imprisonment. - Repeat offenses can result in longer sentences than initial offenses. Incorrect: - Sentence enhancements allow the Texas Board of Pardons and Paroles to speed up the parole process.
Which of the following statements about bail are accurate?
Correct: - Bail acts as an assurance that the accused will appear at trial. - Bail usually consists of a payment of money. Incorrect: - If the accused cannot afford bail, the state provides bail for the defendant.
Article 1, Section 28, of the Texas Constitution states, "Every citizen shall have the right to keep and bear arms in lawful defense of himself or the state; but the Legislature shall have the power, by law, to regulate the wearing of arms with a view to prevent crime." Which of the following statements and beliefs about guns can be supported by this part of the Texas Constitution?
Correct: - Carrying firearms can prevent crime. - The Texas Constitution supports state regulation of firearms. - Carrying firearms can lead to crime. Incorrect: - The Texas Constitution supports concealed carry, but not open carry.
What were some of the effects of Texas's prison expansions of the 1990s and 2000s?
Correct: - Early release programs were reduced. - The number of inmates in Texas prisons increased dramatically. - The operating costs of Texas prisons were nearly 20 times higher in 2008 than in 1982. Incorrect: - Crime rates in Texas are now among the lowest in the nation. (Despite the high incarceration rate, crime rates in Texas remain fairly high; the crime rate in Texas is in the top 25 percent in America.)
Which of the following statements about open and concealed carry are accurate?
Correct: - More Texans support concealed carry than open carry. - The debate over guns in Texas has shifted away from whether or not open or concealed carry should be legal and toward establishing where handguns can be legally prohibited. Incorrect: - Open carry requires a license, but concealed carry does not. - Concealed and open carry have led to a marked increase in gun violence.
Watch the following animation on the demographics of the Texas prison population and determine which statements are accurate.
Correct: - Most death row inmates in Texas are African American - Most prisoners in Texas are either African American or Latino Incorrect: - The Texas prison population reflects the demographics of Texas overall
Some Texas counties use a program called "cite and release" as an alternative to arresting those found possessing small amounts of marijuana. Instead of being arrested, violators are given a ticket. Read the following statements and click on those that someone in favor of cite and release would use as an effective argument to someone skeptical of the program.
Correct: - On average, it costs taxpayers about $120 to arrest and book such offenders, and about $63 per day to keep them in an urban county jail. - County prisons are often overcrowded. - Ninety-five percent of those cited by police appear at court as required.
What are some of the incentives that encourage the use of plea bargains?
Correct: - Plea bargains save money. - Plea bargains help reduce overcrowded court dockets. Incorrect: - Plea bargains take decisions out of prosecutors' hands and give them to more impartial judges. - Plea bargains have the same outcomes as trials.
Watch the animation on rates of imprisonment in Texas and how they compare to other states, and determine which of the following statements are accurate.
Correct: - Since 1976, the state of Texas has executed more prisoners than any other state Incorrect: - Texas' high rate of executions has served as a deterrent on crime, lowering the rate of incarceration below the national average. Texas has a high rate of incarceration because it is a large state with a big population
Executions in Texas compared to other states
Correct: - Since 2000, the number of executions in the United States has declined. - In many years, Texas accounts for about one-third to one-half of all executions in the United States. Incorrect: - Texas consistently executes more prisoners than does the rest of the United States combined.
Which of the following statements about the Texas prison system are accurate?
Correct: - Texas has executed the most prisoners of any other state in the last 30 years. - Though the number of people in prison in Texas remains high, it has gone down in recent years. Incorrect: - Most prisoners in Texas were convicted of drug crimes. - As of 2014, Texas has the highest incarceration rate in the United States.
Which of the following are recent ways in which the Texas criminal justice system has been reformed?
Correct: - compensation for those wrongly convicted - expanded drug treatment programs - greater emphasis on community supervision Incorrect: - abolition of the death penalty
From its inception in 1849 and prior to the Supreme Court case of Ruiz v. Estelle, which of the following were issues that plagued the Texas state prison system at various points in time?
Correct: - inadequate care for prisoners - leasing prisoners to private companies - abuse of prisoners Incorrect: - heavy-handed federal intervention
Which of the following are common problems and challenges many Texas prisoners face after they are released?
Correct: - low levels of education - lengthy prison sentences, making readjustment difficult - drug and alcohol abuse Incorrect: - ex-felons being legally barred from work
What problems in the criminal justice system do cases like the Tulia drug arrests and the 2001 Dallas Police Department drug raids demonstrate?
Correct: - overreliance on undercover sources - inadequate collection and handling of evidence - preying on members of vulnerable communities Incorrect: - insufficient authority for police officers
Which of the following factors have been shown to make judges more likely to affirm death penalty sentences?
Correct: - public opinion in favor of the death penalty - judges elected to the bench Incorrect: - judges appointed to the bench - exonerations of death row inmates
The number of Texans in jail has only moved in one direction since more prisons were built up.
False; Although it has dipped somewhat since 2000, the number of Texans in jail has increased dramatically since the early 1990s. The level of incarceration in Texas is at a much higher level today than it was 30 years ago. The Texas prison population peaked in 2000, at about 160,000 inmates in the system. As of 2015, there are closer to 140,000 inmates in Texas.
As a result of work by the Texas Forensic Science Commission, Cameron Todd Willingham was exonerated of his arson and murder conviction and released from prison.
False; Cameron Todd Willingham was convicted of the arson death of his family and executed in 2004; an important contribution to his being found guilty was testimony from an expert witness. After his execution, the scientific accuracy of this testimony was called into question. The Texas Forensic Science Commission was initiated in 2005 to investigate the accuracy of forensic evidence, but this commission did not exonerate Willingham.
After conviction, death penalty sentences are carried out swiftly.
False; Death row inmates spend an average of over 10 years awaiting execution. The appeals process in capital cases is usually quite lengthy.
Even in counties in which possession of marijuana is treated rather strictly, once a defendant pays his or her fine there is little additional financial burden.
False; The fine can sometimes be the least of a defendant's worries; the cost of legal defense, the cost of the requirements of probation, and additional court costs can easily add up to $5,000-$7,000, far more than the fine itself. Proponents of stiff penalties argue that they deter future crimes; critics of the system argue that the high costs set up defendants to fail and can lead to further criminality.
Because assigned counsel are often paid very low fees, there is a concern that they do not always provide an adequate defense.
True; Whether a daily or hourly rate, the amount of money paid to assigned counsel is usually much less than what they would be paid in private practice, raising concerns that some assigned counsel will not necessarily work as hard to provide an adequate defense to their clients. The fees paid to assigned counsel vary from county to county, but they are generally perceived as low. Despite this, the state of Texas still spent nearly $230 million in indigent legal services in 2014.
Place in order the common steps of the criminal justice process once a felony arrest has been made.
arraignment --> posting bail --> grand jury indictment --> trial --> sentencing
Some Texas counties have separate offices for county and district attorneys. In such counties, the - tends to prosecute more serious crimes, such as felonies, while the - prosecutes less serious crimes, such as misdemeanors.
district attorney; county attorney
The legal system categorizes crimes into different levels of seriousness, and there are several kinds of punishment for those convicted of these crimes. Match the following categories of crime and punishment to their correct descriptions.
felony: a serious criminal offense punishable by a prison sentence or fine; often subjects a person to state prison misdemeanor: a minor criminal offense usually punishable by a small fine or short jail sentence parole: conditional release from prison for an offender who has served some prison time probation: an alternative to imprisonment in which the convicted person is subject to supervision and specified rules
The Dallas County Conviction Integrity Unit investigates claims of innocence made by those convicted of crimes. What was the most common factor that led to the wrong person being convicted of a crime?
mistaken eyewitness identification
In 2007 the Dallas County district attorney created the Conviction Integrity Unit. What was its goal?
to investigate and take appropriate action in cases of actual innocence (The Dallas Conviction Integrity Unit was the first office of its kind in Texas and reviewed claims of innocence made by those convicted of crimes.)
